In order to study the complex area of employment-oriented local economic development, it was clear that a range of methods needed to be used. Identification of the many different agencies (see figure 2) engaged in such work required us to seek out examples which in some way could be seen as representative of what we depict as a 'patchwork quilt'. Some agencies exist under statute, ie Parliamentary legislation which defines the duties and powers of such agencies. These include local government (councils), where such work is a (relatively small) part of the overall responsibilities and activities. There are also the Training and Enterprise Councils, which were established by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, in response to proposals by groups of local employers and other responsible bodies. These are the main channels of funding for this area, which ultimately comes mainly through taxation. Local educational institutions, ie colleges and universities, also exist under statute, and are involved particularly in educational and training initiatives.
In the non-statutory arena, there are many organisations established by the initiatives of groups of people engaged in local economic development in various forms. These often have specific areas of expertise and engagement. For example, CAG Consultants is a co-operatively owned consultancy, particularly focusing upon community enterprise and community-based economic development. Such agencies exist on the basis of obtaining the financing to meet their costs, through paid consultancy and/ or funding from for particular project work.
There is a number of agencies which act as representative bodies and/ or support networks. These include, for example, the London Regeneration Network which brings together a range of organisations, of varying size and structure, in the community and voluntary sector which are engaged in regeneration activities. The Black Training and Enterprise Group (BTEG) is a networking agency for those who work with London's black and other ethnic minority communities, in dealing with their training and enterprise needs.
As previously indicated, we identified a set of ten such different agencies, to provide the case study material presented in Part Two of this report. Interviews were held with key informants in these organisations, and relevant documentation studied, in order to examine such issues as their organisational and constitutional forms, their sources of financing and funding, the type of work undertaken, and with whom.
Studying the nature of the practice of employment-oriented local economic development was more problematic. This is because of the definitional issues discussed above and the different perspectives on how unemployment, and other employment problems, may be dealt with at a local level, and their relationship to other urban socio-economic problems. One approach we adopted was to examine the relevant job opportunities that were being advertised over the period of the study. In our interviews with key informants in the case study organisations, we asked about the types of abilities and experience they would look for in recruiting employees. We also interviewed a number of other people in significant positions in the field (see appendix 4 for details).
The literature related to each of the different perspectives we identified provided material on the nature of the practice, as it was understood and interpreted within each such perspective. Further information was available from relevant professional institutions and associations, particularly in respect of qualifications. There is, currently, work being undertaken on occupational standards ('competences') for economic development, sponsored by the Department for Education and Employment. Desk-based research was undertaken on these various documentary materials, and a consultative conference on the draft occupational standards was attended.
Within the scope of the time for and the funding of the study, we did not consider it practical nor did we consider it appropriate to undertake a survey amongst practitioners. To do so would have implied that we had clearly defined the arena of practice, contrary to what we concluded at an early stage of the project. As there was already a major project underway that was concerned with the 'competences' for economic development GFA Consulting and Prime R & D Ltd, Competences for Economic Development: Occupational Standards Manual', Department for Education & Employment; Segal, Quince Wicksteed Ltd, Standards and Qualifications for Economic Development Staff and European Officers, Department for Education and Employment with greater resources and sponsored by the DfEE, to undertake a much smaller scale survey would not have been an effective or appropriate deployment of the resources available to us within this project. By adopting the research approach described above, we believe that we have been able to highlight issues which have not been addressed sufficiently in the work to develop occupational standards.