The Annual Population Survey from the Office of National Statistics will achieve approximately 65,000 household interviews a year. When combined with results from the Labour Force Survey and English Local Labour Force Survey, the survey will provide enhanced annual data for England covering a target sample of at least 500 economically active persons for each Unitary Authority/Local Authority District and at least 450 economically active persons in Greater London Boroughs.

Ward profiles of all Northamptonshire Wards are now available and a wide range of tables and themed tables.

Currently three Economic & Labour Market Assessments have been published. Northamptonshire County Council commissioned Matters of Fact to produce the first one in 2004 and the Northamptonshire Observatory published the subsequent ones in 2007 and 2008.

The government publishes Indices of Multiple Deprivation.

Since 1 April 2008, local authorities and PCTs have been under a statutory duty to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA). JSNA will inform Local Area Agreements and the Sustainable Communities Strategy. The Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2008/2009 refers to the importance of JSNA in informing PCT Operational Plans. JSNA underpins a number of the World Class Commissioning competencies. The process of JSNA will establish the current and future health and wellbeing needs of a population, leading to improved outcomes and reductions in health inequalities. This is a partnership duty which involves a range of statutory and non-statutory partners, informing commissioning and the development of appropriate, sustainable

Local Area Agreements are a new Government initiative which provides the framework to find local solutions for local people. They have the potential to bring about a real improvement in collaborative working, by ensuring that all sectors improve their understanding of each other.

The Regional Planning Guidance for the South East (RPG9, March 2001) identifies the general area of Milton Keynes and the South Midlands as one of four potential major growth areas in the wider South East.

The Scarborough Tourism Activity Monitor(STEAM) is derived from a model developed by David Jones and Frank Hart in the process of developing a 10-year tourism policy for the province of Saskatchewan, Canada in 1981. Explore Northamptonshire commissioned a STEAM report for Northamptonshire in 2005.