Welcome to the Local Government Association (LGA) Analysis and Research Bulletin. 

This comprehensive monthly publication keeps you informed about key issues and developments in research impacting on local government.

The bulletin brings together the work of the LGA and also features relevant publications from the wider research community. The information in this bulletin is grouped under themed areas. This publication is produced by LGA Research and Information and we provide high-quality analysis and research across all aspects of local government.

A new archive providing back-dated copies of this bulletin is now available.

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Towards a healthy weight: Local government action to improve children’s health

Local councils across the country are embracing a variety of strategies to promote children's healthy weight. These LGA case studies offer valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with promoting children’s healthy weight at the local level.

Giving children the best start in life: shining a spotlight on health visiting

These LGA health visiting case studies illustrate the important role health visitors play in ensuring children and families get the support they need in challenging times.

Adult social care in England, monthly statistics: March 2024

These Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) adult social care statistics provide information on a range of topics including occupancy, infection control measures and COVID-19 vaccinations in adult social care settings in England in March 2024. 

Local authority dashboard - England

The Health Foundation have created a new dashboard which presents data and insights on the state of health and health inequalities across all local authorities in England.

Milestones: journeying through modern life

This Office for National Statistics (ONS) article looks at the key milestones in life that most people experience, the average age people reach these milestones and how this has changed over time.

Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: 10 to 21 April 2024

This ONS data provides social insights on daily life and events from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) relating to the biggest issues facing society in Great Britain today.

Food and you 2 (wave 7): 23 April 2023 and 10 July 2023 – England, Wales and Northern Ireland

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) Food and you 2 survey was launched in 2020. It measures self-reported consumer knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues among adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Wave 7 of the survey was conducted between 23 April and 10 July 2023.

What is happening to life expectancy?

This updated long read from The King’s Fund examines trends in life expectancy at birth up to 2022, the impact of Covid-19 on life expectancy, gender differences and inequalities in life expectancy, causes of the changing trends since 2011, and how life expectancy in the UK compares with other countries.

A snapshot of poverty winter 2024 – Wales 

This snapshot of poverty report from The Bevan Foundation provides insights as to how people in Wales are managing at the start of 2024. 

The role of integrated care systems in improving dementia diagnosis

This long read from The King’s Fund draws on the experiences of people working in, or living with, dementia, to explore the relationship between high-quality dementia diagnosis and integrated care systems.

Pupil attendance in schools from 11 September 2023 to 28 March 2024 -England 

This Department for Education (DfE) pupil attendance data provides information on the levels of attendance and overall, authorised and unauthorised absence in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools.  

Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England: 2022 to 2023

These DfE outcomes for children statistics provide a range of outcome measures at national and local authority level for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities. 

Perceptions of GCSE, A level and other qualifications: wave 22 - England

These Ofqual perceptions statistics provide the 2023 results of an annual survey of heads of schools, teachers, general public, parents, students, employers and higher education institutions in England. 

Level 2 and 3 attainment age 16 to 25 – Academic year 2022/23 - England

These DfE statistics include information on the attainment of young people age 16 to 25, focusing on those age 19 in 2023. 

National behaviour survey report – academic year 2022/23 - England

This DfE report provides the findings of a survey on behaviour in schools, including school behaviour culture and policies, pupil experience, frequency and impact of misbehaviour and response.

The impact of childcare reforms on childcare and early years providers - England

This DfE childcare and early years providers research includes information on the impact, both seen and predicted, of recent childcare reforms on providers in England. 

Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities, in England: the reporting year ending 31 March 2023

These DfE statistics provide a range of outcome measures at national and local authority level for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities in England for the reporting year ending March 31 2023. 

Support matters: Overview of services for children and parents – England and Wales

Building on their Support Matters report, the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) have published an overview of the key findings and implications of the research, focused specifically on the services supporting children who may have been sexually abused and their parents, as well as for children displaying harmful sexual behaviour. 

Statistical digest of rural England

The statistical digest from Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a compendium of socio-economic statistics for rural areas. The compendium is structured into eight thematic reports and the latest findings cover: education, qualifications and training statistics for rural England.

