LARIA - Local Area Research + Intelligence Association

LARIA Spring 2022 Webinar 1 - CACI
2022-06-07 11:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Zoom Meetings
Tackling the Cost of Living Crisis with data
The Cost of Living Crisis is high on the political and media agenda. Local Authorities are on the front-line and need to know the likely scale of the impacts and identify those most likely to need support as a result of the rapid rise in living costs.
Using publicly available and widely available commercial data CACI will provide their views on:
• The extent of the crisis
• The extent to which consumers are changing, and planning to change, their behaviours
• The demographic groups and local areas most at risk from the crisis based on the above evidence.
The session will provide practical advice on how the use of such datasets can enable Local Authorities to monitor, understand and address the needs arising at a local level.
Paul Langston, Associate Partner, CACI
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinar recordings. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.

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LARIA Spring 2022 Webinar 2
2022-06-08 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom Meetings
Giving a voice to survivors of domestic abuse
This session will showcase our research with survivors of domestic abuse and how we worked closely with local partners to engage with diverse cohorts. It will also demonstrate the importance of providing choice to participants in terms of ways to share their views. We will also consider the importance of researcher wellbeing, and the value of being part of a community of practice group with peers in other local authorities.
Poppy Reece, Senior Researcher & Maura O’Malley, Researcher, Essex County Council
Changing the culture: exploring research capacity in local government
Local government is ideally placed for addressing health inequalities and influencing the health of individuals and communities in England. Yet, there are very limited research systems that exist within local government to support their ability to create and synthesis the evidence needed for preventative and public health interventions. This session will share the findings of two research studies conducted in neighbouring local authorities in the north of England. Both studies used an Embedded Research approach to data collection. This approach has been used in other work as a mechanism to facilitate understanding of the cultures of local government
Delegates will learn a range of short, medium and long term actions that could support them to developing a sustainable research system within their local authority. Thus, having the potential to impact on the health of residents and reducing health inequalities. The session will highlight implications for local government and how to reconfigure the relationship between research, evidence and decision-making in public health.
The session will also share a summary of the embedded research approach and its potential to provide a boundary spanning role between local government and academic institutions.
Dr Catherine Homer, Senior Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University & Dr Susan Hampshaw, Head of Service (Public Health Delivery), Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinars recordings. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.

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LARIA Spring 2022 Webinar 3
2022-06-14 10:30 - 12:00 | Zoom Meetings
Visual Analytics: Targeting Preventative Wellbeing Visits
John will show how Excel and Tableau were used to undertake visual analytics on spatial and demographic data from open public sources, Acorn geodemographics, and management information systems. The analysis was used to define a target audience for communications and marketing staff to support the delivery of additional ‘Safe and Well’ visits from the Fire and Rescue service to those who would be most likely to benefit from them.
John Courouble, Head of Data, Analytics, and Visualisation, Oxfordshire County Council
Implementing PowerBi: the essentials
Many organisations are now seeing PowerBI as a potential solution for their data analysis and dissemination needs. Whilst no-one can question the ‘power’ of this tool, there are practical and financial considerations that you’ll need to think about before embarking on your PowerBI journey.
In this session we’ll talk about the essentials for a successful implementation of PowerBI based on our experience and the lessons we learned.
Richard Palmer, Chief Operating Officer, Data Cymru
Tell Me With My Eyes: Using video for impact and influence
We do research with the intention of creating change. Usually, though, there’s at least one layer between us as researchers and the change that needs to be made. These layers are made up of decision-makers, budget-holders, policymakers and other interested parties who are already invested in the area we’ve been looking at: that’s why we’ve been asked to do the research.
Video can be an incredibly powerful tool for influence, as well as being an excellent means of gathering research data.
Urban designer Nat Roberton and researcher will talk you through how and why they used video to deliver impactful insights about the experience of navigating Bristol.
This talk will give you the inspiration and confidence to build video into your own research deliverables, letting your participants answer difficult questions for you and helping your decision-makers reach a deep empathy for their users.
Kat Thackray, Lead consultant (user research and service design), Mace & Menter & Nat Roberton, Bristol City Council
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinars recordings. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.

