Local Economies and Neighbourhood Renewal
The Ragged project is a developing a holistic social model that aims to help underpin local economies and foster economic regeneration in its activities. Economics is a fundamental part of everyone’s life, and is therefore an important consideration when developing such community enterprises.
To help inform the discussion the Ecoregen document produced by The Audit Commission was consulted. A series of indicators for economic regeneration of an area were laid out by the Audit Commission to facilitate the efficient and effective spending of public money. Kevin Ambrose was the key author of the Ecoregen document which was published in November 2005 from which this digest has been extrapolated to highlight elements.
Local Economic Regeneration Indicators were grouped into several themes
covering areas of local economic development activity:
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Employment Earnings and skills
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Economic vitality
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Demography and deprivation
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Town centres and tourism
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Workforce development and employability
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Investment Business and social enterprise support
The factors involved in economic regeneration are dynamic and change according to the time period and situation. The Audit Commission proposes itself to review and update indicators, act as a focal point for feed back, co-ordinate activity between government and agencies and facilitate consistent annual data collection and sharing.
This digest has been written to briefly introduce some of the issues looked at in the analysis of the economic well-being of an area. Organisations can improve performance by identifying good practice and learning from others. We would all like to be a part of a safe, prosperous, healthy community.
An egalitarian community where everyone has the right to the same opportunities, freedoms and respects. A community which evokes a sense of pride sufficient to make each individual feel invested in the whole and other individuals.
Thus people work hard to create thriving, sustainable and engaging communities which, as environments, improve everyone’s quality of life. Improving community environments involves:
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Making housing available, building better quality homes, and working to reduce the causes of homelessness and hence homelessness itself
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Making available and improving the local public services which facilitate economy and higher standards of living
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Developing areas financially to make paid work accessible through entrepreneurship, skill based education and capital enterprise
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Working to produce sustainable elements of community environment in terms of self supporting logistically thought out scheme
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Finding and implementing enlightened policy which addresses anti-social behaviour and socially negative extreme behaviour
The United Kingdom has necessarily become an inclusive culture and there is a responsibility to emphasize and underpin axioms of race and class equality to facilitate community cohesion. Without equality there lacks the trust and incentive required to hold together a cohesive and thriving society.