National Lottery Charities Board South West

South-West Regional Office Strategic Plan 1999-2002

Context

• The importance of the voluntary sector is increasingly recognised by government. Speaking to the National Council of Voluntary Organisations in January 1999, the Prime Minister said: �Government cannot achieve its aims without the energy and commitment of others - voluntary organisations, business, and the wider public. That is why the Third Sector is such an important part of the Third Way�.
• The size of the voluntary sector in the South West is still being mapped. According to one estimate, 17,000 voluntary organisations employ 120,000 people, enlist the help of 494,000 volunteers and turn over £1.75 billion per year, representing 4.7% of regional GDP. It is a substantial economic and social player.
• The National Lottery Charities Board has distributed £56.5 million in the South West since 1995, making it the biggest independent funder of the voluntary sector. There is a high level of demand for our funds.
• Key factors for the Board are a disparity between need and the demand for our funds in the region, and the uneven capacity of the charitable and voluntary organisations through which funds reach our beneficiaries.

Vision

• The mission of the Charities Board is to give grants to meet the needs of those at greatest need in society and improve the quality of life in the community.
• The Board�s Regional Awards Committee plans to: target disadvantage in the region; discriminate between high quality bids if there are insufficient funds; fund more and better bids from areas which it wants to target; and identify gaps in funding. It has laid down some points of principle to enable it to make fair and objective choices.
• The Committee plans to give high priority to the following: people in dispersed and isolated rural communities; older people; people on low incomes; young people and children; black and minority ethnic groups; projects which support the infrastructure of the voluntary sector where it is weak.
• We seek to work with regional partners to refine these priorities and the means of achieving them.

1. Overview

1.1 Introduction

Disadvantage and poverty are not words that visitors, and many incomers, to the south west of England readily associate with the region. A largely desirable environment and regionally-based indicators mask rather than reveal the nature of need in a part of the country where poverty and plenty are side by side and, for many, busy - if low-paid - tourist seasons are followed by long stretches of unemployment. The key to tackling need in a region which includes pockets of multiple deprivation as severe as anywhere in England lies in developing a detailed understanding on a District and sub-District basis.

A lack of hard indicators has also masked the work of the voluntary sector in addressing need, and its contribution to the region�s economy. A recent report , however, suggests that the sector in Devon and Cornwall accounts for up to 4.7% of GDP, and other work in the region is confirming its importance as a player in the region�s economy and development.

1.2 Disparity

While this, the largest English region, is regarded as a unit for administrative purposes, it does not cohere. In Cornwall GDP is 69% of the average of European regions, while the south west regional average is 90%.

Despite the relatively large size of Bristol, there is no natural functional centre. The distance by road from Land�s End to Broadway (just inside the Worcestershire border) is 247 miles, and to Bournemouth 191 miles. Against the excellent road and rail communications enjoyed by the north east of the region must be set the remoteness of the west and poor road and rail links elsewhere.

There are marked differences in the strength and sophistication of the voluntary sector, and of the infrastructure supporting it, across the region. These are attributable to a number of factors, and while they sometimes run parallel with economic disparities, this is not always the case. Any attempt to tackle need by using the voluntary sector will need to address the weaknesses in the sector�s infrastructure.

1.3 Activities of the Charities Board

Our function is to distribute lottery funding to voluntary groups. From December 1995 to January 1999 2,415 organisations in the south west received a total of £56,457,669. While, in relation to government spending on need and social exclusion, the sum is very small, grantmaking on this scale is of some magnitude and novelty in voluntary sector terms, and is likely to have outcomes beyond the basic grantmaking process. For example:

• Analysis

  The process of grantmaking on this scale has already generated a body of data and knowledge about the voluntary sector, and best practice within it, that has not previously existed in the region. It is an archive of knowledge, and a responsibility, which we are learning how to use. It may also help inform the policy making and activities of others in the region.

• Development

  Our influence begins with the application process and continues after it. The Board�s desire to set standards in areas such as user involvement and equal opportunities will influence organisations making themselves fit to apply to us. Through our grant management process we will learn more about best practice in the region, and will want to share this with others.