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LARIA Spring 2022 Webinar 4
2022-06-16 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom Meetings
Adventures in Digital Ethnography
This session aims to cover how three intrepid researchers from Essex County Council’s Research and Citizen Insight Team delivered the Council’s first in-house digital ethnography, what we learned from the experience and how we shared our newfound knowledge with colleagues. This will equip delegates with the knowledge they too can embark on this adventure and deliver great digital ethnography projects for their organisations too.
Maresa Beazley, Senior Researcher & Liz Roberts, Researcher, Essex County Council
Capturing urban mobility through mobile phone data
The aim of this session is to introduce delegates to mobile phone data and to provide an understanding of the range of ways in which they might be used by local policy makers. Glasgow City Council and the Urban Big Data Centre have been collaborating on the analysis of these data to meet a range of analytical challenges which the Council and its partners are facing. One of these was in transport planning where the Council was very aware that patterns of movement had changed dramatically as a result of the pandemic and that it therefore needed to bring transport strategies up-to-date. A key requirement was recent evidence on patterns of movement across the city, rather than having to rely on 2011 Census data. A second was work on city-regional economic recovery. One need was to understand how footfall in city centre and other ‘high street’ locations have changed as a result of the pandemic. The Council also required analysis in support of its policy to promote ‘liveable neighbourhoods’. UBDC brought an understanding of the different forms of mobile phone data and an ability to procure (licence) appropriate datasets. They conducted the basic work to check the data were ‘fit for purpose’ for the needs identified and to develop methods to measure flows, footfall and other aspects of urban mobility.
Nick Bailey, Director, Urban Big Data Centre, University of Glasgow
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinars recordings. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.

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LARIA Webinar Series 2023: Webinar 1
2023-03-07 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom Meetings
Understanding the Cost-of-Living crisis with data
As living costs continue to soar and increasing numbers of people face hardship, having data that allows us to understand both the current and ongoing impacts of the Cost-of-Living crisis on our communities is essential. Income and segmentation data, in particular have been widely adopted by public sector organisations to provide a robust and up-to-date picture of the population to evidence decision-making.
In this webinar, we will be joined by our partners CACI who will walk you through the data they produce and how it can be used to inform our response to the current crisis. Key datasets used by CACI to support their analysis include (i) income datasets, Paycheck, which provides postcode level estimates of gross household income, (ii) Paycheck Disposable Income, which can help users understand the extent to which communities will be affected as disposable income decreases in the face of rising living costs and (iii) their segmentation tools (Acorn, Household Acorn and Wellbeing Acorn) that help paint a picture of the demographic, lifestyle, behavioural and health characteristics of the UK population.
James Debenham, Principal Consultant (Location Intelligence) & Jamie Clark, Account Manager, CACI
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinar. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Webinar Series 2023: Webinar 2
2023-03-13 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom Meetings
Understanding the extent and impact of the cost-of-living crisis on Essex residents
Research & Citizen Insight and Data and Analytics colleagues within Essex County Council collated insight to understand the impact of the cost-of-living challenge for residents, deploying analytics to help us pre-empt the scale of the issue, targeting our immediate response, and using research to understand the root causes of cost-of-living pressures. This informed the Council’s six-point plan to deliver £50m support to Essex households and communities – targeting resources to the areas and resident groups who were most in need. This session will take you through the insight informing the six-point plan, including work around fuel poverty – how this affected households across the County and by District, how inflation rises are affecting the discretionary income, how mortgage rate increases impact household discretionary income, in-depth qualitative research with Essex residents to bring to life their experiences and feelings about coping with the increased cost of living, emotional wellbeing impact and the impact of the crisis on children’s services and the relationship between referrals and financial hardship, and foster care forecasts.
Michele Figg and Emily Brodie, Intelligence Managers & Poppy Reece, Senior Researcher, Essex County Council
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Webinar Series 2023: Webinar 3
2023-03-21 11:00 - 12:30 | Zoom Meetings
Using segmentation to understand areas most likely to be affected by the cost-of-Living crisis
This session will describe how Manchester City Council used Experian’s MOSAIC segmentation tool at household level to understand which areas of the city were likely to be most affected by the Cost-of-Living crisis and target interventions across a wide spectrum of services. It will also show how the approach taken at area level was applied to GP registered population data in order to help target the allocation of additional NHS funding for alleviating winter pressures to GP practices.
Paul Holme, (Head of Performance, Research and Intelligence, Manchester City Council); Kasia Noone, (Performance and Insight Manager, Manchester City Council); Sandra Aguilera (Performance and Insight Manager, Manchester City Council); and Neil Bendel (Public Health Specialist (Health Intelligence), Manchester City Council)
Creating an interactive cost of living dashboard for Suffolk
In April 2022, as the impact of increases in the Cost of Living really came to the forefront, Public Health & Communities, Suffolk County Council published a Cost of Living profile as part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.
Alongside a written Cost of Living report ‘Making ends meet: The cost of living in Suffolk’, an interactive dashboard was also created using Power BI.
The dashboard was developed in order to:

Provide up to date data and information on the Cost of Living for Suffolk County Council, partner organisations, and members of the public.
Deliver an interactive tool to allow users to focus on areas most relevant to them.
Demonstrate that, while increases in the cost of living affect everyone, impact will be greatest for those who are already under financial pressure, exacerbating inequalities.
Provide a source of actionable insight to support the system with data and the evidence base needed support project development, drive change and really make a difference in the community.

