Inward investment: record high for West Midlands

In the period 2008 to 2009 the West Midlands region received 117 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, a record high since records began in 1991 (shown by the blue line in the graph below).

Seminars at Herefordshire Information and Research Network

The Herefordshire Information and Research Network are hosting a series of seminars over 2009–2010.
Each seminar includes a presentation on a specific topic, updates by participants on their own research activities and opportunities for networking.
Seminars planned for later this year include the State of Herefordshire Report 2009 and results of the Herefordshire quality of life survey.

Latest gross disposable household income estimates indicate metropolitan West Midlands is UK’s poorest sub-region

The 2007 Regional Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) (Word, 411KB) estimates are released today by the Office for National Statistics.
Indexed GDHI per head (where UK=100) for the West Midlands in 2007 was 90, stable in comparison to the revised 2006 index value of 90.
GDHI per head in the West Midlands rose from £12,700 in 2006 to [...]

West Midlands rural areas hit particularly hard by recession

The Observatory’s Skills Team are working on an assessment of skills and labour market issues in the rural areas of the West Midlands on behalf of the Regional Skills Partnership and the Rural Affairs Forum.
While we expect to publish in April 2009, we can report now on emerging findings relating to the impact of the recession.
Rural areas [...]

Impact of economic downturn on Herefordshire

Just over a week ago, the Herefordshire Information and Research Network (HIRN) held a seminar on the effect of the current economic downturn on Herefordshire. Presenters at the seminar included Gill Swaithes of Herefordshire Council’s Research Team and Phil Vallely from JobCentre Plus.
For those not at the seminar, the presentations are available from the HIRN [...]

West Midlands local development annual monitoring reports

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires local planning authorities to regularly monitor planning policies that affect the planning and development of their areas.

Each council is required to produce an Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) which is published in December to assess the effectiveness of policy in the Local Development Framework.
These show whether the progress [...]

West Midlands produced 3rd strongest regional growth in England, according to latest GVA per head figures

The 2007 Regional and 2006 Sub-Regional Gross Value Added (GVA) data are released today by the Office for National Statistics. Indexed GVA per head (where UK=100) for the West Midlands in 2007 was 86.0, a marginal decrease from the revised 2006 index value of 86.1. GVA per head in the West Midlands rose from £16,300 [...]

Questionnaire on benefits of local information systems

This questionnaire is part of a research project, commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government, to investigate the way users of local information systems benefit from the data and statistics the systems provide. The aim of the questionnaire is to obtain information about how you use the system and the way it helps [...]

West Midlands Regional Integrated Economic Assessment published

The West Midlands is the first English region to produce a Regional Integrated Economic Assessment. The aim of the project is to provide an assessment of the performance of the West Midlands’ economy and of the factors which contribute to it. It also assesses the relative position of the different parts of the region.
The Assessment [...]

Local Area Agreements: The next generation

In June 2008, 150 new Local Area Agreements (LAA) were signed off by central government. A Local Area Agreement is a three year agreement, based on local Sustainable Community Strategies, that sets out the priorities for a local area.
The 14 strategic authorities in the West Midlands each have a Local Area Agreement.

Life expectancy in the West Midlands

A recent press release from trade union GMB highlights the difference in life expectancy at birth across the West Midlands.
Women living in Solihull have the highest life expectancy in the region at 83.3 years with those living in Stoke-on-Trent having the lowest at 79.6.
For men, the difference is greater with those living in South Shropshire [...]

Sub-regional information sources

If you are looking for specific data or information about one of the sub-regions, in addition to the Regional Resource Catalogue on wmro.org, you might also like to try one of the sub-regional intelligence units.
Here is a list of some of them to help you track down the information that you need.

Herefordshire Partnership
Worcestershire Research & [...]

State of the Countryside 2008 report released

The Commission for Rural Communities launched their tenth annual State of the Countryside report on 16th July 2008. The report assesses the way rural England has changed over the last ten years by considering the social, economic and environmental issues facing rural England.
The report is split into three chapters: living in the countryside, economic [...]