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.

Adult social care in England, monthly statistics: Week ending 14 April 2023

These Department of Health and Social Care (DOHSC) statistics provide information on a range of topics including infection control measures, COVID-19 vaccinations and testing for COVID-19 in adult social care settings in England for the week ending 14 April 2023.

Families in England and Wales: Census 2021

This Office for National Statistics (ONS) publication provides analysis from the 2021 Census detailing the prevalence, characteristics and geographical spread of family types in England and Wales.

Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: 4 to 14 May 2023

This ONS publication provides social insights on daily life and events in Great Britain between 4 and 14 May 2023, including the cost of living, industrial action, and energy savings in the home from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN).

Designing out the most severe forms of hardship in local areas

This Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) report considers what it would look like for a local area to do everything it can to ‘design out’ the most severe forms of hardship.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) have released a series of publications:

Effectiveness of dance interventions on falls prevention in older adults: a rapid review

The Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit examines whether, dance-based interventions are effective in preventing falls, reducing risk of falls, or preventing fear of falls in older adults and provides an overview of the evidence for cost-effectiveness of dance-based interventions for falls prevention amongst older people. Executive Summary and Full Report.

The role of digital technologies in supporting people living with dementia

This publication considers what technologies support independence and safety amongst people living with dementia at home and in care homes; what the cost benefits and savings for provider organisations and the NHS of using the technology are and what are the barriers to scaling the technology. Executive Summary, Full Report 

Digital technologies to prevent falls for people living with dementia

This publication considers the evidence that digital technologies can reduce falls and fall risk for people living with dementia. Policy Briefing Note;  Slide Deck from Conference 2022

Scoping for a return-on-investment tool for dementia

This project sought to analyse the strength of evidence to determine whether it would be feasible to build a return on investment tool to support local commissioning decisions around investing in reducing the risk of dementia. The research focussed on three of the twelve known modifiable risk factors: low education, physical inactivity and hearing loss as they pertain to different points in the life course: early life, mid-life and later life respectively. Executive Summary and Full Report.

Caring in a complex world: perspectives from unpaid carers and the organisations that support them - England

This report from The Kings Fund explores the local support available for unpaid carers in England.

Pupil attendance in schools: 2022/23 academic year up to 5 May - England

This Department for Education (DfE) publication presents pupil attendance statistics in England for the 2022/23 academic year to date up to 5 May.

Pupil absence in schools in England: autumn term 2022/23

These DfE school absence statistics provide information on the levels of overall, authorised and unauthorised absence in state-funded schools in England in the  autumn term 2022/23.

Local authority interactive tool (LAIT)

This DfE interactive tool compares data about children and young people across all local authorities in England.

Higher-level learners in England: 2021 to 2022

These DfE statistics provide an overview of higher-level learning across the further and higher education sectors in the 2021/22 academic year.

Studying part-time: perspectives of mature students

This DfE qualitative research (undertaken with mature students aged 21 or above) examines their higher education choices and experiences, and their views on modular study.

Adult children living with their parents, England and Wales, 2021

This ONS article provides analysis of adults in England and Wales who were living with their parent(s) at the time of Census 2021.

Childcare and early years providers survey: 2022 - England

These DfE statistics provide information on the characteristics of early years providers in England.

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021: reading literacy performance in England

This DfE report presents findings from the progress in international reading literacy study (PIRLS) 2021, assessing and comparing the reading attainment and attitudes of year five children.

Serious incident notifications: 2022 to 2023 - England

These DfE statistics provide information on serious incidents that involve death or serious harm to a child due to abuse or neglect, and any death of a looked-after child in England.

Daily domestic transport use by mode in Great Britain: January 2022 to April 2023

These Department for Transport (DfT) statistics provide information on the daily usage of selected domestic transport by mode for Great Britain from January 2022 to April 2023.

Reported road casualties Great Britain, provisional results: 2022

These DfT statistics provide information on personal injury collisions on public roads in Great Britain in 2022.

Electric vehicle charging device statistics: January to March 2023 - UK

These DfT statistics provide information on the number of publicly available electric vehicle charging devices in the UK broken down by Local Authority for January to March 2023.

The role of councils in tackling digital exclusion

This LGA digital exclusion report examines the links between various types of disadvantage and the availability and usage of digital infrastructure, and considers the role of councils in tackling digital exclusion.

Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2023 to 2024

These Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) statistics provide details of the level of council tax set by local authorities in England for the 2023/24 financial year

LG Inform updates:

Report on local government employee numbers

The LG Inform Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey report is one of a series of reports in LG Inform based on a single collection, that provides users with quick and easy access to all the metrics contained in the collection and presents this in a variety of charts and tables.

The report focuses on the total number of employees in local government and their full-time equivalents, broken down by gender, work hours (full-time/part-time) and contract type (permanent, temporary and casual employees).

Metrics added to LG Inform this month include:

Level two and three attainment - England
DfE figures show that the percentage of 19 year olds qualified to Level 2 in England is unchanged in the 2021/22 academic year at 81.7 per cent. The percentage of 19 year olds qualified to Level 3 increased to 60.7 per cent in 2021/22 from 60.2 per cent in 2020/21. 
Available Geographies: Country – Region – County – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary – District 

Repossessions - England
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show that in England there were 3,802 possession claim orders issued by mortgage lenders in Q4 2022/23, an increase from 2,685 in Q4 2021/22. That works out to 3.6 claims per 10,000 households, compared to 3.1 for the same quarter a year ago.   

