State of the South West 2008

Affordable housing

There is no universally-agreed definition, but it includes low-cost market and subsidised housing (irrespective of tenure, ownership - whether exclusive or shared - or financial arrangements) that will be available to people who cannot afford to rent or buy houses generally available on the open market

Anti-social behaviour

A range of problems, including noisy neighbours, abandoned cars, vandalism, graffiti, litter and youth nuisance

AONB

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty - designated primarily for the conservation of landscape

Audit Commission

Independent public body responsible for ensuring that public money is spent economically, efficiently, and effectively in the areas of local government, housing, health, criminal justice and fire and rescue services. This work includes Comprehensive Performance Assessments of local authorities

Biological capacity

The available supply of resources on land and sea, estimated as 11.3 billion global hectares

Boundary Commission for England

Advisory non-departmental public body, funded by the Ministry of Justice.  It continuously reviews parliamentary constituencies in England, with periodic reviews covering them all, the latest of which was approved by Parliament in 2007

British Crime Survey

Measures crime in England and Wales by asking people about crimes they have experienced in the last year

By catch

The incidental catch of species, such as dolphins, in fishing nets and equipment

Capital

Durable produced goods for use as a factor of production

CDSC

Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre

Census

A ten yearly count of all people and households, last held on 29th April 01; the most complete source of information about the population

Cetaceans

Whales, dolphins and porpoises

CHI

Commission for Health Improvement

Children’s Fund

Part of the Government's agenda to support disadvantaged children and young people, targeting 5-13 year olds

Citizenship Survey

A biennial survey of adults in England and Wales, covering a range of community based issues including views about the local area, racial and religious prejudice and discrimination, involvement in the community, civil renewal, volunteering and charitable giving

Claimant Count

Records the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits (Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)) and National Insurance credits

Communities and Local Government (CLG)

Government Department created in May 2006 from the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM).  The Department’s remit includes creating better communities, local government, housing and planning, fire and resilience, and equalities

Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA)

Audit Commission report on the performance of a local authority and the services that it provides for local people. The Assessments comprise evidence from other external review bodies, plus the Commission's judgements

Comprehensive Spending Review

Review conducted every two or three years by HM Treasury, which sets three year budgets, and Public Service Agreements (PSAs), for each Government Department. Spending Reviews also allocate a grant which covers around three quarters of local government spending

Council Tax

Local tax, based on value of property, raised by local authorities to help pay for local services

CPRE

Campaign to Protect Rural England

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership

A combination of police, local authorities and other organisations and businesses working together to tackle crime and disorder at the local level

DCMS

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Defra

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Deprived LSOA

Taken here as being in the most deprived 10% of all Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in England

DET

An online interactive web based toolkit for accessing and using information about the cultural sector. It does not impose a 'one size fits all' model for the development and use of statistics see DCMS

DfES

Department for Education and Skills

DfT

Department for Transport

Discouraged workers

Those who believe that no work is currently available

Dwelling

A self-contained unit of accommodation

DWP

Department of Work and Pensions

Earnings

A measure of the money people receive in return for work done, gross of tax

Eco-Footprint

A comprehensive account of the resources that a population consume, measuring the balance between human demand and nature’s supply

Economically Active

Employed (including self-employed), unemployed and actively looking for work, are on a government supported employment and training programme, or are working unpaid for a family member

Economically Inactive

Economically inactive people are not in employment, but do not satisfy all the criteria for UK unemployment

Electoral Commission

Independent public body responsible for registering and monitoring political parties, reporting on how elections and referendums are held, and reviewing electoral law, procedures and local government boundaries in England

Employment

There are two main ways of looking at employment: either the number of people with jobs or the number of jobs

Employment Rate

The number of people in employment expressed as a percentage of the relevant population

Expenditure and Food Survey

A continuous survey of household expenditure, food consumption and income since 2001, commissioned by ONS and Defra

FDI

Foreign Direct Investment

Formula Grant

Annual funding allocated to a local authority from central Government.  It excludes targeted or specific grants

