Measuring enterprise impacts upon deprived areas.

There has been a growing interest amongst policy makers concerning the role of enterprise development in deprived areas. At present there is a lack of robust empirical evidence to demonstrate the actual contribution of enterprises to the alleviation of deprivation. While many existing studies rely on measuring the number of jobs created, this report presents a new methodology for measuring the contribution of different types of enterprises to disadvantaged areas using a wide range of economic and social indicators. The report begins by offering a conceptual overview of the types of impacts. The framework recognises the range of impacts received by a wide range of stakeholders, as shown in the figure below. The issue of enterprise success in deprived areas offers the promise of uniting the Government’s interests of economic competitiveness, social inclusion and neighbourhood renewal. In addition to a wide range of local and regional government policy, the types of national policy include: the Small Business Service’s Phoenix Fund and Business Link support services, the Department for Education and Skills’ New Entrepreneur Scholarship scheme, the Department for Work and Pensions’ New Deal for the Self-employed, H.M. Treasury’s Stamp Duty Relief, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Business Improvement Districts, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ support for rural businesses as well as many other non governmental initiatives aimed at enterprise development in deprived areas.

Summary and main report included.