ADR Scotland
Data access and new data
This year there have been significant developments for ADR Scotland, including a new Researcher Access Service to help transform the way researchers access data. This service is being delivered by Research Data Scotland and Public Health Scotland.
ADR Scotland has seen a marked increase in the speed and efficiency of the process to ingest datasets. This has led to a wider range of datasets being made available through the National Safe Haven for research across many policy areas. These include datasets around education and service leavers, as well as data contributing to UK-wide analysis exploring agriculture and the nursing and midwifery professions.
Policy and research
To drive policy engagement and impact, this year ADR Scotland has expanded its policy engagement team and launched the Data with Impact series. This series aims to build collaboration among national and local government, academia and other sectors to identify policy-relevant data and research opportunities on a range of priority themes. The first event - a “Spotlight on Poverty” – took place in May and raised awareness of how we can unlock the value of data to tackle poverty. Follow-up work is planned to build upon the ideas generated in the workshop.
Two pieces of ADR Scotland research were featured in the UK Covid-19 inquiry in January which helped to improve understanding of the impact of the virus and effectiveness of policies aimed at mitigating spread. The research highlighted different mortality rates for a range of occupations in Scotland, as well as the impact of new police powers in the pandemic and its effects such as on inequalities. Professor Susan McVie’s team also provided evidence for a report by the Independent Commission on UK Public Health Emergency Powers, published in May 2024. Their research informed recommendations around police enforcement and the use of fixed penalty notices during the pandemic.
ADR Scotland continues to develop its training offer, including the delivery of the Introduction to Administrative Data Research and Analysis course, which is developing its UK-wide content. The training team is also piloting shorter courses including training on data quality and privacy preserving record linkage.
We are really pleased with the work of our ADR Scotland team over the last 12 months, working across organisations to successfully launch the new Researcher Access Service, bringing new data into use and delivering research insights into the mental health benefits of active commuting, educational absences and exclusions, and kinship care.
There have been some exciting developments this year which advance the availability of datasets for research, such as data on veterans. Our poverty event in May was a brilliant opportunity to showcase the potential of linking data in more innovative ways. I’m looking forward to building on these opportunities across a range of policy areas in the coming year.
Growing up in kinship care
This year saw great progress for ADR Scotland’s Growing Up in Kinship Care project. With an increasing proportion of children in care in Scotland (1 in 3) now living with extended family members or friends – known as kinship care – ADR Scotland’s research sought to provide a better understanding of their needs, experiences and outcomes.
Analysing de-identified data from approximately 19,000 children and young people who had spent time in kinship care since 2008, the team found substantial regional variation in how likely children are to be placed in kinship care across Scotland. The analysis found that children who experienced kinship care were more likely to face challenges in terms of their education and early childhood development than peers in the general population. Although educational outcomes for these children had largely improved over the period studied, they continued to have poorer outcomes than the general school population. Read more about the findings.
While acknowledging that many children and young people thrive while living in kinship care, the ADR Scotland study enables better understanding of the challenges that may be faced by children, young people and carers in Scotland’s kinship families. This could inform policymakers and practitioners in making decisions about support for these groups.
ADR Scotland is currently developing an info-comic and engaging with individuals with lived experience of kinship care to share the research findings in an accessible way.
Cycling to work can benefit your mental health
With most people needing to travel between home and work, it's valuable for policymakers to know if active commuting (such as cycling to work) benefits health. ADR Scotland researchers analysed de-identified data from the 2011 Scottish Census for over 378,000 employed people – aged 16-74 and living and working in Edinburgh and Glasgow – combined with NHS prescription records over five years.
The goal was to examine a potential causal link between active commuting by bike and better mental health. The researchers mimicked a randomised controlled trial, comparing the prescriptions for mental ill-health of cyclists to those who used other transport modes but were otherwise comparable. They found that cycle commuters were less likely to have a prescription for antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication than non-cycle commuters.
Professor Chris Dibben said: "Our findings, showing that this economical and sustainable method of travelling to work also enhances mental health, suggest that investing in cycle paths and encouraging active commuting offers wide-ranging benefits.”
These findings gained widespread media coverage across the UK and internationally in January 2024. At the same time, the City of Edinburgh Council has made a commitment to active travel by dedicating at least 5% of its roads and infrastructure budget to the cycle network.
Building a more efficient pathway for researchers
The Researcher Access Service was launched to make it quicker and simpler for approved researchers to access public sector data in Scotland.
Co-developed by Research Data Scotland and the eDRIS (Electronic Data Research and Innovation Service) team at Public Health Scotland, the new service was launched in April 2024. It offers a digitised end-to-end pathway for the first time, including a portal for applicants to track the status of their application. Projects that are suitable for this new pathway will follow a risk-based triage process guided by the Five Safes framework, offering a streamlined, lawful, fair, and safe access to data at pace for the public good.
At present, nine Public Health Scotland datasets are available through the Researcher Access Service. Research Data Scotland will work with partners to broaden the scope of the approval pathway, and this is expected to include a more diverse range of datasets and variables in future.
About ADR Scotland
ADR Scotland unites expertise from the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR) and Scottish Government’s Data for Research and Analytical Platforms team. Together they are working with key delivery bodies across Scotland to transform how public sector data is accessed and utilised by research to deliver its full potential for policymakers in the public good.