How well does your council use data for decision-making?

The LGA is looking for councils to partner with us to trial the use of a data maturity self-assessment tool. We would welcome councils at any stage of maturity from the data unaware to data masters. The results will enable you to assess where you are on your data journey and plan the next steps of your evolution. You will also be able to compare yourself across different functional areas and against other councils. The findings will encourage conversation on the data needs of councils and how we can work collectively to raise standards and to improve cultural and work practices.

More details and how to register your council’s interest is available online here.

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You can read the full blog on the Cambridge Econometrics website.

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Laria NE October 2018 Event

The third LARIA North East Networking event was well-attended, with 15 attendees and four presenters. Held at Darlington Town Hall (thanks to Zoe Foster and Darlington Borough Council for providing the venue), we enjoyed a mixture of presentations on information management and networking, and the chance to meet other North East researchers.

We first heard from Dr Christopher Parker at Newcastle City Council on the topic “Preventing homelessness in the context of welfare reform: Newcastle upon Tyne’s Homelessness Prevention Trailblazer”. Newcastle is one of only three national early adopters for the Homelessness Prevention Trailblazer, a public service transformation programme focused on preventing homelessness at an earlier stage by working with a wider group of residents at risk to help them before they reach crisis point.

Next, Andrew Billett (Public Health England) gave a talk on “Measuring health inequalities: investigating a rise in early mortality due to heart disease in Teesside”, and how PHE were able to use public health surveillance techniques to reach conclusions, such as learning that the flattening of the trend in the early mortality rate due to chronic heart disease in Middlesbrough since 2010 was caused by an increase in the number of deaths due to chronic ischaemic heart disease.

Following a tea and coffee break, Warren Hatter from With The Grain and Stuart Cuthbertson from Sunderland City Council presented on “Using behavioural insight in local government: lessons from Sunderland”. They discussed how behavioural insights can help public sector organisations reduce demand, improve outcomes and increase resilience, looking at case examples from increasing benefits applications in Sutton, and encouraging the take-up of stop smoking services in pregnancy in Sunderland.

In the final part of the event, we moved onto networking and the “Three things I’m working on…” forms. These aim to capture information three projects each of us is working on, three issues we think will be important in the future, and three things we are interested in learning more about in future. Everyone took the chance to network and discuss these issues with fellow researchers, and the information on the forms will be used to plan future LARIA North East networking events. Finally, Louise Reeve, the LARIA North East Regional Organiser (me!) presented on “What’s happening with LARIA nationally?” This included feedback from the recent LARIA Awayday to plan the future of the organisation, the option for members to host an ONS Census Economic Forum, and feedback from the recent Public Affairs Committee Annual Conference. There was also some cake!

Thanks to everyone who attended for making it such an amazing event. The next one will be in Spring 2019. Watch this space, and contact me if you have any ideas for what you’d like us to cover: louise.reeve@newcastle.gov.uk.

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New researcher of the year (highly commended) – Haydn Brown, Manchester City Council – Light rail and the Manchester property market – part 1; Light rail and the Manchester property market – part 2; Light rail and the Manchester property market – part 3 

Most engaging presentation of local area research (shortlisted) – Steven Hibbert, Manchester City Council – PSR Outcomes Framework      

Best use of local area research 1 (highly commended) – Gemma Jones, Lancashire County Council – Breaking the boundaries_service planning based on need not construct 

Best use of local area research 2 – (shortlisted) – Tim Robinson, Manchester City Council – Neighbourhood intelligence (confidential)

Best use of social care or health research 1 – (highly commended) – Farhat Abbas, Lancashire County Council – Saving the children – making infant deaths everybody’s business 

Best use of social care or health research 2 – (highly commended) – Charlotte Harris, Revealing Reality/Wirral Council – Barriers of binary thinking_tackling health related worklessness on the Wirral

Best use of social care or health research 3 – (shortlisted) – Leo Wall, Manchester City Council and Manchester CCGs Business Intelligence – Understanding health demands in Manchester

Further information from: l.frost@manchester.gov.uk

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Humanities Bridgeford Street Building, University of Manchester

Now that nearly all census outputs are out and being used the UK Data Service are hosting a two-day conference to celebrate the UK censuses.

The conference will include three plenary sessions:

• The value of the Census
• Making use of the Census
• Challenges for the future

Speakers include:

• Danny Dorling and Bethan Thomas
• Ian Cope
• Keith Dugmore
• Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland Census Offices

General conference places will cost £100 per person to include drinks, lunch and conference dinner. Student places are available at £50 per person.

Residential accommodation should be booked separately. A Google map of hotels within walking distance of the conference venue is available.

To view the programme and book a place please see here.