1.4 Towards regional priorities

Our objective is to enable the voluntary sector to tackle disadvantage and low quality of life. We must do this in areas and by means that are appropriate to the sector�s special strengths, in particular its ability to complement the role of statutory bodies, and to pioneer new ways of meeting need. We cannot meet needs that cannot be met through voluntary action. This limitation helps define where and to what extent our funds can make a strategic contribution, alone and in partnership with other agencies meeting needs in the region.

In building its priorities, the Charities Board seeks to work with the grain of voluntary sector activity and with other funders. We must also work in ways that are appropriate to our role as a grantmaker, able to choose between bids, but unable to meet needs unless fundable bids are made to us.

Recognising and prioritising the needs which can best be addressed through funding the voluntary sector is thus only a preliminary step to making a difference to those whose needs must be met. Through continued dialogue with our partners we will refine our priorities and working methods.

The Regional Awards Committee (RAC) works within themes set by the Board, and relates these to priority needs in the region. It is now developing its priorities further, and will seek to prioritise on the basis of:

• Groups of people (e.g. young people, older people)
• Levels of deprivation at District level and below
• Statements of principle to enable objective discrimination between bids of equal technical quality.

These different types of priority are discussed in section 3.

2. Voluntary sector needs

2.1 Background

As in many other ways, this is a region of contrasts, with good voluntary networks in certain areas, notably Devon, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. Cornwall presents a mixed picture, with much assistance available to grantseekers in the west of the county. In Dorset and Somerset the sector is less well developed and more �traditional� in character. This is reflected in a lower overall number of successful applications from these counties. Even in counties where infrastructure is poorer, however, there are examples of good practice. In South Somerset, for example, there is a strong District Council area-based community development team.

The basic support system for voluntary organisations is supplied in most parts by Councils for Voluntary Service (CVS) and, in rural areas, Rural Community Councils (RCC). Members of both networks of organisations are sometimes known by different names - the Dorset RCC, for example, is called Dorset Community Action. Beyond this system, which itself is not uniform in the support it offers across the region, are a number of county and district-wide networks and fora, including Volunteer Bureaux and Racial Equality Councils. The extent to which these work as general support networks for their constituencies varies widely.

2.2 Regionalisation in the South West

In its scoping paper Regionalisation and the Voluntary Sector the NCVO identified the establishment of Government Offices for the Regions as a significant factor driving funding and representation issues. Although the South West�s lack of coherence, mentioned above, is not making regionalisation a natural or easy process - voices for Cornwall and Wessex sound louder, sometimes, than voices for the region as a whole - the advent of the Regional Development Agency is giving added impetus to the voluntary sector�s efforts to respond and act on a regional level. As it and the Regional Assembly develop, the Charities Board will be ready to support the sector, as one of the social partners in regional regeneration.

The voluntary sector took significant steps towards developing its regional presence during 1998 with the launch of the South West Forum as the voice of the voluntary and community sector in the region. As a regionalised organisation, the Charities Board welcomes the development of regional structures in the voluntary sector, and seeks to support and work with them.

The change in working patterns following the arrival of unitary authorities in Avon, Wiltshire, Dorset and Devon has had, or may have, some adverse effects on the voluntary sector. In the former county of Avon and in Wiltshire, county-wide organisations have been affected by unwillingness on the part of new authorities to support work outside their boundaries. There are also signs that new unitary authorities are institutionalising a sense of difference from the former authority area which affects the ability to build informal partnership arrangements across boundaries that is a strength of the voluntary sector.

2.3 Statutory sector support for voluntary organisations

Local authority support and understanding is vital to the well-being of voluntary activity. A correlation is emerging between numbers of grants made by the Charities Board and the level of support - financial, in kind, advice and help - offered by local authorities to their local sector. In some parts of the region where need is great, lack of local authority involvement at voluntary and community level is making it especially difficult for the Board to target its funds at needs it has identified.

The support of local authorities is given to the voluntary sector not only through service level agreements or grants to local Councils for Voluntary Service, Rural Community Councils and other voluntary sector support agencies, but also through a variety of mechanisms which stimulate and sustain voluntary action. These range from fund-raising support through Lottery Officers, to sophisticated models of community and voluntary sector development; the development of CVSs in Gloucester and Cheltenham is led by their local authorities. The ability of the voluntary sector to act as a magnet for external funding, as well as to be a social asset and cost-effective provider of services, is becoming more widely recognised.

