Extension to Long-Term Plan for Towns: place selection methodology
This sets out the place selection methodology for the extension to Long-Term Plan for Towns.
This extension to the Long-Term Plan for Towns adds a further 20 towns across the UK to the programme. 14 towns in England, 3 in Scotland, 1 in Wales and 2 in Northern Ireland. This note sets out the method for identifying these.
These places can be found below:
| ITL1/ITL2 region | Local Authority | Town/City |
|---|---|---|
| West Midlands | Birmingham | Royal Sutton Coldfield |
| North East | Darlington | Darlington |
| North West | Halton | Runcorn |
| East | Castle Point | Canvey Island |
| East | Breckland | Thetford |
| East | King’s Lynn and West Norfolk | King’s Lynn |
| South East | Thanet | Ramsgate |
| South East | Eastbourne | Eastbourne |
| East | Harlow | Harlow |
| North West | St. Helens | Newton-le-Willows |
| North West | Rossendale | Rawtenstall |
| East | Fenland | Wisbech |
| East Midlands | Gedling | Carlton |
| West Midlands | Nuneaton and Bedworth | Bedworth |
| Eastern Scotland | Angus | Arbroath |
| North Eastern Scotland | Aberdeenshire | Peterhead |
| Highlands and Islands | Orkney Islands | Kirkwall |
| West Wales and The Valleys | Denbighshire | Rhyl |
| Northern Ireland | Derry City & Strabane | Derry~Londonderry |
| Northern Ireland | Causeway Coast & Glens | Coleraine |
England
The methodology used to select the initial list of places in England in October 2023 has been extended, with two changes:
1. The measures of levelling up need have been updated with the most recent data. These metrics can be seen below.
Metrics used to rank local authorities in England
| Metric | Source | Dates used | Geographic level |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVQ Level 3+ (% of total population) | ONS annual population survey, Nomis | 3-year average (Jan- Dec 2019-21) | Lower-tier Local Authority |
| Healthy Life Expectancy | ONS Health state life expectancy at birth and at age 65 years by local areas, UK | 3-year average* (2016/18-2018/20) | Upper-tier Local Authority** |
| Median Gross Weekly Pay (£) | ONS annual survey of hours and earnings. The equivalent Northern Ireland data can be accessed from NISRA | 3 year average (2021-23) | Lower-tier Local Authority |
| Gross Value Added (GVA) per Hour Worked | ONS Sub-regional Productivity: labour productivity indices by local authority district | 3-year average (2019-21) | Lower-tier Local Authority |
*Data released in 3-year intervals and used for 2016-2018, 2017-2019 and 2018-2020.
**Upper tier local authority data used for all component lower tier local authorities as lower tier data does not exist in a consistent fashion.
2. The regional cap set previously at a maximum of 10 places per ITL1 region has been increased to 13, in proportion to the increase in the number of towns. This allows for additional places to be selected in each region, while facilitating geographic spread.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Local authorities are ranked within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on a wider set of metrics than in England, reflecting the metrics used for the place selection of Levelling Up Partnerships in Scotland as announced in November 2023.
In Scotland and Wales, local authorities are ranked across 6 metrics – skills, pay, productivity and healthy life expectancy (as in England), as well as historic population changes and access to services deprivation.
In Northern Ireland, this is based on an average of the normalised scores of all these metrics except for skills, as there is no subnational data available. We score local authorities from 0 to 1 for each metric using a min-max normalisation, a statistical technique which reflects an area’s performance relative to other areas in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively, and then sum across each of the min-max normalised scores.
These metrics can be seen below for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Metrics used to rank local authorities in Scotland
| Metric | Source | Dates used | Geographic level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Above SCFQ4 (% of total population) | Scotland’s Labour Market: People, Places and Regions* | 3-year average (Jan- Dec 2019-21) | Local Authority |
| Healthy Life Expectancy | National Records of Scotland: Healthy Life Expectancy in Scotland, 2017/19-2019/21** | 3-year average (2017/19-2019/21) | Local Authority |
| Median Gross Weekly Pay (£) | ONS annual survey of hours and earnings. The equivalent Northern Ireland data can be accessed from NISRA. | 3 year average (2021-23) | Local Authority |
| Gross Value Added (GVA) per Hour Worked | ONS Sub-regional Productivity: labour productivity indices by local authority district | 3-year average (2019-21) | Local Authority |
| Percentage change in working age population (aged 16-64) | NRS Population Estimates Time Series Data | 2011 to 2021 | Local Authority |
| The proportion of data zones among the 20% most “access to services” deprived data zones. | Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation | 2020 | Local Authority |
*This link includes published data for 2019 and 2020 only. Data for 2021 is held internally by Scottish Government.