This session will:

Provide a demonstration of Suffolk County Council’s Cost of Living dashboard
Give an overview of data sources
Explore opportunities for automation using Power BI
Discuss how the data dashboard is used locally

Rebecca Allen, Head of Public Health & Communities Analytics, Suffolk County Council
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Webinar Series 2023: Webinar 4
2023-03-27 14:00 - 15:30 | Zoom Meetings
CLA Placement Demand Modelling – By and For Local Authorities
An overview of the LA-led collaborative programme Data to Insight, and its work to develop free and open demand modelling tools for easy adoption by LAs. Learn about the barriers to collaborative data work in local government, and two routes we’ve developed to mitigate these. Hear what we’ve learned about the possibilities of CLA placement demand modelling, and how we work as a collaborative development venue to maximise value for councils from limited funding opportunities.
Alistair Herbert, Data to Insight Manager, Data to Insight, hosted by East Sussex County Council
Boost safeguarding through multi agency data sharing
The responsibility to safeguard vulnerable people lies with councils and safeguarding partners. Limited data sharing makes it hard to identify people who need support before crisis hits.
The Multi Agency Safeguarding Tracker (MAST) is a data driven digital tool developed for Walsall Council that allows information from multiple safeguarding bodies to be easily and securely shared, matched and anonymised.
MAST demonstrates that partner organisations across regions can join the dots with data to boost safeguarding.
We will discuss:

How this ground-breaking approach to combining administrative datasets has created a clear view of safeguarding concerns across all partners
How new smart approaches to data management has tackled security and data governance challenges
How the data is brought to life to help safeguarding teams and frontline staff to improve communication, liaison and decision making
How the MAST tool is designed to be easily replicated by other regions

Deven Ghelani, CEO & Founder, with Paul Withers, Data Protection Officer, Policy in Practice with Walsall Metropolitan Council
Identifying and Visualising Digital Exclusion Risk in Manchester
The COVID-19 pandemic brought into stark focus how vital digital access and literacy is to fully participate in society, and how digital inclusion is a key tool for improving economic and social wellbeing. There is a depth of national research on who is likely to be digitally excluded; organisations such as the Good Things Foundation have identified key demographic features that place an individual at greatest risk. We know who is at risk, the challenge is to find out where these people are. To mitigate this challenge, Manchester City Council (building on the work presented by colleagues in Salford) developed a Digital Exclusion Risk Index (DERI) that brought together 16 individual datasets that either directly or indirectly demonstrate levels of digital exclusion across households in the city. In this session we will discuss:

How collaboration across departments led to the creation of a product that met the needs of residents and colleagues.
How to meet the challenges of identifying the most relevant metrics, that cover the full scope of risk factors, whilst keeping within the stated aims of a project.
How a data product can be put into action and embedded across services.