FTE

Full Time Equivalent

GCE/VCE

General Certificate of Education/Vocational Certificate of Education

GCSE/GNVQ

General Certificate of Secondary Education/General National Vocational Qualification

GDHI

Gross Disposable Household Income

Global hectares

How much productive land and sea is available to provide the energy, food and materials that we use in our every day lives

Government Office for the South West (GOSW)

Agency of central Government for the South West region.  GOSW represents ten Whitehall Departments: Cabinet Office (CO), Communities and Local Government (CLG), Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR), Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Department for Transport (DfT), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Home Office (HO) and Ministry of Justice

Greater South East

Used to refer to the three Government Office Regions of London, South East and the East of England

Greenhouse gas

Emissions of a ‘basket’ of six key gases that are accelerating climate change.  These include carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆)

Groundwater

Water that has soaked into the ground where it flows as underground streams and aquifers.

Group Training Associations

Work-based training providers

GVA

Gross Value Added - a measure of total economic output

GVA per Head

Gross Value Added per population- used as a broad measure of productivity

Hard to Fill Vacancies

Vacancies that employers describe as hard to fill either because of skill shortages or attributed to other causes such as lack of applicants, low wages etc

HDA

Health Development Agency

HEIs

Higher Education Institutions

HFR

Housing Flows Return - ODPM monitoring of changing dwelling numbers

Household

One person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address with common housekeeping - that is, sharing either a living room or sitting room or at least one meal a day

Housing Associations

The main providers of new social housing, overseen by boards of volunteers

HtFVs

Hard to Fill Vacancies

ILO Unemployed

People who are: not in employment, want a job, have actively sought work in the previous four weeks and are available to start work within the next fortnight, or, out of work and have accepted a job which they are waiting to start in the next fortnight

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)

The multiple index of all domains produced from the Indices of Deprivation (see below)

Integrated Regional Strategy (IRS)

Document, co-ordinated by the South West Regional Assembly, which aims to provide an integrated approach to strategic policy for the South West, by bringing together the full range of strategies and issues in the region. The IRS, Just Connect!, was launched by the Assembly in November 2004

Jurassic Coast

World Heritage Site from Exmouth to Studland Bay

kWh

Kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy

Kyoto Protocol

An international agreement setting targets for industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

LEA

Local Education Authority

LFA

Less-Favoured Area - Upland areas where additional subsidies to farming apply

LFS

Labour Force Survey - a quarterly sample survey of households living at private addresses in Great Britain. Its purpose is to provide information on the UK labour market

Listed buildings

Those of special architectural or historic interest designated for protection by DCMS, on advice from English Heritage

Local Air Quality Management Areas

If a local authority finds that national air quality objectives may not be met in a specific area it must declare are Air Quality Management Area and put together a plan to improve air quality within it

Local Area Agreement (LAA)

Three-year funding arrangement between central Government and a local area, represented by a local authority and other key partners through the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).

Local environmental quality

The quality of our local environment, including street cleanliness, condition of highway infrastructure, environmental crime (graffiti, fly tipping & fly posting) and the condition of the street scene

Local Government Association (LGA)

Voluntary lobbying organization, formed in April 1997, to promote and represent the interests of English and Welsh local authorities. The LGA also represents fire, police, national park and passenger transport authorities

Local Government Finance Settlement

Annual system of allocation and distribution of central Government Formula Grant funding to local authorities

Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA)

Voluntary agreement negotiated between a local authority and central Government, which focuses on targeted outcomes to improve the delivery of local public services. The original LPSAs began in September 2001, with a second phase commencing in April 2004

Local Strategic Partnership (LSP)

Single non-statutory body that brings together different parts of the public, private, business, community and voluntary sectors at a local level, to co-ordinate initiatives and services.  LSPs are integral in the negotiation and running of Local Area Agreements (LAAs)

Low Income Households

Commonly defined as those receiving less than 60% of the national median household income

LUCS

Land Use Change Statistics, collected by Ordnance Survey

MEP

Member of the European Parliament

MP

Member of (UK) Parliament

MW

Megawatt is a unit of electrical power equal to one million watts

A single set of 198 indicators measuring outcomes delivered by local authorities and their partners which replace all other existing sets of indicators and will be reported by all areas from April 2008

Natural Change

Population change resulting from the difference between birth and death rates - not migration

Netcen

National Environmental Technology Centre

NHBC

National House-Building Council

Nitrate Vulnerable Zone

An area of land draining into ground or surface waters that are currently high in nitrate, or come become so. 