Passenger rail service complaints: October to December 2023 – Great Britain

These Office of Rail and Road (ORR) quarterly statistics provide information on the volume and cause of complaints made to train operating companies between October and December 2023 in Great Britain. 

National travel survey mid-year estimates: year ending June 2023 – Great Britain

These Department for Transport (DfT) statistics provide mid-year estimates of travel behaviours by residents of England travelling within Great Britain for the year ending June 2023.

Daily domestic transport use by mode: April 2023 to April 2024 – Great Britain

These DfT statistics provide information on the daily usage of selected domestic transport by mode in Great Britain between April 2023 and April 2024.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the UK – January to March 2023

This Environment Agency report shows both the amount of household and non-household Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) collected by Producer Compliance Schemes and their members in the UK between January and March 2023.

LG Inform report on sport and leisure

This new LG Inform report provides an overview of sport and leisure. activities in a selected geographical area by highlighting metrics which cover physical activity, attendance at sporting events, museums, nightlife, and more.

Metrics added to LG Inform this month:

Mean benefit awards - England

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) mean Universal Credit and housing benefit payments have been added to LG Inform for the first time. Mean of payment amount to households on Universal Credit for the latest period November 2023 in England was £815.13 up from £732.45 in November 2022. The latest data shows the mean payment to households with housing entitlement for England was £1,035.00 compared to the mean payment to households with no housing entitlement which was £439.05.   

For claimants on housing benefit the mean weekly award for November 2023 in England was £130.55 compared to £120.17 in November 2022. 

Available Geographies: Country – Region – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary – District 

Special Educational Needs (SEN) 

The DfE’s special educational needs (SEN) data has been added to LG Inform. This data focuses on primary and secondary type of need among pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans or receiving SEN Support. 

The most common type of need among pupils with an EHC plan is autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), almost one in three pupils with an EHC plan are identified with a primary need of ASD (115,984 pupils). 

The primary need  for pupils with SEN support, identified for 278,596 pupils,  was speech, language and communication needs. This is followed by social, emotional and mental health needs (229,700 pupils) and moderate learning difficulty (189,375 pupils) 

Available Geographies: Country – County - Region – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary  

UK labour market – December to February 2024

These ONS statistics provide estimates of employment, unemployment, inactivity, average weekly earnings, vacancies and other labour market related statistics for the UK between December and February 2024.

Apprenticeships: August 2023 to January 2024 - England

These DfE statistics provide information on apprenticeships in England from August 2023 to January 2024.

Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 18 April 2024

These ONS statistics provide information on the impact of challenges facing the economy and other events on UK businesses. 

Regional economic activity by gross domestic product: 1998 to 2022 - UK

These ONS statistics provide annual estimates of economic activity by UK country, region and local area using gross domestic product (GDP) in the UK between 1998 and 2022. 

Economic activity and social change in the UK, real time indicators: 25 April 2024

These ONS statistics provide early data on the UK economy and society

UK house building data: October to December 2023

This ONS time series data provides information on starts and completions of new build dwellings in local authorities across the UK, between October to December 2023.

Who has been affected by changing housing costs across England and Wales in 2023?

This ONS release investigates how households in different areas of England and Wales have been affected by mortgage payment increases and rent cost increases in 2023. 

Home Office crime outcomes year to December 2023: data tables – England and Wales

These Home Office statistics provide details of outcomes assigned to offences recorded in a twelve-month period to December 2023 and the total number of outcomes recorded, by outcome type and offence type in England and Wales. 

Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2023 – England and Wales

These Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HM Prison Service quarterly offender management statistics provide information on offenders in custody in England and Wales (including offence groups, sentence lengths and nationalities), and quarterly (and annual calendar year) statistics on prison receptions, prison releases, adjudications, licence recalls and offenders under probation supervision. 

Proven reoffending statistics: April to June 2022- England and Wales

These MoJ statistics provide information on the reoffending of offenders who were released from custody, received a non-custodial conviction, or a caution between April and June 2022 in England and Wales.

Crime in England and Wales: year ending December 2023

These ONS statistics provide information on crime against households and adults using data from police recorded crime and the Crime Survey for England and Wales for the year ending December 2023. 