Jennifer Wall, Senior Analyst Manchester City Council
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Webinar Series 2023: Webinar 5
2023-03-29 11:00 - 12:30 | Zoom Meetings
Developing Data Driven Insights: The Energy Crisis and Census 2021
The Hounslow Data Hub enables residents, community groups and council staff to access data about the borough all in one place. We are committed to turning data into insight and intelligence that supports decision makers. The Hounslow Data Hub helps us do this by bringing internal and external data about the borough into a single easily accessible location and allowing users to look at data in a range of ways.
This session will focus on illustrating how data has helped us to provide an understanding of the needs of Hounslow’s population and how services have used this insight for a more targeted approach. Firstly, the session will cover how using Census 2021 data we ensure that more residents are fully represented, where they may not have been before, and how it can support the targeting of services. Following on from this, the session will look at how various datasets such as Energy Performance and CACI income data were combined to provide data-rich insights which guided the London Borough of Hounslow’s work to address the energy crisis challenge within the borough, along with wider winter planning.
Join this session to find out more about the Hounslow Data Hub and what it has to offer.
Simon Hayes and Leila Akyel, Information Analysts, London Borough of Hounslow
Using Data to Reach Net-Zero: Monitoring Local Authority Emissions
Manchester City Council declared a climate emergency in July 2019 and developed the five-year Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) setting out its plans to respond to the climate emergency and become a net-zero organisation by 2038. Since then, there has been more discussion on whether this target should be brought forward due to the severity of the situation to the year 2030. The CCAP contains 48 individual actions in 5 workstreams, including buildings and energy, travel and transport, reducing consumption-based emissions and influencing suppliers, adaptation and carbon sequestration and influencing behaviour and being a catalyst for change. The work the Performance, Research and Intelligence (PRI) department does with the Zero Carbon team to monitor emissions has a key role in determining whether MCC is on target to becoming net-zero as well as impacting on decision making which will affect the future policy trajectory of the local authority. The presentation will go into some detail in terms of carbon reporting, challenges we face in terms of data including quality, quantity, and conversion into carbon emissions and how we have worked through these issues.
Ellis Odjidja, Senior Analyst, Liam Read, Analyst, Sophie Sheil, Principal Resources & Programme Officer & Sarah Henshall, Data Assistant, Manchester City Council
Using insights from different data sets to tackle energy poverty
Administrative data held by local authorities can give rich insights into the financial resilience of residents. Policy in Practice is helping councils to directly target support to individual properties using the Low Income Family Tracker platform (LIFT).
Local authorities have the administrative data, but can lack the time or resources to pull the relevant insights from within it. By analysing their data, LIFT gives councils insights on household income including earnings, benefits, investments and tenancy types. Using this data, councils can see at a glance which households may be struggling financially.
Adding supplemented data to this can produce further, more specific, insights. EPC data can be cross-referenced against scheme eligibility criteria to identify households who are eligible for grants and missing out.
We will discuss:

How utilising administrative data can give insights into the least financially resilient households in the area
How these insights can help to identify eligible households with targeted take-up campaigns
How working with the LIFT platform brings in results quickly by comparison to starting a campaign from scratch
The ease in which this work can be replicated by councils

Paul Garlick, Strategic Client Services Manager, Policy in Practice with Enfield Council officer
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Webinar 2024: AI: What is it? Why is it? Where is it?
2024-07-16 10:00 - 11:00 | Zoom Meetings
AI: What is it? Why is it? Where is it?
The world is awash with references to AI, despite it not being a new practice. The recent advancements and easy accessibility of AI tools mean it’s the buzzword of the moment. But, for many of us there are still many foundational questions when it comes to AI – what is it? why is it? And where is it?
In this session CACI’s AI and Data Science experts Sue MacLure, Director of Data and AI Ethics, and Edward Sewell, Data Strategy Partner will share the journey we’ve been on at CACI as we adopted advanced AI techniques to enhance our data insights products, as well as the use of generative AI in the interpretation and application of those data insight products – bringing to life the what, why and where of AI at CACI.
They will also dive into the ethical and legislative challenges of adopting AI techniques to undertake data insight practices, and how we’ve addressed them – sharing our key learnings with you, so your data scientists can act with integrity, always considering the ethical side of AI in their day-to-day work.
Finally, we’ll bring this all to life with some real-life use cases of how organisations are adopting these AI driven tools to improve consumer and resident experiences.
We’re confident you’ll walk away with:
• Insights on how you can embrace the AI & Data Science opportunity for your organisation.
• A deeper understanding of the key ethical and legislative considerations that all organisations seeking to adopt AI should be aware of and considering.
• A clearer view of the variety and potential of ways in which data science and AI can drive tangible benefits to organisations across the Public and Commercial sectors both now and in the future.
Ed Sewell, Partner – Data Strategy & Sue MacLure, Director of Data, CACI
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Webinar 2024: Developing skills for AI: how and why
2024-07-17 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom Meetings
Developing skills for AI: how and why
This session will provide delegates with inspiration for how their councils can take practical steps to develop data science skills to take advantage of the opportunities that AI presents. Attendees will also hear from two councils who will give examples of AI projects that showcase the benefits of investing in these skills.
In this session, hear from Anna Gibson, Senior Data Analyst at Hackney Council, about her experience participating in a level 7 AI apprenticeship. Anna will explain how she has put the skills she developed to practical use in an exciting project that aimed to predict which council-managed properties and associated households were most at risk of damp and mould, to help prioritise proactive interventions for the most vulnerable of residents.
Simone Thomas, Senior Manager for Strategic Data Systems at Cheshire West and Chester Council will describe the Data Hive skills development programme the council has implemented to build data culture and skills across the organisation. Simone will also tell us how her Data Science and Engineering team is developing a predictive modelling project that focuses on SEND pupils to help support sufficiency planning and budget forecasting.
Finally, Kate Cooper will outline the support available from the LGA to help councils develop data skills and build capacity around AI, as well as the opportunities available to participate in networks to share learning and build relationships with other councils also working in this area
Anna Gibson, Senior Data Analyst, Hackney Council, Simone Thomas, Senior Manager for Strategic Data Systems, Cheshire West and Chester Council
Chaired by Kate Cooper, Programme Manager – Data and Transparency programme, Local Government Association
Webinars are available to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Contact members only. If you are not currently a member, please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA One Day Conference and Awards, Tuesday 26 November 2024
2024-11-26 | Local Government Association, Local Government House, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ, United Kingdom
LARIA One Day Conference & Awards, Tuesday 26 November 2024

