This monthly publication keeps you informed of key issues and developments in research impacting on, or of interest to, local government.
Sign up to receive this bulletin
This monthly publication keeps you informed of key issues and developments in research impacting on, or of interest to, local government.
Sign up for the LGA Research Bulletin.
December Analysis and Research Bulletin
Welcome to the Local Government Association (LGA) Analysis and Research Bulletin which also incorporates the Employment Digest.
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.
Education and young people
The implications of COVID-19 on the school funding landscape
The National Foundation of Educational Research (NFER) research report ‘The implications of COVID-19 on school funding’ is part of a larger suite of research focusing on schools’ responses to COVID-19. The report investigates the extent to which mainstream primary and secondary schools in England will be able to meet the additional costs of COVID-19 through existing and additional government funding.
A brighter future: The impact of the DofE on young people’s mental health and wellbeing
Research by The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) and NFER has highlighted the positive effects of the DofE on young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Attitudes to education: the British social attitudes survey 2019 – England, Wales and Scotland
The Department for Education (DfE) has commissioned questions on NatCen’s British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA). In 2019, the Department commissioned a set of questions measuring public attitudes in relation to the following topics: children’s mental health, rules in secondary education, skills that schools should teach, preparing young people for the job market, continued education and future job security, including the effect of increased automation.
Evidence review on mathematical teaching in the Early Years and Key Stage 1
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has published an evidence review on mathematics teaching in the Early Years and Key Stage 1. The review, synthesised the best available international research to evaluate the effectiveness of classroom-based interventions for improving mathematical learning in Early Years and Key Stage 1 settings.
Research into how the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting students in Higher Education
This ONS publication provides a summary of research into how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected students in higher education in England during the autumn term of 2020.
Coronavirus and Higher Education students, England: 20 November to 25 November 2020
These ONS experimental statistics from a pilot of the Student Covid Insights Survey include information on the behaviours, plans, opinions and well-being of higher education students in the context of guidance on COVID-19.
Attendance in education and early years settings during the COVID-19 outbreak: 23 March to 10 December 2020 – England
These DfE statistics provide a summary of attendance in education settings in England since Monday 23 March and early years settings since Thursday 16 April
Transport
Transport statistics Great Britain: 2020
This Department for Transport (DfT) report identifies statistical trends in the British transport sector for the year 2020.
Transport use during the COVID-19 pandemic – from 1 March 2020
Provisional road traffic estimates, Great Britain: October 2019 to September 2020
These DfT statistics provide provisional estimates for road traffic in Great Britain for the year ending September 2020, by vehicle type and road class.
Passenger rail performance: Great Britain, July to September 2020
These Office of Rail and Road (ORR) statistics provide information on passenger rail performance in Great between 1 July and 30 September 2020.
Rail statistics compendium: 2019 to 2020- Great Britain
This ORR publication provides an annual summary of rail statistics for Great Britain between 2019 and 2020.
Local bus passenger journeys from 1950 - Great Britain
This DfT publication provides annual data about local bus passenger journeys in Great Britain from 1950 to 2020.
Quarterly bus statistics: July to September 2020 – Great Britain
These DfT statistics provide information on local bus passenger journeys and fares in Great Britain for July to September 2020.
Environment
Understanding towns in England and Wales: spatial analysis
This article by ONS provides data and analysis on towns in England and Wales, showing how town characteristics correlate with the attributes of neighbouring towns, with regards to employment, population, rurality and deprivation.
Rural economic bulletin
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) quarterly rural economic bulletin is a 'dashboard' of indicators designed to provide evidence on the rural economy. This is a regular quarterly bulletin and covers periods prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Additional analysis has been included where possible to show impacts of the outbreak.
The people and nature survey for England: monthly interim indicators for October 2020 (Experimental Statistics)
These interim experimental indicators from the Natural England people and nature survey, cover the period 1-31 October 2020, and aim to help understand the impact of COVID-19 on how people use the natural environment in England.
