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Cumbria Research and Analysis Group - introduction and overview

Map of Cumbria Districts

The Cumbria Research and Analysis Group was established in February 2007.  The group brings together key information contacts from organisations across the county including: 

- Cumbria County Council
- Cumbria Primary Care Trust
- Cumbria Police (CuPS)
- Cumbria Fire and Rescue
- Carlisle City Council
- West Cumbria Strategic Co-ordination Unit
- Invest in Cumbria
- Cumbria Economic Intelligence Partnership (CEIP)
- Centre for Regional Economic Development (CRED)
- Cumbria Vision

The aim of the Group is to provide a comprehensive and responsive information and intelligence service to its partners, councillors, officers, and members of the public.  It will enhance research and information analysis capacity across Cumbria by a joint working approach.  

The Group will work to develop a common approach to undertaking and commissioning research.

The Group will provide a wide-ranging analysis for key strategies including the  Sustainable Cumbria Community Strategy, the Cumbrian Local Area Agreement and the Comprehensive Area Assessment. 

To summarise, the purpose of the Group is to:

  1. Continue to develop a network of analysis and research professionals to source and share information, analysis, best practise and ideas. 
  2. Enhance the knowledge base of what information is available about Cumbria and its residents. 
  3. Share all relevant research and analysis between partner agencies effectively and make publicly available, where appropriate. 
  4. Minimise the duplication of effort in evidence-gathering and the production of profiles, briefings and reports to inform policy development. 
  5. Enable individuals to identify opportunities where information can be used to inform policy making across Cumbria. 
  6. Ensure timely, local, information is available to respond to requests and identify priorities for improvement. 
  7. Where appropriate, facilitate the sharing of data and improve the accessibility of it for all partners. 

To find out more about its partners, please follow the links provided in the menu on the left.

 

Meetings

You can view the agendas, minutes, and supporting papers of the meetings held (for the last 12 months) by following the links below...

 

Data Interchange Project

April 4th 2008 saw the launch of the Data Interchange Hub.   Over the last few months Cumbria has been working with other local authorities in the North West, Government Office North West, the Audit Commission, other government departments and Informed Solutions to develop a Data Interchange Hub.   The Hub is a mass storage area for all of the National Indicators. However, currently there are between 80-90 indicators with any data on.   The data for the remaining indicators are those that are to be collected at a later date, e.g. the Place Survey.   This data that is available is the same as that on the Floor Target Interactive (FTI) website.   The data for the indicators will be put on initially by central government departments, except for 16 (less than 10% of the total indicators) which will be inputted locally with a similar form as the Audit Commission EDC.   However, the majority of these indicators are not to be reported on until April 2009.

The current capabilities of the Hub are that users are allowed for data to be viewed and downloaded, not just from your own local authority, but from all authorities in England therefore making it possible for comparisons and benchmarking to take place. Data on the Hub will be regularly updated as soon as the data is available. The Hub will be available to all partners as a shared evidence base (RCU, GO, LSP, Audit Commission, central and other Government Departments).

The future for the Hub is to move away from being a mass storage unit and for individual local authorities to have system-to-system transfer capabilities so data can be used in the Collect Once Use Numerous Times (COUNT) principle.   The Hub has not got any analytical capabilities it is simply an area to download data into MS Excel.   For analytical tools the use of the Floor Target Interactive (FTI) website can be used, the information in the FTI is the same as that on the Hub.  

Administrators of the Hub are to be decided by GONW, users will then be decided by local partners.

To find out more about the project, please contact Owen David, Performance Information Analyst, on 01228 226699 or at the email address below.

 

Useful contacts

For more information about the Cumbria Research and Analysis Group, please contact Dr. Dan Bloomer, Senior Policy Officer - Information & Intelligence, Cumbria County Council, on 01228 226684.   Alternatively, you can email Dan at the email address below...

 

Cumbria Research and Analysis Group

Here you will find details of the latest available data and reports...