We are not alone: artificial intelligence and data science – friend or foe
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the phrase of the moment. Whether it is through an online chatbot, social media or a smart speaker, AI is in our everyday lives. It could drive significant efficiencies in many sectors or could make employees obsolete. It could solve the world’s problems or create a dystopian world where we are slaves to the machines.
AI is already being used by organisations in local areas to some degree. And those organisations are looking to their local area research and intelligence teams to inform and deliver that work.
Added to this, the opportunities presented by data science techniques, such as machine learning and predictive analytics, can underpin strategic and operational decision-making. Again, local area research and intelligence teams can be front and centre of development and implementation.
Our events aim to provide delegates with the ideas, tools, and techniques for delivering improved outcomes for the public based on robust data, evidence, and research. This year, our conference is themed around AI and data science. Register today!

Download Conference Programme

Tickets are priced at £75.00 for LARIA Members (Full Individual, Additional Corporate, Corporate and Full Corporate Members) and £95.00 for non-members and LARIA Associate Members. If you would like to join LARIA to benefit from the member rates, you can find information on the different memberships available on the website: LARIA Membership benefits
If you are a LARIA Member please sign-in below to register for the Member ticket. If you can’t remember your password click on the ‘request password’ link after you have clicked on ‘sign-in’ to request a temporary password.

Registration is now open!

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LARIA Webinar 1
2025-05-13 14:00 - 15:30 | Zoom Meetings
Session 1: Unlocking Local Insight: Exploring LG Inform Data with Power BI and the Birmingham City Observatory
Discover the art of the possible with LG Inform data and Power BI in this inspiring webinar from the Birmingham City Observatory. We’ll showcase how to turn performance and finance metrics into powerful, comparative insights across local authorities. Learn how to harness the LG Inform API alongside Power BI to explore trends, benchmark against peers, and uncover stories in your data that drive better decision-making. Perfect for analysts, strategists, and anyone curious about turning public data into meaningful local insight.
Danny O’Neill, City Observatory Lead, Birmingham City Council & Mark Williams, Senior Data Adviser, Local Government Association
Session 2: Mind the gap: how patients experience hospital discharge
Mind the Gap was a research project commissioned by Southwark council and its NHS partners to improve the hospital discharge process, particularly for patients transferring from hospital to home with at-home support. The research used ethnographic methods, including interviews and observations in hospital before discharge and later at home, to capture the experiences of patients and families. Key findings revealed gaps in patient understanding and anxiety about the discharge process, and a lack of family-carer involvement. We co-opted community researchers to bring local context, ease communication, and build community research skills. The findings led to the establishment of the Returning Home from Hospital Project which is implementing improvements like accessible patient information, new roles to provide discharge advice, and better coordination with family-carers. Two of the community researchers who were involved in Mind the Gap continue to work with Partnership Southwark, and one is using the experience to support her ambitions to become a social researcher.
Ben Lee, Director, Shared Intelligence
Session 3: Tackling the cost of living together in Stockport
A look at how in Stockport, a highly polarised borough in Greater Manchester, the council has worked together with partners to use data as the key to unlocking inequalities and to close the gap between our most deprived and our most affluent areas. Our approach has allowed us greater insight into emerging trends and helped target financial support to the most vulnerable households in the borough.
Imogen Fox, Delivery Manager – Financial Inclusion & Tom Plant, Anti-Poverty Lead, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Webinars are available free of charge to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Corporate Members. For Associate and Non Members , please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Webinar 2
2025-05-14 10:30 - 12:00 | Zoom Meetings
Session 1: Using qualitative research and partnership working to tackle fuel poverty
Qualitative researchers in Wirral Council’s Public Health team have been using ethnography and interviewing to see and hear how residents are affected by fuel poverty, including those that may be hidden from the national statistics on fuel poverty. Hear how the insights have been used to shape a partnership approach to tackling fuel poverty in the borough.
Abi Yeates, Qualitative Insights Researcher – Public Health, Wirral Council
Session 2: Tackling the Digital Divide: The Digital Exclusion Risk Mapping Tool
Digital inclusion is essential for modern living and ensuring health and wellbeing equality.
To address concerns about digital exclusion in Essex, ECC’s Data and Analytics team explored data and research on infrastructure, affordability, and digital literacy and created an engaging visual to illustrate the county’s digital divide. In this session ECC will share how they created the Digital Inclusion Mapping Tool, an interactive dashboard available through Essex Open Data, which pinpoints at-risk populations at the LSOA level, and how the tool is enabling ECC to work with partner organisations to inform the design and delivery of inclusive local services.
Melody Cremer, Analyst & Amos Turn, Data Science Fellow, Essex County Council
Session 3: Unlocking the power of address data: A data-driven infographic report for benchmarking and transformation
We developed an innovative method to create a bespoke, data-driven infographics report for each of the 318 planning authorities in England and Wales. The target audience was senior local government leaders (Chief Execs, Directors, Heads of Digital Services and Transformation).
The aim of the report was to highlight in a non-technical, visual way how effectively their authority was utilising address data and its Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) across multiple departments.
This was achieved through a range of techniques:

