12/12/2023 - New Social Progress Index allows Luton residents to see how their ward is performing

Where you live has an impact on your quality of life, and in return, your contribution to making your community a better place. The SPI enables us to build understanding of what's happening at ward level, so we can have conversations with communities about what is making a difference to people's lives.

The Social Progress Index is made up of three parts: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunity. Each part then contains groups of indicators that provide an accurate insight into how each ward is doing.  An overall SPI score (nearer to 100 is better) shows how wards compare to each other and if progress is being made year on year.

The Social Progress Index can be used by residents to see how their ward is performing. It can be used by charities, businesses and other organisations in Luton to see what’s working well and what’s not, so that they can do better and more in the areas needing attention, and in doing so, supporting our Luton 2040 ambitions of a town where everyone can thrive.

Councillor Khtija Malik, portfolio holder for public health with responsibility for business intelligence, said: “The social progress index (SPI) is another step on our data and insight journey. With SPI we focus on real time indicators that highlight basic human needs such as housing, safety, health & wellbeing of our residents. We feel with this insight we will be better placed in how we work with our residents and partners in redressing the challenges we have in Luton. Genuinely turning insight into action in support of delivering our 2040 ambitions.”