As well as playing a part in helping us to prioritise funding those places hardest hit by the pandemic, we are increasingly using local economic analysis to help us to track effects in real time, and to understand if allocated funding is reaching areas of need and supporting them effectively.

Alongside our Corona Shock series with Tortoise media, we have been publishing regular ward-level trackers to understand the impact of the crisis. We are planning to narrow that focus and deepen it in our forthcoming High Streets tracker, that will match areas in receipt of government support with those less well-placed - but equally badly-hit - areas.

As the economic fallout of the pandemic continues to develop, these trackers will provide a crucial real time data source to understand the medium- and long-term effects on local economies and how these will impact on income and employment for residents.

Tortoise Trackers

It has been interesting to see that many of the areas most severely affected by the economic impact of Covid-19 have been in receipt of multiple investments by SIB over a number of years.

These figures are based on our Travel to Work Areas (TTWA) split of the SIB portfolio.