– Benchmarking to quantify the level of UPRN integration
– A summary page highlighting current progress and trend against the national average.
– A service-level view indicating where attention is needed most.
– Creation of an “integration infographic” depicting the current state.
– Assignment of a “UPRN Integration maturity level” and ways to improve
– Key action points to improve

The reports have been hugely successful in supporting local authority officers responsible for creating and maintain their address data (Address Custodians) and engaging senior leadership, building their awareness of address data and critically gaining their buy-in and support of it. The project had no budget and was achieved by using existing tools and staff time alone.
Join Luke Studden, Data Integration Lead at GeoPlace where he will explain in depth the methodology of how we created the reports and why.
Luke Studden, Data Integration Manager, GeoPlace
Webinars are available free of charge to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Corporate Members. For Associate and Non Members , please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Webinar 3
2025-05-15 11:00 - 12:30 | Zoom Meetings
Session 1: Adopting a blended data approach to weather the storm of change
At a time where we’re seeing increases in our daily cost of living which affects multiple community group as well as decreases in available budget to provide local services, it is critical for the public sector to assess the impact of change faced by its residents. Whether you’re focusing on challenges such as child poverty, fuel poverty or housing affordability, it is essential to be able to access and use detailed up-to-date data to evidence decision-making. This session will examine ways in which public sector organisations can adopt a blended data approach to predict likely future change and assess the impact on communities in order to weather the storm of change.
Stewart Eldridge, Associate Partner – Communities & Government
Ed Sewell, Partner – Customer Insight
Val Kirillovs, Principal Consultant – Solutions Design
Patrick Tate, Director – Location Intelligence (live demo)
CACI
Session 2: Harnessing Council Data to Understand Unmet Need in West Lothian Council
There’s a lot of data out there that tells us about the places and people who are getting the support they need, but how do we identify and find those who are missing out? In this session we will cover a project undertaken by the Improvement Service and West Lothian Council to understand and identify this unmet need. The session will describe the background to the project, how data has been used to identify the areas of interest, how West Lothian have used the findings to inform interventions, and next steps for building on and improving this approach. The approach is easily replicable and should give participants some ideas about how they could use their own data in a similar way.
Nick Cassidy, Research Manager, Improvement Service
Webinars are available free of charge to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Corporate Members. For Associate and Non Members , please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA One Day Conference and Awards, Wednesday 25 March 2026
2026-03-25 | Local Government Association, Local Government House, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ, United Kingdom
LARIA One Day Conference and Awards 2026
Local Evidence Matters: Understanding Need Through Research and Data will bring together leading researchers, analysts, and practitioners to explore how robust local evidence can drive better decision-making and improve outcomes for communities. In an era where data is abundant but actionable insights are scarce, this conference will emphasise the critical role of localised research in identifying needs, shaping policy, and delivering targeted interventions. By focusing on the nuances of local contexts, we aim to bridge the gap between national strategies and community realities.
Participants will engage in thought-provoking discussions, share innovative methodologies, and examine case studies that demonstrate the power of insight-driven approaches at a local level. Whether you are working in health, education, social care, or economic development, this conference will offer a unique opportunity to collaborate, learn, and contribute to a growing movement that values evidence as the foundation for meaningful change. Together, we will explore how research and data can illuminate needs, inform priorities, and ultimately create stronger, more resilient local communities and neighbourhoods. Register today!
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For a closer look at this year’s speakers take a look at our Speaker Bios.
Tickets are priced at £80.00 for LARIA Members (Full Individual, Additional Corporate, Corporate and Full Corporate Members) and £100.00 for non-members and LARIA Associate Members. If you would like to join LARIA to benefit from the member rates, you can find information on the different memberships available on the website: LARIA Membership benefits.