**Healthy Life Expectancy data is released in 3-year intervals. Scottish data is available for 2017-2019, 2018-2020 and 2019-2021 (one year ahead of UK-wide data used in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland). This data is released at upper-tier local authority level for England and Wales and council area for Scotland as produced by the National Records of Scotland (NRS). This is consistent with council areas forming the single tier of local government in Scotland. Had the Office for National Statistics data source been used, in line with the data source used for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it would result in the same towns being selected in Scotland.
Metrics used to rank local authorities in Wales
| Metric | Source | Dates used | Geographic level |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVQ Level 3+ (% of total population) | ONS annual population survey, Nomis | 3-year average (Jan- Dec 2019-21) | Local Authority |
| Healthy Life Expectancy | ONS Health state life expectancy at birth and at age 65 years by local areas, UK | 3-year average* (2016/18-2018/20) | Local Authority |
| Median Gross Weekly Pay (£) | ONS annual survey of hours and earnings. The equivalent Northern Ireland data can be accessed from NISRA. | 3 year average (2021-23) | Local Authority |
| Gross Value Added (GVA) per Hour Worked | ONS Sub-regional Productivity: labour productivity indices by local authority district | 3-year average (2019-21) | Local Authority |
| Percentage change in working age population (aged 16-64) | StatsWales Population estimates by local authority, region and age | 2011 to 2021 | Local Authority |
| The proportion of lower super output areas among the 20% most “access to services” deprived data zones. | Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation | 2019 | Local Authority |
*Data released in 3-year intervals and used for 2016-2018, 2017-2019 and 2018-2020.
Metrics used to estimate levelling up need in Northern Ireland
| Metric | Source | Dates used | Geographic level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthy Life Expectancy | ONS Health state life expectancy at birth and at age 65 years by local areas, UK | 3-year average* (2016/18-2018/20) | Local Authority |
| Median Gross Weekly Pay (£) | ONS annual survey of hours and earnings. The equivalent Northern Ireland data can be accessed from NISRA. | 3 year average (2021-23) | Local Authority |
| Gross Value Added (GVA) per Hour Worked | ONS Sub-regional Productivity: labour productivity indices by local authority district | 3-year average (2019-21) | Local Authority |
| Percentage change in working age population (aged 16-64) | NISRA Rebased Mid-Year Population Estimates for Northern Ireland | 2011 to 2021 | Local Authority |
| The proportion of super output areas among the 20% most “access to services” deprived data zones. | Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure | 2017 | Local Authority |
*Data released in 3-year intervals and used for 2016-2018, 2017-2019 and 2018-2020.
The following process is then used to identify local authorities and constituent towns in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Selecting local authorities
1. To maximise regional spread of the programme, we identify the highest-ranking local authority in each ITL2 region that currently has no towns in the Long-Term Plan for Towns programme. The highest-ranking local authority amongst these is selected until either all ITL2 regions have a town selected, or the total number of towns for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is reached.
2. To maximise the geographic spread of DLUHC’s major levelling up funds, local authorities that have not received any funding from recent major levelling up programmes (Levelling Up Fund, Freeports and Green Freeports, Investment Zones and Levelling Up Partnerships) are then identified. The highest ranking amongst these are selected until either there are none remaining or the total number of towns for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is reached.
3. The remaining local authorities that do not already have a town in the LTPT, but that do have a town with a population between 20,000 and 100,000 are considered, and the top ranking of these are selected until the total number of towns for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is reached.
Selecting towns within selected local authorities
Where a local authority has more than one town with a population between 20,000 and 100,000, the most deprived town based on the relevant IMD is selected.
Where a selected local authority does not have a town with a population between 20,000 and 100,000, the town whose population is closest to the range is selected.