Using Measures of Social Capital to Monitor the Impacts of Community-led Regeneration Policies in Wales

Tackling social disadvantage is one of three major themes incorporated into the National Assembly for Wales Better Wales corporate plan (http://www.betterwales.com/). One of the major planks of this policy document is the Communities First initiative that aims to promote locally led regeneration of the hundred or so most deprived communities in Wales. The identification of these communities will be guided by indicators of multiple deprivation in Wales which have been recently calculated using similar methodologies to
those produced for England (National Statistics, 2000). This has followed a traditional line of study concerned with measuring social and economic conditions at the small-area level. Whilst the indicators are seen to be more up to date and representative of perceived patterns of disadvantage than the previously used Index of Socio-economic Conditions in Wales, there have been well-rehearsed debates as to the ‘biasness’ of these measures towards certain areas, particularly south Wales and the Valley communities. This sparing of rural versus urban, suburban versus inner city, north versus south, west versus east within Wales is inevitable, given the financial ‘rewards’ for being at the ‘top’ of the deprivation league table.