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LARIA Summer Webinar Series 2026 - Webinar 1
2026-07-10 10:00 - 11:30 | Teams Meeting
Session 1: 10:00-10:45
Ageing in Place Spatial Risk Model: An evidence-based approach to tackling inequalities in ageing
The Ageing in Place Spatial Risk Model has been developed to support evidence-informed policy development, strategic planning, and place-based decision making to address social isolation and healthy ageing across Greater Manchester. Developed as part of the Ageing in Place Pathfinder in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University, the model provides a consistent analytical lens through which policymakers and neighbourhood-based teams can understand how spatial, social, and demographic factors enable or constrain residents aged 50 and over to age well in their communities.By bringing together multiple indicators linked to deprivation, health, mobility, employment, ethnic diversity, social connection, and access to assets alongside the voice and lived experience of older residents, the model helps identify where risks to ageing well are concentrated and where they overlap. This enables more targeted and preventative responses to be co-produced with residents, supporting interventions that are tailored to local community needs and address inequalities in mid and later life. The model directly informed delivery across 10 neighbourhoods, supporting partners to engage socially isolated residents, identify priority areas for action, and co-design Ageing in Place Action Plans. The approach is now being scaled within the Greater Manchester wide approach to Live Well in Later Life.
Sandaru Weerasinghe, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Ageing Hub)
Session 2: 10:45-11:30
From Data to Action: Tackling Health Inequalities in Gamesley Through Community-Led Insight
The Gamesley Community Needs Assessment (GCNA) provides a robust, mixed‑methods investigation into one of the most deprived wards in Derbyshire. Using a neighbourhood approach and through detailed ward‑level epidemiology, ACORN segmentation and qualitative engagement with 23 residents and professionals, the project uncovered inequalities masked at district level, including Gamesley having the highest standardised incidence ratio for colorectal cancer in England alongside lower screening uptake. The research illuminated the lived experience of local people, revealing interconnected themes: strong community ties, limited transport and opportunity, financial hardship, safety concerns, living with poor health and a history of “project-fatigue”.
The findings directly informed evidence‑based decision‑making across Derbyshire County Council and partners. Four actionable recommendations were agreed: a targeted communication plan, a Health Equity Audit of screening and behaviour change services, a deep dive into mental health, and ongoing community‑led monitoring. Early outcomes include a well‑attended community feedback event, reinvigoration of a residents’ association, establishment of a new Community Neighbourhood Group, and co‑production of a mental health guide with local residents.
The GCNA demonstrates how rigorous local area research, grounded in authentic community participation, can shift practice, strengthen partnerships and drive improvements in health equity.
Caroline Mackie, Derbyshire County Council Public Health