For Q4 2022/23 there were 22,244 possession claims issued by landlords, an increase from 18,489 in Q4 2021/22. This is 9.3 claims issued per 10,000 households, compared to 7.7 a year ago. 
Available Geographies: Country – Region – County – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary – District 

Dwelling stock - England
DLUHC provisional figures for the 2021/22 financial year show the number of dwellings in England at 25,160,40 - an increase of 232,816 (0.9 per cent) dwellings on 2020/21. The number of dwellings per hectare for England current stands at 1.93, with a mean dwelling density of 8.38 for all English authorities. 
Available Geographies: Country – Region – County – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary – District 

Fuel poverty - England
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) data shows that in England the percentage of households in fuel poverty dropped slightly to 13.1 per cent in 2021 from 13.2 per cent in 2020. There is disparity by region with 18.5 per cent of households in the West Midlands in fuel poverty compared to 8.4 per cent in the South East. 
Available Geographies: Country – Region – County – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary – District 

Obesity - England
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) data shows that the percentage of adults classified as obese in England has increased from 25.2 per cent in 2020/21 to 25.9 per cent in 2021/22. There is disparity by region with 19.7 per cent of adults aged 18 and over classified as obese in London, whereas in the North East it is 32.4 per cent. 
Available Geographies: Country – Region – County – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary – District 

Youth offending - England
MoJ figures show there were 7,984 juvenile first time entrants to the criminal justice system aged 10-17 in England for 2022. This is slightly up from 7,922 in 2021, but for context in 2012 this figure was 28,001. Juvenile first-time entrants to the criminal justice system per 100,000 which was at 558 a decade ago now is at 149 for the past two years. 
Available Geographies: Country – Region – County – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary 

National Insurance new registrations
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 2022/23 figures shows 935,468 National Insurance number registrations were issued to adult overseas nationals entering the UK, compared to 683,763 in 2021/22. This measures inflows of migrant workers but not outflows. 
Available Geographies: Country – Region – County – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary – District 

Further education - England
Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) collection on adult education has been expanded in LG Inform to include apprenticeship rates. In England for 2021/22 apprenticeship starts rate per 100,000 population was 981 (912 in 2020/21), participation rate was 2,080 (2,024) and the achievement rate was 385 (444).  

In England there were 1,719,590 Further education and skills participants in 2021/22, up from 1,640,320 but down from over 2 million pre-pandemic. 
Available Geographies: Country – Region – County – London borough – Metropolitan District – Unitary – District 

Time to learn - UK

This report from the Learning and Work Institute provides information on which groups of adults are investing in learning, and how much, and identifies inequalities in learning in the UK.

Monthly labour market statistics UK: May 2023

This labour market data from the Learning and Work Institute provides analysis of the latest ONS labour market statistics released in May 2023.

Working and workless households in the UK: January to March 2023

These ONS statistics provide 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 January and March 2023.

Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators: 25 May 2023

This ONS data and analysis provides information on economic activity and social change in the UK.

Statistical digest of rural England

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) statistical digest of rural England is a compendium of socio-economic statistics for Rural areas structured into seven thematic reports and is supported by a high level summary of key findings.

Statutory homelessness in England: October to December 2022

These DLUHC statistics provide information on statutory homelessness applications, duties, and outcomes for local authorities in England between October and December 2022.

First time entrants (FTE) into the criminal justice system and offender histories: year ending December 2022, England and Wales

This MoJ data provides an overview of trends in first time entrants into the Criminal Justice System and offender histories in England and Wales.

Knife and offensive weapon sentencing statistics: October to December 2022, England and Wales

These MoJ statistics provide information on trends in cautioning and sentencing of knife and offensive weapon offences between October and December 2022 in England and Wales.

Criminal justice system statistics quarterly: December 2022, England and Wales

These MoJ statistics provide information on trends in the use of out of court disposals, defendants prosecuted, offenders convicted, remand and sentencing decisions in England and Wales in December 2022.

Training and events from What Works Growth:

Practical training: Making use of evidence
Tuesday 27th June, 13:00 - 15:00
This introductory training is designed to help people working in local economic growth assess and use evidence more effectively at every stage of project development.

This workshop is only open to people working in local economic growth within local or central government. Register here.

Webinar: Thinking through social infrastructure for local economic growth

Wednesday 14th June, 14:00 - 15:00
This panel discussion focuses on social capital and social infrastructure: the evidence of ‘what works’, and thinking through possible benefits. 

Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Teams (PHIRST) Local Authority Evaluation of Interventions EoI - National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) 

The NIHR are inviting Directors of Public Health to propose initiatives from across their local authority for public health evaluation through the PHIRST scheme.

The proposal process details can be found here.

LG Inform and LG Inform Plus webinar programme – May 2023

The LG Inform and LG Inform Plus programme of free webinars for the July to September 2023 period is 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 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.

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. Read the last NIHR 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 What Works 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.

The 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 NFER 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.

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 WCPP 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 NESTA 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.

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 REAL updates.

Policy Bristol Newsletter

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

Centre for Population Change (CPC) newsletter

The CPC newsletter outlines activities and news from the Centre.

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.