Area of crops grown for bioenergy in England and the UK: 2008-2019
These Defra statistics provide estimates of the areas of crops grown in England and the UK for bioenergy between 2008 and 2019.
Local government
Population profiles for local authorities in England
This ONS collation of statistics on population characteristics provides insight into COVID-19. Data relate to local authorities in England and characteristics include age, ethnicity, industry, those in key worker occupations and deprivation.
LG Inform updates:
Local council tax support data and annual rough sleeping snapshot added to LG Inform
The local council tax support data as well as the annual rough sleeping snapshot in England: Autumn data (both published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have now been added to LG Inform/Inform Plus.
Quarterly local council tax support history is available from 2015/16 onwards and rough sleeping data is from 2010 to the most recent 2019 annual survey.
The Local Council Tax Support has been added to the Financial hardship and economic vulnerability Report
Metrics added to LG Inform this month include:
NHS Digital: Recorded dementia diagnoses - November 2020, England
The total number of people 'on the books' at GP practices in England who are aged 65 and have a formal diagnosis of dementia for November 2020 was 420,952, a decrease from 422,549 in October 2020.
Available Geographies: Country – County - District – London borough – Metropolitan District – Region - Unitary
A levels and other 16 to 18 results – 2019/20, England
The number of students achieving at least two A levels (expressed as a percentage of students at the end of advanced level study who were entered for at least one A/AS level, applied single A/AS level, applied double A/AS level or combined A/AS level during 16-18 study) was 86.3 per cent in England in 2019/20, an increase from 80.7 per cent in 2018/19.
Available Geographies: Country – County - London borough – Metropolitan District – Region - Unitary
Measures from the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework – 2019/20, England
The proportion of adults with learning disabilities in paid employment in England in 2019/20 was 5.6 per cent compared to 5.9 per cent in 2018/19. This measure shows the proportion of all adults (aged 18-64) with a learning disability who are known to the council, who are recorded as being in paid employment.
Available Geographies: Country – County - London borough – Metropolitan District – Region - Unitary
Employment, pay and workforce
LGA Statistical Alert - employment statistics:
The December 2020 Statistical Alert produced by LGA Research and Information shows Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers housing costs (CPIH) decreased to 0.6 per cent in November 2020 from 0.9 per cent in October 2020. Retail Price Index (RPI) annual inflation decreased to 0.9 per cent in November 2020 from 1.3 per cent in October 2020
The number of people in employment in Great Britain was 31,665,000 for the three months to October 2020; this has decreased by 145,000 compared to the previous quarter to July 2020, from 31,810,000. Unemployment in Great Britain for the same periods was 1,657,000 for the quarter to October 2020, an increase of 232,000 from 1,425,000 in the previous quarter to July 2020.
Figures provided by XpertHR, an online resource for employment law HR good practice and benchmarking, showed the median whole economy pay settlement level of 2.0 per cent to the three months ending November 2020, unchanged from October 2020.
Results from the Labour Research Department (LRD) survey provided by XpertHR showed the median level of union-negotiated awards for the whole economy was 2.5 per cent for the three months ending October 2020, unchanged from September 2020.
Mapping career causeways: supporting workers at risk
COVID-19 has forced many into financial and work insecurity. As economies look to recover, it is likely that many people in the workforce will need to retrain in order to transition into new roles. Nesta’s latest report and interactive map help people identify jobs that use a similar skillset to the one they have – but are at a lower risk of being automated.
Gender pay gap, UK: 2020 revised
These ONS annual gender pay gap estimates provide information for UK employees by age, occupation, industry, full-time and part-time, region and other geographies, and in the public and private sector.
Public sector employment, UK: September 2020
These ONS statistics provide the official measure of people employed in the UK public sector, including private sector estimates, based on the difference between total UK employment and public sector employment in September 2020.
Labour market in the regions of the UK: August to October 2020
These ONS statistics provide regional, local authority and Parliamentary constituency breakdowns of changes in UK employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other related statistics between August and October 2020.
UK labour market: August to October 2020
These ONS statistics provide estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK between August and October 2020.
