A Voss and Pike Casefile: The Early Days
Section 19: Authentic, Standardised
Page nine: COMMUNITY READINESS SCORE (licensed from the Saltmarsh Together Priority Problem Register, by arrangement with Prof. R. Keast).
"We license the register's friction scores," said Dell, without embarrassment, "to tell us which streets are investment-ready. Roland receives a fee. It's declared."
"Declared to whom?"
"To everyone who asked." He spread his hands. "It's the best use of a register that I've ever seen. Streets people complain about are cheap. Streets people complain about stop being cheap once we've arrived. It's almost a public service."
The definition of a problem had a price per square metre. It was the oldest trick in the discipline, and nobody had ever put it on a spreadsheet so neatly.
Keast personally receives a fee from Harborline for licensing the council's Problem Register as an "investment-readiness" score - the definition of a social problem turned into a commercial asset, and a direct financial interest in the register staying as it is.