Webinars are available free of charge to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Corporate Members. For Associate and Non Members , please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Summer Webinar Series 2026 - Webinar 2
2026-07-14 12:30 - 14:00 | Teams Meeting
Session 1: 12:30-13:05
Independent 3‑month evaluation of the new Kent & Medway Multi‑Agency Risk Assessment (MARAC) Hub Model
This entry presents the independent 3 month evaluation of the newly implemented Kent & Medway MARAC Hub model. The evaluation was commissioned to understand whether the redesigned multi agency framework had begun to improve risk management, information sharing and coordinated safeguarding for high risk domestic abuse cases. The project addressed two core questions: what enabled successful implementation, and what barriers were limiting the effectiveness of the new model.The research used multiple data sources including interviews, focus groups, surveys, meeting observations, referral audits and analysis of the new Case Management System (CMS). A total of 43 professionals participated in qualitative sessions, 92 professionals completed the survey, and several MARAC meetings were observed to examine practice in context. CMS analytics, referral data and case reviews provided insight into emerging operational patterns.
The evaluation generated a robust understanding of successes such as improved partnership working, strengthened information sharing, and early benefits of digital transformation. It also produced practical recommendations related to licensing, training, role clarity, referral quality, action planning, and meeting structure. Findings have already informed adjustments to MARAC processes, and the report will guide the upcoming 12 month review.
The work demonstrates how local research can support system learning, strengthen accountability and improve safeguarding outcomes.
Sarah Collins, Kent County Council
Session 2: 13:05-13:25
LG Inform App: Engaging Decision‑makers Through Clear, Accessible Data Insights
The LG Inform App, developed by the Local Government Association, provides senior officers and councillors with clear, accessible and timely insight into council performance. Designed to complement the comprehensive LG Inform platform, the app presents a curated basket of 110 metrics across 11 topic areas, enabling leaders to monitor performance quickly and meaningfully. It has been shaped by extensive engagement with councils and professional networks, ensuring the chosen metrics genuinely reflect sector priorities.
The app responds directly to a key communication challenge: decision-makers need rapid, unambiguous insight without navigating complexity. The app achieves this through streamlined visualisations, contextual notifications and intuitive comparisons across relevant groups—including statistical neighbours, region or geographic neighbours. For multi‑tier areas, responsibilities are handled clearly, greyed out where not relevant, and with intuitive prompts.
With integrated alerts, simple sharing functionality and direct links into deeper LG Inform content, the app supports better‑informed conversations, scrutiny and strategic decision‑making. It has already generated high levels of interest due to its clarity, simplicity and alignment with sector needs.
Alex Rigge, Local Government Association – LG Inform Programme
Session 3: 13:25-14:00
The Intervention Index: Data-Driven Prioritisation of £1.58 Billion Transport Investment in Liverpool City Region
The University of Liverpool’s Geographic Data Service, in partnership with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA), developed the “Intervention Index”, which is a composite spatial indicator framework that directly informed the allocation of £1.581 billion in transport infrastructure funding, the largest settlement in the city region’s history.
The research integrated multiple open and administrative datasets to create a bespoke index measuring compound inequality across four domains: Transport Accessibility, Deprivation and Socioeconomic Status, Economic Development, and Housing Opportunities. The methodology was co-produced through extensive consultation with LCRCA officers, Merseytravel, and six Local Authority partners.
The resulting evidence base and interactive dashboard became the primary tool for strategic decision-making in the Transport for City Regions (TCR) programme bid. The index enabled objective identification of areas experiencing intersecting disadvantages and provided transparent criteria for evaluating competing transport proposals.
The Department for Transport praised the approach which, in December 2025, allowed LCRCA to be the first Combined Authority nationally to confirm how it would spend its funding. Liverpool City Region was subsequently ranked third among 400 European cities in the European Capital of Innovation awards, an achievement the Metro Mayor specifically attributed to this data-driven approach to policy development.
Alex Singleton, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) & Geographic Data Service, University of Liverpool

Webinars are available free of charge to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Corporate Members. For Associate and Non Members , please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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LARIA Summer Webinar Series 2026 - Webinar 3
2026-07-15 10:00 - 11:00 | Teams Meeting
Session 1: 10:00-10:45
Survivor Voice Ambassadors: Embedding Lived Experience in Domestic Abuse Policy, Training and Public Communication
The Survivor Voice Ambassadors (SVA) programme amplifies the lived experiences of domestic abuse survivors to inform commissioning, strengthen training, improve public communication and enhance service design across Kent and Medway. The programme invites survivors to share their experiences safely, with trauma informed protocols embedded throughout all stages of involvement. Ten ambassadors representing a range of backgrounds, identities and experiences have contributed to a range of local and national outputs.
Their voices shape the Domestic Abuse Partnership website, media campaigns, professional training, and strategic policy discussions. They have provided insights that informed the commissioning of cybercrime support and specialist mental health input. Ambassadors have co produced content for public awareness campaigns, contributed testimonies to radio and press coverage, and recorded material for online training.
The programme demonstrates meaningful involvement of survivors in shaping communication, service improvement and public understanding. It advances inclusive and ethical research practice by positioning survivors as partners rather than subjects. This entry shows how local research and engagement can drive organisational change, strengthen public messages, improve practitioner confidence and directly enhance support pathways for victims. The programme meets LARIA criteria through high quality engagement and demonstrable impact on decisions, service development and communication strategies.
Sarah Collins, Kent County Council

Webinars are available free of charge to Full Individual Members, Corporate Members, Full Corporate Members and Additional Corporate Members. For Associate and Non Members , please sign up to membership to access the webinars. For more details on the benefits of membership, please see here.
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