Index of labour costs per hour, UK: July to September 2020
Economy
Post-Brexit migration and Wales
This report from the Welsh Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) analyses the potential impacts of post-Brexit migration policies on Wales’ labour market, population and society, and identifies ways in which the Welsh Government might respond to the opportunities and challenges that this presents.
Coronavirus and the impacts on different industries, UK
This ONS publication considers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different parts of the UK economy, based on trends in output, sales and turnover since February 2020.
Retail sales; Great Britain: November 2020
These ONS statistics provide a first estimate of retail sales in volume and value terms in Great Britain during November 2020, both seasonally and non-seasonally adjusted.
Forecasts for the UK economy: December 2020
This HM Treasury publication provides a comparison of independent forecasts for the UK economy in December 2020.
Housing
Deaths of homeless people in England and Wales: 2013 to 2019
These ONS experimental statistics provide information on the number of deaths of homeless people in England and Wales. Figures are given for deaths registered in the calendar years 2013 to 2019.
Affordable housing supply in England: April 2019 to March 2020
These MHCLG statistics provide information on the gross additional affordable housing supply in England April 2019 to March 2020.
English housing survey 2019 to 2020: headline report
This MHCLG report presents initial findings from the English Housing Survey 2019 to 2020.
Social housing lettings in England, April 2019 to March 2020
These MHCLG statistics provide information on new social housing lettings in England between April 2019 and March 2020 provided by local authorities and private registered providers.
Housing statistics 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020
These statistics present the housing starts on site and housing completions delivered by Homes England between 1 April 2020 and 30 September 2020.
Crime
Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2020
These Home Office statistics provide figures for seizures of drugs made by local police forces and the UK Border Force in England and Wales during the financial year ending 2020.
Civil justice statistics quarterly: July to September 2020, England and Wales
These Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics provide information on the volume of civil and judicial review cases dealt with by the courts in England and Wales between July and September 2020, and the overall timeliness of these cases.
Drug misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2020
This ONS publication provides an overview of the extent and trends of illicit drug use among 16-59 year olds for the year ending March 2020 from the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
Statistics on ‘honour-based’ abuse offences, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020
These Home Office statistics provide information on ‘honour-based’ abuse offences recorded by the police in the year to March 2020 in England and Wales.
Police use of force statistics, England and Wales: April 2019 to March 2020
These Home Office statistics provide information on incidents in England and Wales between April 2019 and March 2020 where police officers used force; including type of force, reason, outcome, injuries, and person details (such as age, gender).
Regular publications and events
LG Inform/LG Inform Plus training events
A programme of free LG Inform and LG Inform Plus webinars is now available. All materials have been reviewed and updated with recent changes to LG Inform and the launch of the new LG Inform Plus site.
This full programme of training covers the key aspects of both LG Inform and LG Inform Plus with sessions on:
- LG Inform - an overview
- Personalisation of LG Inform
- Building LG Inform reports
- Searching for metrics and building reports in LG Inform Plus
- Powers & Duties and Records Retention
- GDPR - Record of Processing Activity (RoPA)
- Adding your own metrics via My Local Metrics
- Application Programming Interface: direct data feed to over 12,000 metrics
To see what is available in each webinar, follow these links to guides for LG Inform and guides on LG Inform Plus.
See the online training page for details and how to book.
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.
University of Bristol – policy newsletter
This policy newsletter from the University of Bristol includes the latest policy research briefings and information on how their research relates to current affairs and legislation.
Project Oracle children and youth evidence hub
Project Oracle is a children and youth evidence hub. The latest newsletter provides a round-up of Project Oracle news, and headlines from across the sector. You can sign up to receive the regular Project Oracle newsletter.
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.
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.
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.
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 2020 Centre for Youth Impact newsletter is now available.
Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)
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.
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.
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) society now
This regular magazine from ESRC provides the latest social science research for key opinion formers in business, government and the voluntary sector.
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.
EiF newsletter
This regular newsletter from the EiF brings together research, evidence and implementation guidance to champion effective early intervention for children and young people.