Geoplace conference 2024 – Connecting people and places
Tuesday 21 May 9.00am – 5.30pm, Manchester

This year’s GeoPlace conference will host a range of speakers from government, the private sector and local government, and will outline how they use address and street data – UPRNs and USRNs – to drive transformation, identify where to deliver services to and how to approach some of the most challenging issues for public services.

Speakers include a Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) minister, several local authorities, the LGA, as well as Nottingham City Council discussing its Digital Twins work which has been supported by funding from the DLUHC PropTech Innovation Fund.

Register for the GeoPlace conference 2024 on their website

LG Inform and LG Inform Plus webinar programme 2024

The LG Inform and LG Inform Plus programme of free webinars for spring 2024 are available.

To book a place and discover more about the data, report writing and the various modules on offer visit the online training page for more details and how to book. If you would like something more tailored to your needs, contact [email protected]

Social Research Association (SRA) training courses

The SRA are currently offering a range of online training courses using Zoom. 

SRA - Social Research Practice journal

The latest issue of the SRA's free e-journal is now available.

The Rees Centre newsletter 

The Rees Centre newsletter is published every two months giving an update on their fostering related research activities and events along with a book review and a section on young voices. 

Changing Populations newsletter

The latest newsletter from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre for Population Change is now available.

Child Welfare Inequalities Project (CWIP) news

The CWIP at Coventry University studies the links between deprivation and children’s chances of being unable to live safely within their birth families and also aims to establish child welfare inequalities as a core concept in policy making, practice and research. Information about current CWIP projects is available on the website.

NIHR School for Public Health Research

Sign-up to receive the latest news and updates from the NIHR School for Public Research including publications, funding opportunities, upcoming events and more. Sign-up here. Read the latest newsletter here.

NIHR Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Team (PHIRST) newsletter

The NIHR PHIRST newsletter includes information on seminars, evaluations and publications. Visit the website to sign-up for the newsletter.

Centre for Evaluation newsletter

The Centre for Evaluation develops interventions, systems and strategies to improve public health using rigorous evaluation methods. Visit the website to sign up for the Centre for Evaluation newsletter.

What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth newsletter

This regular newsletter from the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth provides the latest resources and evidence. Visit the website to sign up for the newsletter.

The Centre for Youth Impact newsletter

The Centre for Youth Impact is a community of organisations that work together to progress thinking and practice around impact measurement in youth work and services for young people. The latest Centre for Youth Impact newsletter is now available.

Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Newsletter

The CSA newsletter brings together the most up-to-date research into an accessible overview for frontline professionals and commissioners. Visit the website to sign up for the CSA newsletter.

National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) Direct

This regular NFER newsletter provides research, industry insights and free resources and events. Sign up for the newsletter here.

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) Centre for Evaluation

The Centre for Evaluation aims to improve the design and conduct of evaluations of complex public health interventions through the development, application and dissemination of rigorous methods, and facilitate the use of robust evidence to inform policy and practice decisions. The Centre produce a termly newsletter.

Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) newsletter

WCPP works to address key economic and societal challenges through the use of evidence and produce a regular newsletter.

Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) news alert

EEF news alerts provide information about teaching and learning toolkits, project evaluation reports, grant funding rounds and news and events.

NESTA

NESTA is an innovation foundation which aims to tackle society’s big challenges. They produce a regular newsletter.

Research and Economic Analysis for the Long Term (REAL) Centre

The Health Foundation’s REAL Centre was set up to support long-term decision making in health and social care. Visit the website to sign up for regular updates.

Policy Bristol Newsletter

The Policy Bristol Newsletter provides regular policy updates and the latest policy research and events news.

ActEarly monthly bulletin

The AntennAE monthly e-bulletin provides the latest news and developments from Act Early.

The Health Foundation newsletter

This monthly newsletter from The Health Foundation provides details about funding opportunities, latest publications and blogs, and the latest news from the world of UK health care.

The Learning and Work Institute newsletter

This monthly newsletter from the Learning and Work Institute provides news updates, latest publications and blogs.

The Resolution Foundation Housing Outlook

This quarterly publication from The Resolution Foundation covers housing issues including quality and affordability.