Our grantmaking and development work, as it takes root, will offer insights into effective practices in supporting voluntary activity, drawn from the widely differing levels of voluntary activity and statutory support for it across the region. We are well placed to become a source of information on successful practice for local authorities and others across the region.

For our aim of helping to build good infrastructure for the voluntary sector throughout the region to be achieved, we must work with local authorities on the issues which affect our customer organisations. These extend beyond the grants which we make, to the means by which the culture of voluntarism and the social economy are supported and developed.

2.4 Geographical features in distribution of grants

Viewed geographically, the distribution of NLCB grants to areas of greatest need in the south west has been generally successful in our main grants programmes, with a significant relationship between deprivation scores and amounts awarded. There is some regional variation. West Devon and Exeter have submitted a higher number of quality bids than, at the other end of the scale, Tewkesbury, Torbay, Torridge and Weymouth & Portland. A report prepared for the regional office explored the reasons for low rates of application and award in Tewkesbury, Torbay and Weymouth & Portland. It revealed a number of complex issues, including lack of networking and sources of advice and information. Each District exhibited a different set of features, making comparison difficult. In none of the Districts, however, did the local authority take a leading part - or in some cases any worthwhile part - in supporting the local voluntary sector in cash or kind. Voluntary support agencies tended to be weak.

The small grants pilot scheme, which opened in February 1997, has also achieved a good relationship between distribution and need. Its success in reaching small groups in rural areas is notable, and is compensating for the strength of the more professional voluntary agencies in cities, which have done better under the main grants scheme. It is also becoming clear, however, that the smallest and least experienced groups, for whom the scheme was designed, need help and encouragement to make applications: there is an observable relationship between effective support work by individuals known to us, and grants made.

If the scheme is to become a useful tool which �entry level� community groups can use to grow, and other small groups use to sustain their activities, it is likely that the means to make this happen are in the hands of local development agencies and helper organisations, both statutory and voluntary, rather than the Board.

2.5 Targeting needs

Just as a broad view of the south west suggests a picture which belies the disparities and complexities within it, so a broad view of the Board�s success in targeting need in the south west has its shortcomings. Reaching need is hard where the voluntary infrastructure is poor and the application window short, as in our early themed rounds.

We are beginning to discover an inverse relationship between need and voluntary sector capacity or provision in some significant areas. Since, as grantmakers, we rely on others to be the means to our ends, we cannot contribute to meeting identified needs until we receive fundable bids. The existence of organisations with the capacity to bid to us is a pre-requisite sometimes lacking in areas of disadvantage we wish to help. For example:

• The network of organisations which offer specific support to older people is relatively poor in the south west, despite their over-representation in the population. Since people with disabilities are over-represented among elderly people, as are those suffering from isolation, more than one group with priority needs becomes difficult to reach because insufficient organisations directly serve older people. We believe, however, that many non-age-related organisations, such as village halls, help to fill the gaps.
• In our Health, disability and care round we were advised that teenage pregnancy and people suffering from depression, especially in rural areas, were areas where voluntary intervention would be especially helpful, and complementary to statutory provision. We targeted these areas, but received no bids. The Government�s White Paper (The New NHS - Modern - Dependable) emphasises local partnership - which is likely to include the voluntary sector - and it will be interesting to see whether this will develop initiatives capable of attracting Charities Board funding.

To make a real difference will require development work over a significant period of time to enable organisations to emerge which can meet needs. Over the longer term, our capacity-building strand, and strategic work with our regional partners, will be vital in achieving this.

2.6 Conclusion

The Board�s mission to tackle disadvantage and low quality of life can be met only through the medium of voluntary organisations. The first step towards this goal in areas of need where applications are not forthcoming - which are not only geographical - is to create and support groups which are fit to apply. The Board cannot do this directly. But by its support of voluntary sector development bodies through its grants programmes, and by working with those in the statutory sector who also do this work, it is seeking to achieve this. It also looks forward to developing more sophisticated methods of grantmaking, perhaps through commissioning or tendering, to achieve its aims. It will, nevertheless, be a slow process.

3. Resource allocation

3.1 Demand for grants in the South West

The dominant feature of the Board�s grantmaking in the south west has been the large number of quality bids which we receive. We have a high level of demand in this region with many voluntary organisations, a tradition of self-help and a distinct lack of funding from other sources. There are relatively few local grantmaking trusts, with national ones often viewing the south west as of low priority. As this is predominantly a region of small businesses, private sector support is also weak.

