Our impact
Across the partnership, ADR UK’s work is making a real-world impact – transforming the use of administrative data to improve people’s lives. Here are some examples from this year:
Improving strategies to support children and reduce offending
Research using an ADR England flagship dataset found that children with particular characteristics – including being known to children’s social care and having special educational needs (SEN) - were over-represented among those cautioned or sentenced for a criminal offence. The findings have been used to inform policy programmes aiming to reduce serious violence. They were also featured in a key UK government policy paper on special educational needs provision and an independent review of children’s social care.
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Department for Education (DfE) researchers studied the social care, educational and demographic characteristics of children in England, as well as their interactions with the criminal justice system. They used the MoJ and DfE linked dataset – England, which is available for accredited researchers to apply to access via the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service.
The research found that among children within the dataset who had been cautioned or sentenced for an offence, children who had been classified as children in need or children who are looked after were over-represented. Similarly, children who were recorded as having had SEN provision were over-represented, and this over-representation was higher among those cautioned or sentenced for a serious violence offence.
Two targeted policy programmes – the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce and SAFE – have used these findings in their decision-making around reducing serious violence, including refinement of the referral criteria for children to receive support. The research has also played an important role in the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty, which requires councils and local services to work together to share information and target interventions.
The research also has the potential to better inform SEN provision, and the findings have been featured in the SEN and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Green Paper and the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
Informing policy and practice around prevention of self-harm, suicide ideation and death by suicide in Northern Ireland
To prevent any disease or cause of death, we first have to understand the biggest risk factors for that outcome and which populations are most at risk. This allows policymakers and practitioners to target public health interventions. While it is nearly impossible to predict who will sadly take their own life, there are some factors that indicate higher risk for death by suicide, the strongest of which is previous instances of self-harm or attempted suicide. ADR Northern Ireland research using linked administrative data has generated new insights, used to inform a review of a government suicide prevention strategy.
The Northern Ireland Registry of Self-Harm (NIRSH) – the only one of its kind in the world – puts Northern Ireland at a distinct advantage in using data to better understand, and hopefully prevent, death by suicide. ADR NI researchers have been linking the de-identified, population-wide NIRSH data with other administrative sources of health data and mortality data to improve understanding of self-harm, suicide ideation and death by suicide in Northern Ireland.
Findings from this study are informing an internal Department of Health review into the Protect Life 2 Suicide Prevention Strategy. The research has provided recommendations not only for service intervention to reduce rates of death by suicide, but for investment in the NIRSH itself.
The researchers presented to the All-Party Group on Suicide Prevention at the Northern Ireland Assembly in January 2024. Following this presentation, a letter was written by Members of the Legislative Assembly to the Minister for Health, regarding investing in and making use of the NIRSH in understanding and preventing suicide and self-harm.
Findings have also highlighted a gap in national clinical guidelines on how to respond to self-harm/suicide ideation in hospital emergency departments. Current PhD research will attempt to utilise data on presentations at emergency departments and subsequent repeat instances or mortality to evaluate the impact of some interventions, with results expected in 2025.
New linkage of nursing and midwifery data paves the way for future insights
An ADR Scotland-led project has, for the first time, linked a national professional register – the Nursing and Midwifery Council - to the latest 2021 Census for England and Wales. This demonstrates the potential of administrative data to facilitate a better understanding of key occupational groups and support informed policy decisions. One ambition is to act as a pathfinder to enable similar linkages in other sectors.
The project is the result of an innovative collaboration between the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR), the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It also marks the first new ADR UK linked dataset to be added to the Integrated Data Service, which is being delivered by the ONS. This could enable linkage to other data, such as the Census 2021 for England and Wales.
SCADR researchers have worked closely with Nursing and Midwifery Council analysts, sharing their knowledge of censuses, administrative data, coding expertise, a knowledge of ‘R’ (a programming language) and geographic indices to support preparation of the data and its use for research purposes.
Policy-driven research
Workforce capacity challenges are a timely topic to explore. There are currently over 800,000 nurses, nursing associates and midwives in the UK. Their work is key to health and social care but there is much we don’t know about these vital professions. Initial analysis of the data is underway, aiming to address evidence gaps including learning about the occupations taken up by registrants, and the social dimensions of recruitment and retention.
The project team has a well-established advisory group made up of partners and representatives from across the UK, including the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives, the Queen’s Nursing Institute and Chief Nursing Officers. They help to share research priorities and ensure that research insights inform policy and practice.
Further investment
The data will be used as part of a study evaluating the 50,000 nurses programme. As an ADR UK flagship dataset, it was included in the scope for applications for the most recent round of ADR UK Research Fellowships funding.
