The study was launched on 7 May 2004 and is the latest in a
series of four, dating back to the early 1970s. For the purposes
of the study, Nottinghamshire is divided into 380 zones which
aim to reflect locally identifiable communities with similar
social and economic characteristics. Social need indicators
Twenty two indicators have been selected to cover the main
aspects of social need, identified as: - low income - poor
housing - poor health and disability - family difficulties and
crime - educational difficulties - lack of skills. A single
index of social need has been calculated for each zone by
totalling its 'normalised' scores on each of the indicators. The
zones have then been ranked on the basis of these scores to
identify those with the highest levels of social need. Social
Need in Nottinghamshire 2004 has been prepared in order to
assess the distribution of social need across the geographic
county of Nottinghamshire. It should therefore be useful for
both policy makers and service deliverers in that