The indicators have been grouped into eight themes covering the main areas of interest in local economic development activity:

Employment
Earnings & Skills
Economic Vitality
Demography & Deprivation
Town Centres & Tourism
Workforce Development & Employability
Investment
Business & Social Enterprise Support

A guidance manual provides a full explanation of the indicators together with detailed definitions. The guidance is best viewed 'on-screen', rather than in paper format, as it contains hyperlinks to assist with accessing information and data sources.

View guidance manual
 PDF version (342Kb)
 Microsoft Word version (725Kb)

'Future-proofing' the indicators

The challenges facing those involved in economic regeneration will inevitably change over time. Some of the issues that this set of indicators addressed may not be so relevant in the future. Other aspects of regeneration may well assume greater significance and hence require monitoring (and the development of appropriate indicators).

The Audit Commission recognises this and proposes – subject to the necessary resources being available – to:

1. periodically review and update the guidance on the indicators (including sources of data and definitions) to ensure continued relevance;
2. act as a focal point for feedback from practitioners on the indicators and respond to changing needs;
3. coordinate activity between relevant government departments and agencies to ensure a consistent approach is adopted in this field; and
4. provide a focus for annual data collection and sharing.

In addition, the economic regeneration performance indicators do not exist in a self contained 'silo'. The team responsible for their development has considered how this set of indicators relates to:

• the Commission's Area Profiles initiative (particularly the Economic Well-being theme);
• monitoring arrangements being developed by the Regional Development Agencies;
• the Government's Public Service Agreement targets in next Spending Review scheduled for 2007; and
• developments in the central/local government Local Area Agreements (particularly the monitoring arrangements for the new economic development theme).

As these developments progress, the opportunity will be taken to cross-reference or integrate the economic regeneration indicators.

Go to economic regeneration page