The team intends to set up similar linkages with Scotland and Northern Ireland censuses.
Caroline Kenny, Head of Research and Evidence at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to develop a richer understanding of professionals on our register and to use it to influence the wider health and care sector in a way that improves people’s health and wellbeing.
“We’re keen to collaborate with researchers to help further their understanding of nursing and midwifery, so that they in turn can help us enhance how we regulate professionals, and support them to provide safe, effective and kind care.”
Reducing care home admissions: Care & Repair advice and home adaptations
ADR Wales research showed the effectiveness of a charity programme aiming to help older people live independently. This led to increased government funding to the programme, allowing more people to benefit.
Care & Repair Cymru is a charity consisting of 13 agencies across Wales, which helps older people to live independently in warm, safe, accessible homes. The organisation is funded by a mix of Welsh Government funding; national and local funding applications to local authorities, local health boards; the National Lottery; and partnerships with public organisations.
A team of analysts, including ADR Wales researchers, assessed the risk of care home admissions for people with different frailty levels. They compared this risk for people who received Care & Repair home advice and modification interventions, against a control group who did not.
The study findings indicated that the Care & Repair service helped to prevent care home admissions for moderately and severely frail individuals.
This evidence helped inform the Welsh Government decision to increase funding to Care & Repair agencies in Wales. Capital funding has increased from £1.6 million to £3 million in the last two years, and revenue funding has increased from £4.3 million to £5 million. These funding increases have taken place despite ongoing budgetary pressures.
As a result of the increased funding, Care & Repair agencies across Wales are now able to help more older people to maintain their independence. This alleviates pressure on care home services and provides value for public money. The Welsh Government is also encouraging Regional Partnerships Boards to invest in housing adaptations as a preventative intervention through the Housing with Care Fund.
Research generates insights to help combat serious and organised crime
Research conducted by an ADR UK Research Fellow explored the nature and outcomes of cases related to serious and organised crime (SOC). The findings fed into key policy discussions within government and supported a government strategy. The research was carried out in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service, and was one of the first projects to use datasets made available through the Ministry of Justice Data First programme, which is funded by ADR UK.
Led by Dr Tim McSweeney, this work drew on 12.6 million linked records from the criminal courts and prison system. It focused on SOC cases heard before the Crown Court in England and Wales between 2013 and 2020. This research provides new understanding of how defendants charged with serious and organised crimes interact with the criminal courts, generating key insights for policymaking. These insights are especially relevant to the departmental priorities of the Ministry for Justice and the National Crime Agency.
The research found that:
- 6% of Crown Court appearances and 3% of cases met the definition of SOC
- 83% of SOC-related Crown Court appearances involved a male defendant
- at a local authority level, SOC-related appearances were concentrated in the North-West and Midlands
- fewer SOC defendants reappeared at court for further charges (28% vs. 38%) or were recalled to prison (2% vs. 8%) within two years, compared with other defendants
- offence profiles differed between SOC-related Crown Court appearances and those involving other defendants - notably an over-representation of drug offences (57% vs. 15%).
This research has fed into policy discussions with various government departments including the Home Office, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service and the National Crime Agency. It provides evidence to support the recommendations in the UK Government’s current SOC strategy published in December 2023. The findings also provide new insights to support the Ministry of Justice’s policy priorities: to reduce reoffending and protect the public from serious offenders.
How we define impact
As an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) investment, ADR UK adopts the definition of impact used by ESRC and across UK Research and Innovation as a whole:
“Impact is the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy.”
This includes informing changes to government policy and public service provision that leads to better social and economic outcomes for people and communities. This impact can be at any geographic level: from the local, to the national and international.
Across ADR UK, our partners have a range of strategies to maximise impact across our ‘Five Ps’: process, policy, practice, people and potential. Common approaches include:
- partnering with government
- engaging with stakeholders, communities and the public
- making datasets available for further use by accredited researchers
- aligning with national strategies and departmental Areas of Research Interest
- dual publication in formats that are easily digestible and usable by different stakeholders
- the public good test, which embedded into the Digital Economy Act. This is fundamental to enabling research that has a positive impact on people’s lives.
We seek to maximise value from administrative data access, linking, and research across the ‘Five Ps’.
Process
Championing a lasting culture change towards closer working between academics and government to routinely share, link and use administrative data for research.
Potential
Our work creates both sustainable linked administrative datasets, and sustainable understanding of the data and what it can tell us. These can be accessed by other researchers in future, enabling them to create further impact on policy, practice and people.
Policy
Influencing government or other public bodies to inform policies, strategies and standards, through understanding and insight gained from our research.
