Project summary

The aim of this programme was to work with a regional government (the North of Tyne Combined Authority) to develop and support the implementation of a wellbeing framework for their local decision making. The purpose of the framework was to help the Combined Authority to make decisions that improve the wellbeing of everyone in the region.

The first phase of the programme focused on designing a bespoke wellbeing framework to fit the regional context. Carnegie UK worked with the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) to design a ‘Roundtable approach’: this brought together 12 specialists from different sectors to guide the process. Between May and October 2021, the Roundtable met four times to consider a range of evidence, to agree a set of wellbeing outcomes and wellbeing indicators, and to finalise a set of recommendations for NTCA to consider. 

When the Wellbeing Framework was formally adopted by the NTCA’s Cabinet in January 2022, the second phase of the programme began, which focused on supporting implementation. Carnegie UK commissioned the Centre for Thriving Places to gather baseline data for the wellbeing indicators and worked with colleagues at NTCA to begin embedding the Wellbeing Framework into culture and decision-making.

At the same time, we commissioned a public administration academic at Northumbria University to evaluate the Roundtable process; and subsequently to produce a policy guide that drew on evidence from a number of different wellbeing roundtables and wellbeing frameworks.