Our enquiries service continues to be highly valued by partners and researchers across the West Midlands with usage increasing year on year. During 2007 we handled and responded to 360 enquiries, a 22% increase from 2006.
The nature and scope of enquiries received varies a great deal. Enquiries on Observatory projects are common but we also receive best practice, data analysis and signposting enquiries on a range of themes, most commonly: economics, demography, skills, the environment, culture, employment and crime. A number of example enquiry responses have been included below for reference.
Response provided free of charge
We were recently approached to explore the economic benefits that Chinese and Indian communities residing within the West Midlands brought to the Region in terms of their trade links to global markets. In response we compiled and analysed demographic and trade data, which we presented in tables along with accompanying commentary.
The demographic data was sourced from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and revealed that a higher proportion of the Indian (65.4%) and Chinese (87.7%) populations were of working age than the total population for the West Midlands (61.1%) but the employment rate for Chinese and Indian people was lower than the West Midlands average. Employment within the Indian population was concentrated in public administration, education and health (30.1%) as was employment for the total working age population (27.4%), whereas employment within the Chinese population was concentrated in manufacturing (73.3%). We advised that the analysis be treated with caution due to a small number of Chinese people being represented within the LFS data, and we also provided mid year population estimates.
To deal with the trade aspect of the enquiry, we analysed GVA data for India and China from the World Bank and analysed HMRC trade data on the value of the West Midlands’ total exports, exports to China, and exports to India, from 2001 to 2006. We also considered the proportion of exports in the West Midlands that India and China accounted and identified which sectors generated the most exports. Data revealed that in 2006 exports to India accounted for only 0.6% of the total value of the West Midlands exports while China accounted for 3 times this at 1.8%. In general the West Midlands’ total exports were driven by the successes of the machinery and transport equipment sector (£12.6bn), in particular in the road vehicles sub-sector (£5.2bn). Growth in exports to China between 2003 to 2005 was accounted for by the machinery and transport equipment sector mostly due to exports of road vehicles (£70m), whilst transport and other machinery accounted for the majority of exports to India mostly attributed to exports of specialised machinery (£15m).
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Response provided free of charge
Migration to the West Midlands by EU accession 8 countries is a topical issue for policy makers. We have received numerous enquiries relating to this, and have signposted enquirers to our work in this area and also key sources of migration data.
For example, we wrote a demographic chapter as part of the 2007 State of the Region Update report, which drew attention to the sharp increase in National Insurance number registrations of EU accession 8 countries in the West Midlands, such as Poland. We also managed the recent study on the economic impact of migrant workers in the West Midlands, which attempted to provide an understanding of the size and profile of migrant workers and their motivation for locating to the West Midlands.
A key source for migration statistics is the Department for Work and Pensions’ National Insurance Number Allocations to Overseas Nationals data. This is available at Government Office Region and Local Authority level, and gives an indication of economic migration to an area by providing data on the number of migrants registering for a National Insurance number in a given area by the migrant’s country of origin.
However, there are caveats to this data. For example, it does not provide information on non-working migrants, such as non-working family members that an economic migrant may bring with them, and migrants do not always stay in an area that they register for a National Insurance number in.
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Response provided free of charge
We received an enquiry from Business Link, who were interested in learning more about deprivation in Coventry and Warwickshire.
In response, we provided data from the recently released 2007 Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) for each lower super output area (LSOA) in Warwickshire and Coventry, and calculated the quintile of deprivation nationally e.g. the LSOAs that fell within the 20% most deprived nationally, and locally e.g. the 20% most deprived LSOAs in Coventry and Warwickshire relative to one another.
We then presented the results of the local quintile IMD results in a colour coded map to show which areas were most deprived in Warwickshire and Coventry. Darker colours indicate higher levels of deprivation. The map showed that the most deprived LSOAs were clustered around Coventry, Nuneaton and Atherstone.
