LGA Research bulletin

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.

Resident satisfaction polling
The LGA has published its latest survey into resident satisfaction with local government. The findings show levels of satisfaction sitting above the average recorded over the last nine years of polling. The survey also asked about satisfaction with local government’s response to the pandemic. Eighty-three per cent of respondents said their council is managing well to keep its services running, and 53 per cent are satisfied with the way their council is supporting them (with another 31 per cent giving a neutral rating).

Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain: 5 March 2021
This Office for National Statistics (ONS) publication provides indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people, households and communities in Great Britain.

Coronavirus and the social impacts on disabled people in Great Britain: February 2020
This ONS data provides indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey to understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled people in Great Britain.

Adult social care statistics in England: an overview 2020
This NHS Digital report brings together data collected across different aspects of adult social care funded by local authorities and provides information about the trends in adult social care in England in 2020.

Hospital care for care home residents during COVID-19
This research by the Health Foundation shows that the amount of hospital care received by those living in care homes in England rapidly declined in the first three months of the pandemic in 2020 and was substantially lower than in the same period in 2019.

What is the NHS’s role in tackling poverty?
This report from The King’s Fund considers how the NHS can better tackle poverty in England as part of the commitments it made to reducing health inequalities in the NHS Long Term Plan (NHS England 2019).  the NHS, as the largest economic institution in England, needs to do to maximise its contribution to tackling Social mobility barometer 2021 - UK

The Social Mobility Barometer 2021 gives a snapshot of UK public perceptions of where the coronavirus pandemic has impacted most, who has been most affected and what could be done by government and others to address this.

Community power the evidence
This report from New Local considers what community power looks like and includes examples from across the UK and internationally.

Food and you two (Wave one)
This research from the Food Standards Agency reports on the Food and You two survey which measures self-reported consumer knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues among adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Graduates' labour market outcomes during COVID-19: occupational switches and skill mismatch
This ONS article looks at the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market outcomes of graduates workers in the UK, focusing on unemployment, occupational shifts and skills mismatches.

The impact of COVID-19 on England’s youth organisations
This report from UK Youth has found that the pandemic has caused a 66 per cent rise in the demand for youth services. Data gathered during the application process found that 83 per cent of youth organisations reported that their income decreased and more than half of youth organisations said the cost of delivering their services to young people has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results on primary age pupils in reading and maths
These interim findings published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), are based on findings from a study conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) assessing the extent to which Key Stage One pupils’ attainment in reading and maths were impacted by partial school closures during the first national Covid-19 lockdown, and particularly the effect on disadvantaged pupils. This paper focuses on the gap in attainment likely caused by March 2020 school closures and the disadvantage gap for Year two children as measured in autumn 2020.

Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – 23 March 2020 to 18 March 2021, England
These Department for Education (DfE) statistics provide information on attendance in education settings in England since Monday 23 March 2020 and early years settings in England from late March 2020.

Vulnerable children and young people survey – waves one to 19

This DfE report provides a summary of the local authority survey in England to help understand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on children’s social care.

Vocational and other qualifications quarterly: October to December 2020, England
These Ofqual statistics provide information on vocational and other qualifications (excluding GCSEs, AS levels and A levels) awarded between October and December 2020 in England.

Graduate outcomes longitudinal educational outcomes (LEO): 2018 to 2019 financial year, England
These DfE statistics provide information on the employment outcomes and earnings of graduates in the 2018/19 financial year in England.

Coronavirus and higher education students: 19 February to 1 March 2021, England
These experimental statistics from the Student COVID-19 Insights Survey (SCIS) in England, include information on the behaviours, plans, opinions and well-being of higher education students in the context of guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outcomes for children in need, including children looked after by local authorities, in England: 2019 to 2020 financial year
This DfE publication brings together outcomes statistics for children in need and children looked after by local authorities in England between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020

Transport use during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
These Department for Transport (DfT) statistics monitor the use of the transport system by mode during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transport disability and accessibility statistics, England: 2019 to 2020
These DfT statistics provide information on transport related disability and accessibility statistics in England 2019 to 2020, drawn from a variety of data sources.

Vehicle speed compliance statistics for Great Britain: October to December 2020
These DfT statistics provide details of car driver compliance with speed limits on roads in Great Britain during October to December 2020.

Passenger rail usage: October to December 2020, Great Britain
These Office of Rail and Road (ORR) statistics provide information on passenger rail usage in Great Britain between 1 October 2020 and 31 December 2020.

