CENSUS 2001 ANALYSIS Headline Results for the North West

Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU) - Overview

BACKGROUND

Each Regional Development Agency (RDA) has a Research Team and each English region has a Regional Observatory which has been developed to support regional policy making, through the provision of high quality information and analysis. In the Northwest, the same team based at the Northwest Regional Development (NWDA) in Warrington undertakes both roles. We are the only region that does it in this way, every other region has separate RDA Research Team and Regional Observatory. The Regional Observatory in the Northwest is known as the Regional Intelligence Unit.

WHAT DO WE DO?

The Team has the cross-cutting theme of providing support to NWDA colleagues and regional partners. This is achieved by:

• Data & Analysis: Provision of support, advice, information, statistics and maps in response to direct requests to assist decisions, state facts or gauge improvement
• Monitoring & Benchmarking Data:Provide reference data to support documents that inform the work of the NWDAand Regional Partners.
• Consultations and Small Scale Surveys: Conducting further research/investigation where necessary and according to expertise and capacity, to support the Regional Strategy
• Commission Research: Provision of advice and support on commissioning research out to external providers to inform the Regional Strategyand better understand the regional economy. Managing any research projects directly commissioned
• Economic Assessment:Undertaking work on the economy. For example to better understand the Productivity Gap, the changing economy and to support the Regional Economic Forecasting Panel
• Briefings on Research/Policy:To provide briefings and summaries on datasets, research and policy to facilitate a better understanding of topics

THE RIU EXTRANET SITE

The Observatory role is primarily delivered via the Regional Intelligence Unit Extranet site The website provides access to information & data and displays any published work that the team undertakes. The site is free to access and customers can use the outputs to inform their understanding and work. Users can also opt to receive our quarterly newsletters which provide updates on the team’s work and any ad hoc mailings such as invites to events.

Areas of the site include:

•Products: The RIU produces a number of products to provide quick access to frequently asked questions for information and datasets.

• NW Pocket Databank:Contains information on the Northwest, its sub-regions and local authorities together with comparable data on the Northwest and other English regions
• Northwest and Sub Regional Profiles: Provide an overview of the Northwest plus each sub-region with data on population, labour market, business and the economy
• Northwest Economic Profile: Provides an overview of the Northwest Economy together with key facts on GVA, employment, earnings, entrepreneurship and migration
• Data Release Calendar:A summary of important data releases due out in the next two months

•Northwest Research Programme:Contains regular updates on the Northwest Research Programme together with final outputs from completed research such as reports and datasets

•Briefings & Summaries: On policy announcements, new datasetsor reports

•Regional Economic Forecasting Panel:The Panel produces two of state-of-the-region reports each year providing three year forecasts for the Northwest economy plus one long-term forecast report looking approximately 20 years ahead

•Summary of Economic Conditions:In light of the current economic climate the team now produces both weekly and monthly summaries which provide details of global, national and regional issues in light of the economic downturn together with the most up to date intelligence on how the global slowdown is affecting the Northwest.

•EMU GIS Tool:Users who are logged into the site can access our thematic mapping function and create their own maps using the data supplied

CONTACTING THE RIU

Should you be looking for data and cannot find it please do not hesitate to contact the team for advice. The team can be contacted by email or by telephone on 01925 400291. We are also available to undertake ad hoc enquiries (subject to workload and capacity).