NOAA-NESDIS

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (USA)

NOMIS

A web-based database of labour market statistics

NUTS

Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics. The SW is a NUTS1 area; there are four NUTS2 areas in the region - Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, and Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North Somerset (which includes all the former Avon area).

ODPM

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, former Government Department that was replace in May 2006, by Communities and Local Government (CLG)

Office of the Third Sector

Part of the Cabinet Office, created in May 2006, to lead work in support of the voluntary and community sector. For further information see: Cabinet Office Office of the Third Sector website

ONS

Office for National Statistics

PPG3

Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (on Housing) from ODPM

Productivity

The amount of output produced per population- usually measured by Gross Value Added per head

Productivity Gap

The difference in rates of productivity between two regions

PSV

Public Service Vehicle

Public Service Agreement (PSA)

PSAs were first introduced to modernise and improve the Government's performance on the issues that matter most to the public (including health, crime, education and the environment)

R&D

Research and Development

RCDF

Regional Cultural Data Framework

Regional Economic Strategy (RES)

10-year strategy document, co-ordinated and reviewed by the South West Regional Development Agency, which provides a framework for all economic development activity in the South West. The revised and updated RES, for 2006–2015, was launched in May 2006

Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS)

Statutory planning document for monitoring and managing future development in the South West over the next 20 years. Currently in draft form, the RSS will replace the Regional Planning Guidance for the South West (RPG10), and the region's county structure plans, with an expected publication date of Autumn 2008

RPG10

Regional Planning Guidance 10 (South West)

S106 agreements

Contractual agreements entered into between a local planning authority and a developer that determine what proportion of units provided in residential developments will be designated as affordable housing units

SAC

Special Areas of Conservation, under the European Union Habitat's Directive

Scheduled Ancient Monuments

Archaeological Sites designated by DCMS, so that permission is required for works to the monument

SEN

Special Educational Needs

SFR

Statistical First Release

SIC(92)

Standard Industrial Classification (1992 version)

Sites of Special Scientific Interest

Nationally important nature conservation sites that support England’s best wildlife and geology

Skills Shortage Vacancies

Applicants for jobs lacked the required skills and/or experience and/or qualifications

SMEs

Small and Medium Enterprises - Those employing fewer than 250 people

SMR

Standardized Mortality Rates

Social capital

Term often used to describe the nature and extent of formal and informal interaction between members of society

Social housing

Housing owned and/or managed by a local authority or housing association

South West Regional Assembly (SWRA)

A voluntary partnership of councillors from all local authorities in the South West, plus representatives of business and voluntary sectors. In addition to being a voice for the region, SWRA has various statutory duties, including monitoring of the South West Regional Development Agency, and acting as Regional Planning Body and Regional Housing Body

South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA)

Non-departmental public body, established in 1999, to ensure the long-term economic success of the South West. SWRDA is directly funded by central Government, and is accountable, through its Board, to Ministers

SPA

Special Protection Area, under the European Union Directive on the conservation of wild birds

SRA

Strategic Rail Authority

SRR

Standardised Registration Ratio, measuring registrations of disease

Strategic Nature Area

Landscape blocks of land identified to improve habitat networks and sustain the wildlife within them

THI

Total Household Income

Third Sector

Term commonly used to describe the Voluntary and Community Sector

Type 2 diabetes

A type of diabetes that tends to develop in those over 30, often those who are overweight

UKCIP

UK Climate Impacts Partnership

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Urban & rural

The definitions used here are those from the Countryside Agency based on 1991 wards and local authority areas. They will be superseded in 2004

Working-age

 a woman aged 16 to 59 or a man aged 16 to 64

Workless household

A household which contains at least one person of working age, where no-one aged 16 or over is in employment

World Heritage Site

Sites of cultural, industrial and natural heritage designated by UNESCO