This means that the gap between what is asked for and what we can give is wide, with inevitable disappointment. Many bids have been rejected solely because of insufficient funds: in our 4th grants round no less than 16% of applications were unsuccessful for this reason. We have funded about one in seven applications made to us in our main grants programmes. There is no reason to suppose that this situation will change.

Running alongside this budget pressure is the fact that the overall pattern of applications does not match the pattern of needs as we would wish. It was pointed out above that the network of organisations serving the needs of elderly people is poor, despite the south west having the highest percentage of elderly in any region. Similar mismatches occur with other target groups, especially dispersed rural populations, pointing to a variety of structural and attitudinal problems to be overcome before we get a better spread of competent organisations operating in fields were the true needs are. There is therefore a need to strike a balance between funding the strongest bids, and enabling weaker areas to develop.

It is against this complex background that the Regional Awards Committee is developing priorities which will enable it to recommend the best fit of grants to meet the region�s needs and the Board�s priorities, and enable it to discriminate objectively between bids.

3.2 Developing priorities and discrimination

The RAC is identifying priorities because it believes these will help it to:

• Target disadvantage in the region;
• Discriminate between high quality bids;
• Fund more and better bids from areas which it wants to target;
• Achieve consistent application of policy;
• Identify gaps in funding

Regional priorities are set with regard to priorities set at corporate level. The RAC, to date, has sought to refine these priorities to meet regional needs. In the fourth grants round, New opportunities and choices and Voluntary sector development, the Board decided to encourage applications from minority ethnic communities, small organisations, projects based in rural communities and low income communities. These priorities fitted in well with the RAC�s view of regional needs.

In the fifth grants round, Improving people�s living environment and Voluntary sector development, the RAC decided to give special consideration to the needs of young people, those on low incomes and people living in rural areas.

The RAC is now discussing strategic planning and priority setting, and is beginning to identify three different kinds of approach or priorities which would be used in combination with each other:

3.3 Groups of people

While considerations specific to each grants programme will focus attention on particular needs within the region, it is likely that the following sections of the community will remain a high priority:

• People in dispersed rural communities, and need arising from isolation;
• Meeting the needs of elderly people;
• Targeting low income groups;
• Young people and children;
• Minority ethnic groups;
• Supporting the infrastructure of the voluntary sector and developing it where it is weak.

3.4 Deprivation as measured by indices and other indicators

Regardless of their social grouping, people suffer stress when living in disadvantaged areas. These areas can, to a great measure, be identified by statistical means. As a starting point, the RAC will use the DETR�s Index of Local Deprivation, while being aware of the weaknesses of this Index in measuring rural deprivation. Notwithstanding these, it remains the standard means of comparison, especially with other English regions.

Since disadvantage and deprivation occur in small pockets in areas which do not appear to be in need according to the ILD, however, local policies and studies are a better guide to the complexities of need below District level. Analysis of need at this level can only be achieved through partnership and exchange of information with relevant local and regional bodies, notably: local authorities, GOSW, universities and voluntary bodies. Increasingly, local authorities and others are producing anti-poverty analyses and strategies, community development strategies, and studies of needs (examples of which are used in this document). These are all needed to inform our work, and we ask our partners to make it their responsibility to let us have information which will enable us to meet the needs of their communities better.

Prevention

There is an important caveat to the use of material of this kind. Once a need appears as a statistic, it exists, and the option of prevention is lost. Sensitivity to new needs, and new ways of meeting them, is a particular strength of the voluntary sector. We will recognise this by allowing a convincing case from a bidder to override a statistically-expressed or conventional view of need where this is appropriate. To prevent a need from arising is more valuable than tackling it once it has, and indicators of need can never help with this.

