Background

Greater Merseyside Connexions Partnership is an independent information, advice, guidance and support service for all young people aged 13 to 19 who have concerns about education, careers, housing, money, health and relationships. It covers the geographical areas of Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley, Halton, Liverpool and Sefton. Connexions Partnerships were originally set up to provide universal and targeted service and to reduce the numbers of young people not in education, employment and training (Neets).

In Greater Merseyside the Connexions Partnership did have access to an existing GIS system but it wanted all 18 teams across the partnership, especially those dealing with young people face-to-face, to have access to data presented in a visual format so they could see trends and hotspots.

Getting started

Chris Skelton, Research and Data Analyst, Greater Merseyside Connexions Partnership, says the Partnership came across InstantAtlas through one of its partners ESRI UK. “We trialed InstantAtlas and used it to produce a demo which the managers loved so we took it from there,” he says.

The Partnership now uses InstantAtlas to produce its quarterlyperformance report which currently has four years worth of data. This means it is possible to see very quickly where the areas of need are.

Chris says: “We have found that what the data presentation tells us does not always match what we think a particular area is like – so it has challenged our perceptions.”

Making the project work

The reports are helping Greater Merseyside Connexions Partnership channel its resources to the right places. Each of the 18 operational managers currently uses the reports as do the directors and the reports are often presented at board level.

“It has saved our team a lot of time and given us an interactive way of presenting information. Above all the people who use it don’t aren’t worried that they will break it,” says Chris. “Some users are genuinely worried about using GIS systems but this is so intuitive and easy to use. It has brought data presentation to a wider audience.”

Future developments

Chris explains that Greater Merseyside Connexions Partnership is now looking at Super Output Areas because greater granularity is needed. For example, they would like to focus on one estate. There are also plans to bring other partner data sets into the reports so that the combination can provide a richer picture of the lives that people in the target age group live.

Key Benefits

• The new data presentation reports are being widely used through the partnership’s 18 teams
• Users find the reports easy to interact with and manipulate
• The reports are helping to ensure that resources are directed to the areas where they are most needed
• The partnership is now relying on the evidence provided by the reports rather than the perception of individuals making face-to-face contact

Other InstantAtlas stories and reports that will interest you

How Liverpool PCT is using data presentation to improve access to its Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

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Community Information Systems - Background Information