Quarterly bus statistics: October to December 2020, Great Britain
These DfT statistics provide details of local bus passenger journeys and fares in Great Britain for October to December 2020.

Local authority collected waste management – 2019/20 financial year annual results – England
These Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) annual statistics provide information on the results for local authority collected waste generation and management in England for the 2019/20 financial year.

Statistical digest of rural England
This Defra publication provides  a collection of statistics on a range of social and economic subject areas. The statistics are split by rural and urban areas, allowing for comparisons between the different area classifications.

The people and nature survey for England: Monthly interim indicators for January 2021 (Experimental Statistics)
These interim experimental indicators from the People and Nature Survey, cover the period 1 to 31 January 2021, and examine the impact of COVID-19 on how people use the natural environment in England.

Final UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2020
These Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy statistics provide details of UK greenhouse gas emissions for 2020, including quarterly emission estimates.

Evidence briefing: Improving high streets and town centres
This briefing from the What Works Centre for Local and Economic Growth presents evidence-based findings and conclusions about local growth, high streets and town centres.

LG Inform updates:

Covid-19 vaccination data available in LG Inform (authority) and LG Inform Plus Middle Super Output Areas (MSOA)
Data about Covid-19 vaccinations are now being made public at local authority level and an LG Inform report on Covid-19 vaccination data is available.

This report allows the count and rate of vaccinations to be viewed by local authority area, both in terms of overall progress and by age-bands.

Additionally, as the data is available at MSOA, two other reports which present vaccination data at local authority level broken down by MSOA and by Parliamentary Constituency level within England are  available.

These new reports appear in the LG Inform Plus data service as public reports to allow users to view how the count and rate of vaccinations vary within local areas, again by both overall and by age-bands.

The data will be kept up to date, and these reports sit alongside all the other ready-made reports in LG Inform and LG Inform Plus. If you have any feedback please contact lginform@local.gov.uk.

Economic Activity/Inactivity by ethnic group – new metrics added to LG Inform and LG Inform Plus
Following a user request a new series of metrics from the Annual Population Survey on employment rate, unemployment rate and economic activity broken down by ethnic group have been added to LG Inform and LG Inform Plus. Last published in January 2021 the data show:

• Working age population (16-64): 76 per cent of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) in England were employed in the 12 months ending September 2020; 77.6  per cent of White people were employed, compared with 67.5 per cent of people from all other ethnic groups combined.
• Population (16+) who are unemployed: 4.3 per cent were unemployed, which means they were without a job but were available to start work and had either looked for work in the past four weeks or were waiting to begin employment; 3.8 per cent of White people were unemployed compared with 7.2 per cent of people from all other ethnic groups combined
• Population (16-64) who are economically inactive: 20.6 per cent were economically inactive; 19.3 per cent of White people were economically inactive in the period, compared with 27.2 per cent of people from all other ethnic groups combined

An example LG Inform report focussing on those ‘economically inactive’ is here.

This link provides a full listing of metrics for each of the above broken down by ethnicity.
Please contact: lginform@local.gov.uk if you have any questions.

Comparing areas within LG Inform Plus reports - new feature
LG Inform Plus reports now enable comparison between areas of the same type (such as one unitary council with other unitaries, or a range of other comparison groups such as CIPFA nearest neighbours) as well as performing breakdowns by smaller area type, like ward or MSOA. 

This change brings LG Inform Plus more in line with LG Inform. So, to compare authorities, users no longer have to select the country of England broken down by authority, although that remains an option.

Metrics added to LG Inform this month include:

Publicly available electric vehicle charging devices – quarterly, England
For Q4 2020, the total number of publicly available electric vehicle charging devices at all speeds was 17,459 in England, an increase of 3,740 compared to quarter four 2019. There are currently 31 devices per 100,000 population. The figures are published quarterly by the DfT using Zap-map location data. Data is available for both rapid and non-rapid charging devices.
Available Geographies: UK – Country – Region – County – District – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary – District

Teacher labour market in England - annual report 2021
This National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) research report funded by the Nuffield Foundation, presents new analysis of the short-term impacts of the pandemic on teacher well-being, workload and supply in England.

NHS Workforce Statistics - December 2020, England
These NHS Digital statistics provide information on the NHS workforce in December 2020 in England, broken down by staff groups available by region and organisation.

Families and the labour market, UK: 2020
These ONS statistics provide details of the employment rates of men and women with dependent children in the UK during 2020, based on data from the Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey.

NEET statistics annual brief: 2020
These ONS statistics provide estimates from the Labour Force Survey, of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England in 2020.