3.5 General Principles/Approaches

In addition to objective measurements of need as seen by statistics, and decisions to view particular groups of people as priorities, the RAC is keen to make a number of statements of general principle to assist in discriminating objectively between bids. The high number of good bids, and consequent pressure on the budget, emphasises the need for this. The following are preliminary statements of principle:

• Projects which focus on prevention and sustainability will in general be preferred to those which focus on crisis intervention.
• Recognising that new ideas and approaches often emerge from the voluntary sector, we will be prepared to take risks and reserve the right to fund bids rating less well on management and other general criteria where disadvantage and need are strongly demonstrated.
• We recognise that some of the neediest parts of the region already attract large amounts of funding from other sources, such as local authority, government and European funding. We wish to ensure that our funds reach areas and groups which have less access to funding, especially areas of need which fall outside places where funds are more readily available. Suburban areas and market and coastal towns might be examples of this. We also recognise, however, that small groups sometimes fail to benefit from large-scale government programmes, and will always need access to programmes such as ours.
• Value for money. We will regard the ability of an applicant to attract support from other sources (including self-generated funds) as a strength; support may be in the form of cash, help-in-kind, volunteers and partnerships. We also recognise, however, that there may be good reasons why partnership funding is not available.

Appendix 1

SUMMARY OF CONSULTATION 1998 IN THE SOUTH WEST

1. Background

The regional consultation exercise was carried out as part of the Board�s national Consultation 1998 exercise, the third such consultation by the Board.

In September 4,000 consultation leaflets were circulated in the region to our voluntary sector and statutory sector contact organisations, all holders of our main grants, a random selection of small grant holders and failed applicants, and to public libraries throughout the region. Of these, 114 were returned to NOP Research Group, which produced a national and regional analysis (this return rate was comparable to other parts of the country). Eleven written responses were sent directly to the South West office.

Eight public meetings were held between 2 and 18 November in Camborne, Bridport, Taunton, Plymouth, Bristol, Bournemouth, Salisbury and Cheltenham. These attracted a total of 278 people. Ten representatives attended a seminar for regional bodies at our offices on 25 November.

There are good reasons to be cautious in interpreting the data gleaned. The sample of interested groups and people in the region is small, and certainly incomplete. While the results are quantitively unreliable, however, the strength of opinion shown on many of the main areas of interest to us do give useful indicators for our work, and make a starting point for further discussion.

The headings below follow those in the Consultation 98 leaflet, the format of which was used to gather opinion at the public meetings. The references to comments at the meetings are intended only to give a flavour of the responses.

2. The Board�s current grants programmes

Respondents were asked to give their views of the current grants programmes. The response from all sources indicates a high level of approval of the two current main programmes, Community involvement and Poverty and disadvantage. At 58% against 42% nationally, the South West region demonstrated the greatest enthusiasm of any region or country. Notwithstanding this, comments made at meetings suggested that there is yet scope for change - some feel the programmes overlap, and others take the view that three year grants are not adequate to establish projects and build sustainability.

The popularity of the Small grants programme shown in the public meetings was more than reflected in the survey results, with the region again giving it the highest approval rating in the UK, at 69%. The question was raised of the suitability of the scheme for the larger urban areas, where grass-roots organisation often have an employee, thus putting them outside the scope of the scheme.

3. Other areas of social need/disadvantaged groups

Nation-wide, respondents gave extremely wide-ranging responses to the question of other broad areas of social need the Board should fund. In the South West, on the other hand, some clear indicators emerged. The only areas scoring more than 10% (excluding don�t knows) were rural development at 15% and community transport (often, but by no means exclusively a rural issue) at 18%.

Some clear opinions also emerged on any groups of disadvantaged people the Board should target in the region. Young people were the highest scoring category at 18%, followed by older people at 13%. 12% mentioned social exclusion, 11% unemployment and 9% people with disabilities. These results reflect views expressed at the open meetings.

Other suggestions frequently made in the meetings were sustainability and the environment, and families. The fact that these did not register as strongly in the questionnaire results should not be taken to indicate that they do not command strong support in the region.

4. Regional Needs

When asked about the particular needs of the region, respondents were referred to a summary of the regional strategy enclosed with the leaflet. In meetings they were told about the Board�s suggested regional priorities and given the opportunity to comment briefly on them. In the limited time available for discussion the priority areas were greeted with general approval. The main suggestion for addition to the list of priorities was specific mention of people with disabilities and mental health issues. A more frequent comment, however, was that the list of priorities was already so wide as to cover most regional needs.

The postal survey returns echoed responses to earlier questions, highlighting rural issues, at 42%, as the key issue for respondents. Other priorities which scored significantly above the national average were voluntary sector development, deprivation/social exclusion, children/young people and older people. Priority for black/minority ethnic groups at 13% compared to the national average of 14%.

