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Summary of the local place

North East Derbyshire, located in the East Midlands, is a largely rural district with a population of around 102,000 people. It has a mixed economic profile with some areas still influenced by its coal mining heritage, and a significant number of commuters who work in conurbations outside the local authority such as Sheffield and Chesterfield. Despite educational attainment levels slightly above the national average, the district experiences several economic and demographic challenges. It has lower-than-average rates of economic activity and employment and an ageing population, with the number of elderly residents rising significantly over the past decade. The district also faces significant challenges related to social and financial exclusion, particularly in rural areas where access to services is limited.^{[footnote 1]}

The total funding provided for North East Derbyshire鈥檚 under the United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is 拢2.57 million (excluding Multiply funding). North East Derbyshire鈥檚 UKSPF interventions seek to promote civic pride, foster social inclusion and increase local economic opportunity in the district. These will be achieved by upgrading local community infrastructure, enhancing the attractiveness of high streets and shopfronts, provision of advice and training services to marginalised individuals and provision of business support services to stimulate local economic growth.

Unit of analysis

Funded interventions in North East Derbyshire aim to support individuals, communities and businesses within the local area. The evaluation will largely adopt a bottom-up approach, exploring the impact on beneficiaries (individuals, communities and businesses) and then aggregating these benefits to the district level. The alternative top-down approach was deemed unsuitable for most of the outcomes and impacts to be assessed in this evaluation, due to the relatively small scale of the interventions. A limited number of outcomes and impacts are expected to have area-wide impact and will be analysed at the district level.

Thematically, the evaluation鈥檚 main focus will be the Communities and Place theme as it accounts for over 70% of North East Derbyshire鈥檚 UKSPF 拢2.57 million (excluding Multiply funding) investment to date. The evaluation will focus on two sub-themes within this: improved resident wellbeing and increased engagement of marginalised groups with society. The evaluation will also undertake an examination of the business support priority area, assessing the programme鈥檚 progress and impact in improving business performance within the district, as measured by business turnover and survival rates.

Methodological approach

We will adopt a mixed-methods approach that combines primary research, secondary data analysis, and quasi-experimental approaches, underpinned by a contribution analysis framework.

Process evaluation

The process evaluation considers the four main elements of UKSPF delivery and management in North East Derbyshire: fund design, fund implementation, intervention delivery, and data collection and monitoring. We will collect evidence on these through reviews of local data and documentation, interviews with local stakeholders and secondary data. We will analyse evidence using a process evaluation framework composed of 22 process evaluation questions relevant to North East Derbyshire.

Impact evaluation

Given the nature of the interventions implemented in North East Derbyshire, it is only feasible to use quasi-experimental designs to assess a very small number of outcomes and impacts. This is because there are a notable proportion of UKSPF interventions in North East Derbyshire that are available to all residents and there are no feasible non-beneficiary groups to use as a comparator. Moreover, some of the intended impacts are difficult to quantify. Nevertheless, there are two outcome and impact areas where it will be possible to undertake quasi-experimental approaches: changes in footfall in upgraded play areas and town centres and impacts of the business support services provided by the North East Derbyshire Business Accelerator. For all other outcome and impact areas, the evaluation will draw primarily on a theory-based evaluation (TBE) approach. Specifically, it will use a contribution analysis framework (see Appendix A) to systematically test all the evidence collected to determine whether and the extent to which the Theory of Change (ToC) is valid explanation of change, and how far external factors may have influenced outcomes. This will involve developing a set of contribution claims to test specific causal chains within the Theory of Change, assessing how UKSPF interventions have contributed to observed outcomes.

Economic evaluation

Following the National Audit Office鈥檚 4Es, the evaluation will consider programme economy (by assessing ability to leverage additional in-kind or financial support), efficiency (by calculating costs per output and costs per outcome, and benchmarking these against comparator programmes), effectiveness (using contribution analysis and QED to determine whether UKSPF is plausible driver for outcomes), and equity (determining whether UKSPF has gone to the communities most in need of it).

Data to support the evaluation

Primary data collection

A beneficiary survey for the 鈥業nclusive Communities鈥� fund will be an important data source. It will not be feasible to survey beneficiaries of all interventions, as the majority of North East Derbyshire鈥檚 UKSPF interventions are focused on upgrading local infrastructure. These types of interventions primarily result in diffuse and indirect benefits, making it costly and challenging to identify and sample a distinct beneficiary group. We will therefore prioritise a survey with the 鈥業nclusive Communities鈥� fund, an evaluation priority project for the local authority for which there is limited availability of relevant secondary data sources. These will help obtain information on the quality and outcomes of interventions, and as appropriate, details on economic, health and social circumstances.

We will also conduct semi-structured interviews, focused on both impact and process elements. Longer interviews (45-60 minutes) will be held with North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC) staff and key strategic stakeholders, covering project-level and programme-level perspectives. Interviews with all delivery provider leads will last 30-45 minutes, with lighter touch programme-level discussions. Beneficiary interviews will be up to 30 minutes long, focused on specific key issues.

Secondary data sources

Census and IMD data will be utilised, alongside monitoring data, to determine how far North East Derbyshire鈥檚 interventions have reached those in greatest need for the process evaluation. For the impact evaluation, we will also analyse Huq footfall data^{[footnote 2]} and the Community Life Survey (CLS) to examine the impact of local UKSPF interventions on local resident activity and on their attitudes to the local area. Where possible, we will use the Interdepartmental Business Register to monitor business performance over time for business grantees, again to help see if UKSPF has had an effect here.