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• Support for the idea of university tuition fees has remained consistent over the past decade: the proportion of respondents believing that all university students should pay fees was recorded as 11% in both 2004 and 2013, while the proportion who feel that some students should pay has risen by just one percentage point (from 66% to 67%).
• At 69%, satisfaction with the NHS remains almost identical to that recorded in 2009.
• The  proportion of respondents who believe that taxes should be increased in order to finance more spending on health, education and welfare has risen by just five percentage points over the course of the coalition’s tenure (from 32% in 2010 to 37% in 2014).

These figures seem to conflict with the ‘thermostatic’ model of public opinion put forward by the political scientist Christopher Wlezien, in which it is argued that public opinion responds to changes in government spending. According to this theory, the electorate has an ideal level of spending in mind for certain issues, meaning that when the government spends a reduced amount of money, support for additional spending increases, and when the government spends more, support for increased spending reduces. This model has been tested against British public opinion data from the late twentieth and very early twenty-first centuries: however, the data shown above indicates that this link may, at present, be weakening. However, the report reveals that there is one issue that has engendered a much more significant shift in opinion during the current government’s tenure: support for the concept of a coalition government has declined substantially. The notion of coalition government is unusual in British politics: the current coalition is the first to govern Britain since 1945. In 2007, 45% of respondents to the British Social Attitudes survey stated that they would prefer a coalition government over a single-party administration: however, this proportion has now fallen to just 29%.

The report also predicts several areas that are likely to be of concern to the next government, whatever its eventual composition. These include:

• Funding of the NHS. Almost the entirety of the general public (92%) believe that the NHS is facing a funding problem, with almost three quarters believing that this problem is either “major” or “severe.” However, the various methods of increasing NHS funding which were put forward by the researchers were not particularly well received. Approximately one third (32%) of respondents supported the idea of restricting free healthcare to those on lower incomes, while a quarter (24%) supported the idea of a tax dedicated solely to providing funding for the NHS. Still less popular were the ideas of paying more tax through the current system (17%), introducing charges for visits to GPs and A&E departments (14%) or charging people to cover their food and laundry costs while in hospital (12%).

• The UK’s relationship with Europe. Since 1996, the majority of the British public have either felt that the UK should seek to reduce the EU’s powers or that it should leave the EU altogether. In the most recent British Social Attitudes survey report, respondents were asked to choose from a range of options for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Of these options, the most popular was to remain a member but renegotiate terms (38%), followed by leaving the EU (24%) and leaving the relationship as it is (18%). The least popular options were to remain in the EU and increase its powers (10%) and to work towards the formation of a single European government (4%). While this euroscepticism is, according to the researchers, a continuation of a longer-term trend rather than a new development, they conclude that the next government is likely to be expected to, as a minimum, retain the UK’s status as a relatively unenthusiastic EU member. Moreover, the report also discusses the rise of UKIP, concluding that this does not, in fact, stem from a surge in euroscepticism among the British public. It states that other key characteristics of UKIP supporters are their social conservatism, their distrust of politics and concern with regard to the uneven distribution of wealth.

• Spending on welfare. With the exception of pensions and support for the disabled, spending on welfare is broadly unpopular among the electorate. The proportion who feel that the government should spend more on welfare has declined consistently over the past few decades: in 1989, the proportion of the electorate who felt this way stood at 69%, compared to just 30% in 2014. While Labour supporters tend to be more sympathetic towards welfare claimants than Conservative supporters, 50% of the former group still agreed with the statement that “around here, most unemployed people could find a job if they wanted to.” The researchers therefore conclude that it would be difficult for the next government to make any substantive changes to the welfare policies imposed in recent years without risking significant public discontent. They also suggest that it may be difficult for the incoming government to continue to meet the expectations of the public with regard to protecting pensions from spending cuts.

For further information about the British Social Attitudes survey, please see http://www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk/.

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The conference will see the official launch of LIFEBID to UK FRS’s and interested parties. The aim of LIFEBID is to create the world’s first database of actions and motivations in Accidental Dwelling Fires. Unlike fires in commercial, industrial and public spaces, very little is known about human behaviour in ADF’s and yet this is where the majority of injuries occur. LIFEBID will provide detailed knowledge about the circumstances and events prior to the fire service response, and importantly those incidents not attended by the FRS. This is not limited to serious fires only but will capture information from all fires to identify the crucial areas which increase or decrease risk. The conference will enable delegates to:

• Understand the development of LIFEBID
• Learn about the survey data and associated research
• Discuss ways in which this has, and will, provide a means for FRS’s to target resources, further reduce injuries and also consider the role of the public in resolving incidents.

The conference agenda will also see the launch of the CFOA data and research programme. The aim of the programme is to unify FRS’s in their approach to understanding and utilising its own and other agencies data in order to improve the outcomes for the community. You will also hear updates from the NorthWest data sharing trial with health and the Wales data sharing arrangements.

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