It would seem from this that the Board�s regional priorities command a high level of acceptance.

5. Other issues raised at meetings

The format of the open meetings encouraged attendees to raise any issues relevant to the Board that they wished. Four subjects were frequently raised in meetings, and in the written responses received at the office:

• The Board�s relationship with local authorities was a steady theme. The broad consensus was that we should continue with an independent approach. Local authorities were not universally trusted to make good judgements on voluntary sector issues.
• Eligibility. It is known in the region that many organisations, especially in the field of economic development, are legally ineligible for the Board�s funding. This remains a cause of some resentment, even when the background to the issue is explained.
• Assessment. There were calls for our process to be made even more transparent.
• Measurement of need. The ILD is not accepted as a significant improvement on the ILC by many who responded, but the region�s commitment to measuring need at sub-District level was welcomed by all.

Appendix 2

OVERVIEW OF THE SOUTH WEST REGION

1. Demography

Using the area classification, the South West has the highest proportion of its population in the whole of Great Britain living in rural areas - 47% against the national average of 18%. 50% of the population live in rural areas or towns of fewer than 20,000, and another 30% in widely scattered towns of 100,000 plus. This adversely affects the affordability and availability of services and goods of many kinds, and makes it difficult to sustain viable small communities, or a lively voluntary sector. While these factors particularly affect Somerset and Cornwall (the most sparsely populated county with 1.34 persons per hectare), which have no conurbations, the reallocation of resources following the setting-up of new unitary authorities can be expected to exacerbate the problems arising from rural sparsity in Wiltshire, Dorset and Devon. Sparsity is also an issue in Gloucestershire.

The proportion of elderly people in the region is above the national average, with one in five of the population a pensioner. At more than 30%, Christchurch, West Somerset and East Devon are among the four local authorities in the UK with the highest proportion of pensioners. It is fair to assume that elderly people suffer disproportionately from isolation, illness and poverty

1.4% of the population belong to a minority ethnic community, one of the lowest rates in England, compared to 5.5% for Great Britain as a whole. It is thought, however, that the actual numbers may be somewhat higher than recorded in the last census. While the ethnic minority population is concentrated in Bristol, Gloucester and Swindon, the isolation of the remainder is acute, increasing vulnerability to incidents of harassment and ignorance on the part of the majority population.

Population growth in the last decade has been greater than in any other region in Great Britain, and the population - currently just under 5 million or 8% of the UK population - is projected to grow by nearly 11% between 1996 and 2016. In-migration is a significant factor, with 20% of all recorded movements between UK regions in 1996 into or out of the South West.

2. Poverty and Deprivation

While deprivation is woven into a pattern that, viewed from a distance, suggests well-being, it is nevertheless fair to conclude that the counties of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorset and old Avon (excluding Bristol) are comparatively less deprived than the counties that lie to their west, which show near uniform levels of disadvantage unmatched �up country�. This is shown strikingly by the Index of Local Deprivation (ILD). After Bristol, ranked as the region�s most deprived authority at 69 in the national table by degree score, follows Penwith (77), Plymouth (83), Kerrier (86), Torbay (97) and Bournemouth (105) . Of the next five authorities, four are Cornish Districts. All the available evidence shows that Cornwall is one of the lowest waged counties in England.

This general picture should not allow the levels of deprivation in all major urban areas to be forgotten. As well as Plymouth and Bristol, Torbay, Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Exeter and Gloucester occur repeatedly in the tables of deprivation, with a number of wards among the most deprived in the country. On the ILC intensity measure, Bristol, Plymouth and Bournemouth clearly exhibit severe deprivation in their worst wards. Plymouth ranks 14th among English Districts in the intensity of deprivation suffered in its three most deprived wards (St Peter, Sutton and Keyham). Bournemouth, Bristol, Torbay and Gloucester are in the 25% most deprived English Districts on this measure. Intense deprivation at ward level is also found in Bath, Weymouth & Portland, Cheltenham, Exeter, North Devon, Teignbridge, Torbay, Salisbury and Swindon.