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Response provided free of charge
The Fair Finance Consortium approached the Observatory to access data to assist them in identifying growth and decline of industrial sectors in the West Midlands. They needed data on employment and entrepreneurial activity to inform the 2007/08 Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFI) Direct Marketing Strategy.
In response to the employment aspect of the enquiry, we presented Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) data in tables and charts, from 2003 to 2005, to show employment by each of Advantage West Midlands’ delivery mechanisms: clusters, urban and rural areas, high technology corridors and regeneration zones.
The data revealed that the five sectors employing the highest number of people in the region from 2003 to 2005 remained unchanged (health and social care, retail trade, other business activities, education, and hotels and restaurants).
Although limited data was available on regional entrepreneurial activity for the enterprise element of the enquiry, we provided Small Business Service (SBS) data on the number of VAT registrations and de-registrations by broad industrial groups, to give an indication of the number of business start ups and closures.
In addition, we were aware of the annual survey of entrepreneurship undertaken by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Consortium, and were able to signpost the Fair Finance Consortium to their publications. The GEM UK 2006 report provides regional data on entrepreneurial activity by gender and entrepreneurial intentions, alongside UK data on entrepreneurial activity by qualifications, occupation, income, ethnicity and birthplace. The GEM West Midlands 2006 regional summary analyses entrepreneurial activity data for the West Midlands and compares this with other regions to draw together key points for the region.
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Response provided at a charge of £650 + VAT
Severn Trent Water requested that the Observatory produce a demographic profile for customers within the Severn Trent water and sewerage boundaries at lower super output area (LSOA) level. LSOAs are a Census unit of geography that have a minimum population of 1,000 people and mean population of 1,500.
Severn Trent Water was particularly interested in Census and Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) data. Severn Trent Water provided a map with the water and sewerage boundaries on, which we overlaid onto an LSOA map to identify which LSOAs fell within the boundaries by best fit. The Severn Trent sewerage boundaries were slightly different to the water boundaries, so when including the LSOAs in an Excel table, we flagged up which they were: water, sewerage or both.
We then sourced the Census indicators from Neighbourhood Statistics and Indices of Multiple Deprivation data from the Department for Communities and Local Government, and used Excel to extract data that fell within the boundaries, which we presented in a table.
Severn Trent were also interested in finding a way of identifying where particular LSOAs were. We signposted them to an interactive map produced by the Office for National Statistics which shows where LSOAs are located against a background map of road networks.
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Response provided at a charge of £800 + VAT
The Observatory received an enquiry from Advantage West Midlands who wanted to learn more about deprivation in two Warwickshire towns: Leamington Spa and Stratford.
We assisted with this enquiry by proposing to produce a profile of each town. To develop the profiles, we analysed a series of indicators across three themes: demographics, education and skills, and employment and the labour market, and compared data for each town against regional and national data. The results were presented in two short thematic reports with commentary and a series of charts.
The demographic theme analysed data on the number of people living in the 20% most deprived areas nationally (according to the 2004 Indices of Multiple Deprivation), the age distribution and the ethnic profile of each town.
Meanwhile the education and skills theme reported on the proportion of students achieving 5 or more GCSEs at A-C grade and the proportion of the population with level 2 qualifications or higher.
Finally, the employment and labour market theme provided data on employment by industry, the proportion of the working age population claiming working age client group benefits and household income.
Although data for Leamington Spa and Stratford was not readily available, we were able to aggregate data from lower geographies to provide data for each town. However, one of the barriers to producing the profiles was that some data is only available at local authority level and cannot be extracted for smaller areas, such as Gross Value Added data from ONS Regional Accounts.
One of the key findings of the report was that, despite Leamington Spa’s relatively low claimant rates and higher than average skills levels, compared to the regional and national averages, analysis of CACI paycheck data revealed that nearly half (45.5%) of the households in Leamington Spa had an income below £25,000 in 2004. This was less than the regional average household income of £29,276 and the UK average of £30,992, reported by ONS Regional Profile.