Working and workless households in the UK: October to December 2020
This ONS bulletin provides information on the economic status of households in the UK and the people living in them, where at least one person is aged 16 to 64 years between October and December 2020.

UK labour market: November 2020 – January 2021
These ONS statistics provide estimates of employment, unemployment, inactivity, average weekly earnings, vacancies and other labour market related statistics for the UK between November 2020 and January 2021.

Public sector employment, UK: December 2020
These ONS statistics provide quarterly estimates on a headcount and full-time equivalent basis by sector, industry and region in the UK in December 2020.

Remote working
This report from Wales Centre for Public Policy draws together the evidence available so far from Wales, the rest of the UK and internationally – with a particular focus on small and similar nations – to understand how remote working may impact various aspects of economic activity in the future.

Coronavirus and the impact on output in the UK economy: January 2021
This ONS article provides an analysis of monthly growth for the production and services industries between December 2020 and January 2021, highlighting the impact from COVID-19.

Coronavirus and the latest indicators for the UK economy and society: 25 March 2021
This ONS early experimental data provides information on the impact of COVID-19 on the UK economy and society. These indicators are created using rapid response surveys, novel data sources and experimental methods.

The COVID-19 crisis response to homelessness in Great Britain
This interim report from the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence provides a comparative examination of responses to homelessness during the COVID-19 crisis across England, Scotland and Wales. The report, on the period from the start of the initial lockdown in the UK (March 2020), until the end of the year (December 2020), has a particular focus on policy and practice responses during the initial lockdown period.

Housing affordability in England and Wales: 2020
These ONS annual estimates provide information on affordability ratios for national and subnational geographies in England and Wales. Statistics are calculated from data on house prices and earnings.

The motivations of offenders who carry and use acid and other corrosives in criminal acts
This Home Office report provides findings from a study that explored the motivations of offenders who carry and or use acid and other corrosive substances. 

Criminal court statistics quarterly: October to December 2020
These Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics provide information on the type and volume of cases received and processed through the criminal court system of England and Wales, (including statistics on case timeliness) between October and December 2020.

LG Inform Webinar programme April - June 2021 now available
The LG Inform team would be delighted to meet you and share knowledge about the LG Inform and LG Inform Plus platforms. A programme of free webinars for the April to June 2021 period is now available.

It is easy to book a place and discover more about the data, report writing and the various modules on offer. Just visit the online training page for more details and how to book. If you would like something more tailored to your needs please contact: lginformplus@local.gov.uk

The What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth (WWCLEG) 'How to evaluate' course – 11 and 18 May 2021

On 11 and 18 May, WWCLEG will be running their second ‘How to evaluate’ course. This introductory course has been designed for policymakers and practitioners that would like to learn more about how to evaluate their local economic growth policies. This course is free to attend and will be held online via Zoom. Find out more and sign up

LARIA Spring webinar series
Battling Covid-19 using research, analysis and insight
This series of LARIA webinars is free to attend for Full Individual & Corporate Members and will be hosted via Zoom Meetings.

The Devil is in the detail - Using small geography, administrative data to understand and tackle the impact of COVID within authorities
The first webinar will be hosted and sponsored by LARIA’s partners CACI Ltd on Monday 12 April, 14.00-15.30:

The road to recovery: where we have come from, where we are going to……
Stewart Eldridge, Associate Partner – Public Sector and Charlotte King, Senior Consultant – Location Intelligence, CACI Limited
Using ACORN segmentation to improve take-up of mass LFT Testing in Coventry
Dr Harriet Rowthorn, Coventry City Council
Covid-19 case disparities in Oxfordshire: postcode evidence
Alick Bird, Insight Analyst and John Courouble, Business and Customer Insight Manager, Oxfordshire County Council

Sponsored by OCSI the webinar: What to do with all this data? – Developing platforms to analyse and share COVID-related data with professionals, service users and citizens takes place on Thursday 27 May.

Finally, the Research Design Service (RDS) is offering the chance to ‘drop’ into an informal discussion with RDS advisers about health and social care research, after the following LARIA Spring Webinars:

Thursday 22 April: "None of us had a manual for this” Lived Experience of residents requiring care and support in Essex during the Covid-19 pandemic

Wednesday 12 May: Understanding the impact of COVID and lockdown

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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.

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 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.

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

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre for Population Change (CPC) Newsletter

The ESRC CPC is investigating how and why our population is changing and what this means for people, communities and governments. Visit the website to sign up for the CPC 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.

Early Intervention Foundation (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.