Deprivation measured on the basis of the total population of an area gives no indication of how different sectors of that population are affected. In Dorset, older people and lone person households predominate among those receiving means-tested benefits, with pensioners making up 37.5% of the benefit population. In Wiltshire, the county�s dispersed settlement structure is an important factor in masking key aspects of poverty and social exclusion.

3. Unemployment

Economic difficulties for the region include a reducing in-migration of firms, the small proportion of overseas investment, over-dependency on defence, and a proliferation of bodies involved in the region�s economic development, which leads to fragmentation of effort. The rural and coastal parts of the region are particularly affected by the difficulties of the farming and fishing industries.

There are considerable strengths, however: an attractive environment, a good supply of business and professional services, a skilled and growing labour force, and a greater spend on research and development than any other region. There is also potential to benefit from the expanding demand for leisure and tourism.

Unemployment is highest in the west of the region, and along the coastal fringes. The regional rate of unemployment (November 1998, Labour Force Survey) was 4.7%. In the Newquay travel-to-work area in December, however, the level was 10.7%, while in Cirencester it stood at just 1.2%. Long-term unemployment may be under-stated in areas with a high level of tourism-generated seasonal employment, once again a feature predominating in the west of the region.

Unemployment among young people is higher than in the UK as a whole in 17 Districts, most notably in Plymouth, Caradon, Restormel, Sedgemoor, Weymouth and North Cornwall. For people aged 25 and over, but under state pension age, who have been out of work for at least six months, the UK average rate of unemployment is exceeded in Bournemouth, Poole, Bristol, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Bath and West Devon.

4. Health

Mortality statistics suggest that the region as a whole is relatively healthy. Allowing for age structure, mortality in the South West is the lowest in the UK and the infant mortality rate (deaths in the first year of life expressed per thousand live births) in 1995 was 5.5 in the South and West compared to 6.2 in the UK as a whole. While adult mortality rates are below the English average, the general pattern of disparity in the region follows into the region�s health, with premature mortality (16-64 age group) particularly high in those wards associated with high material deprivation.

The average GP list size is slightly lower than the English average of 1,870, at between 1,700 and 1,799. Hospital patients are seen more quickly than in all but one other region, with 77.6% seen in less than 6 months.

5. Education

The region as a whole has fewer that the English average number of school leavers with no GCSEs, but, except in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, fewer leave school with 2 or more A Levels. Class sizes stand at, or very near, the national average, though LEA expenditure per pupil is below the English average. While the South West performs well against national averages in higher education, A level and GCSE, only 44% of three and four year olds were in schools in 1996/7, the lowest proportion in England.

Youth and community education has suffered severe cuts in shire counties. Overall in the south west there is a low level of statutory provision for early education for young children. Underachievement among boys and school exclusions are particular worries, and six out of every ten pupils excluded from Bristol schools are black.

6. Housing

The lack of affordable housing stock has long been identified as a problem in rural areas of the south west, with in-migration from regions where house values are higher, and the demand for second and retirement homes pushing up prices. A report for Gloucestershire Rural Community Council identified two groups for whom affordability and access to housing was a particular problem. Firstly, low-income single people - especially young people - who cannot easily access social housing, yet find it hard to be accepted for private sector accommodation; and secondly, those whose higher income precluded access to social housing, but who still have difficulties renting or buying, because of insecure income or high costs in certain areas.

Research from another part of the region suggests that the problem may be under-estimated by conventional measures, with significant numbers of �concealed households� where accommodation is shared out of necessity rather than choice. It is estimated that 6% of households in Christchurch Borough contain another household seeking independent accommodation. This is a higher figure than the Census data, which do not include single person concealed households .

The region suffers a high level of street homelessness, being one of the three highest in England, indicated by street counts. It is estimated that over 50 people sleep rough on a typical night in each of Exeter, Bristol, Torbay and Swindon, and 66% of the region�s local authorities have over 10 rough sleepers on any typical night. While rough sleeping is most noticeable in towns, 50% of homeless young people in Devon live in rural areas. Two in five of these are 16 or 17 years old.

7. Environmental degradation indicators

The south west is noted for its pleasant environment - 37% of the region�s land area is covered by a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Active china clay workings, however, scar part of the Cornish landscape.

The population of the western end of the region pays a high price for maintaining and improving water quality. Average household bills for water and sewerage in the South West Water area were the highest in England in 1998-99 at £354, compared to the lowest in the country, Thames at £201.