Public engagement activities
Over the past year across the partnership, ADR UK has undertaken a number of different activities to include the public in our work.
Collectively, we have co-written an essay for the British Science Association with Dr Louise Marryat on Voices in data: the power of public involvement in data research. We have also collaborated on a range of initiatives including taking part in Pint of Science in May of this year, advising on an ADR UK-funded public consultation on synthetic data and public engagement around the ADR UK-funded Healthy Households project.
Facilitating UK-wide public panels
Over the last year, public panels have grown to become a central platform for public engagement across the ADR UK partnership.
In May 2024, ADR England welcomed the Public Insights Panel, a diverse group of members of the public who contribute to shaping data-driven research and processes. Over the last year they have significantly contributed to several projects across ADR England and beyond. Their insights helped shape the Connecting Society podcast and have started informing other ADR UK communications strategies. They have also supported external projects from the Ministry of Justice, the Office for National Statistics, the Office for Statistics Regulation, and more. Find out more about the panel’s work and how to engage with them. The panel is managed by The Social Agency, an independent social research agency, with support from ADR UK.
The first cohort of the Northern Ireland Public Data Panel was inducted in October 2024. In partnership with Digital Health and Care NI (DHCNI), ADRC NI welcomed 22 members from across Northern Ireland from a range of backgrounds and viewpoints. The Panel has held two Data Dialogues, the first examining perceptions of the use of health and social care data, and the second looking at using data to measure and understand poverty. Find out more about the Panel and the topics discussed.
The Scotland Talks Data panel, co-delivered by the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR) and Research Data Scotland, continues to explore a range of topics on the data research landscape in Scotland - find out more about the topics discussed. Some members have signed up to be further involved in additional projects including Research Data Scotland’s public engagement fund. They were delighted to publish their first impact report this year, showcasing the contributions and highlights from the panel.
The SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) Consumer Panel saw an increase in meetings this year, during which they engaged in discussions and gave feedback on ADR UK projects and datasets. These included presentations from ADR UK Research Fellows, covering their research around domestic abuse proceedings in family courts and young mothers’ experiences of the family justice system. The fellows received feedback on how to embed robust public engagement approaches into their projects, and communicate their findings. The work of the panel has been included in many citations in the year from government reports, academic papers, blogs and project media showcasing the impact of public engagement.
Engaging with the voluntary and community sector
The voluntary and community sector is both a consumer and driver of administrative data research and provide rich insights into policy, practice and lived experiences. Over the last year, engagement with the sector has allowed ADR UK to understand the research needs of specific communities and sectors of society.
ADR England research has continued to be supported by the long-standing Data First User Representation Panel, which includes representatives from organisations working with or for people with experience of the justice system. Work has also continued to be supported by the ADR England Children & Young People Representative Panel, which includes representatives working with or who can represent the needs of children and young people. New partnerships with other experts in the sector, such as those advocating for migrant workers’ rights, acquired brain injuries, and disability rights, have supported ADR England research exploring a variety of themes.
Administrative Data Research Centre Northern Ireland (ADRC NI) has convened two meetings of the Poverty Roundtable, looking at how data can be better used to understand, measure and support work around poverty in Northern Ireland. With members from academia, government and community and voluntary organisations such as AgeNI, Trussell Trust, Law Centre NI, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Women’s Support Network, the Poverty Roundtable aims to identify barriers and advocate for the use of data to combat poverty in Northern Ireland.
NISRA has started to capitalise on existing government structures to engage representative groups in the use of administrative data for research purposes. Most recently, NISRA attended a working-group of The Executive Office’s Racial Equality Subgroup with representation from a number of voluntary and community sector bodies. Sharing plans for research and eliciting feedback that shaped the direction of the research and helped in securing ethics approval from the UK Statistics Authority Research Accreditation Panel.
This year, public engagement by the Administrative Data | Agricultural Research Collection (AD|ARC) team has expanded to include more direct engagement with farmers and people in rural communities. By attending major agricultural shows, the researchers heard directly from the communities about their priorities, concerns, and perspectives on the project.
ADR Scotland continues to engage with the voluntary and community sector in key areas, through events and our advisory groups with representatives including from different nursing, midwifery and Veteran’s organisations. The team also continues to develop collaborations and engage with children’s charities and organisations including Children in Scotland, CELCIS and those specifically supporting children’s social care and kinship care to inform and share our children’s lives and outcomes research.
ADR Wales has delivered engagement events to primary and secondary schools, science festivals, carer networks, patient networks and community groups.
Sharing good practice for public engagement
ADR UK is committed to sharing and facilitating good practice in public engagement across the data research sector. As a founding member of the Public Engagement in Data Research Initiative (PEDRI), ADR UK has contributed to the publication of Good Practice Standards for Public Involvement and Engagement, a resource aimed to support those looking to do meaningful public involvement and engagement in data research. The standards are a product of extensive consultation work with members of the public, those working in public involvement and engagement, academics, and more. On 18 June 2025, PEDRI held a Frontiers Meeting to support the launch and implementation of the Standards.
ADR NI held an in-person launch event marking the second phase of the Education Outcomes Linkage dataset on 22 October 2024. The event was attended by 107 delegates including representation from NI government, academia, the voluntary and community sector, Longitudinal Education Outcomes analysts, and ADR UK. There were insightful presentations from Emma Gordon, Director of ADR UK; former NI Commissioner for Children and Young People and ADR UK Ambassador, Koulla Yiasouma; senior civil servants from the Department of Education and the Department for the Economy; and several ADR UK researchers. The day ended with a roundtable discussion looking at current evidence, data and relationship gaps in education. It paved the way for a training course on how to use the dataset attended by 13 researchers in March 2025.
SCADR and Research Data Scotland’s work with their public panel and others on synthetic data – notably the ADR UK-funded DELIMIT project - has been a strong example of collaboration and knowledge exchange. Public attitudes have directly informed synthetic data creation and access processes for Research Data Scotland, as well as communications on synthetic data.
Meanwhile, Welsh Government researchers engaged with the SAIL Consumer Panel this year to discuss data ethics. This was part of a project exploring issues such as transparency, public awareness and public attitudes towards big data research. The findings and analysis from these sessions were published in April as part of a literature review. Ongoing consultations with the Consumer Panel have taken place to support the implementation of findings.
The SAIL panel was one of the groups engaged by the Ministry of Justice BOLD (Better Outcomes through Linked Data) programme to undertake engagement with affected groups, trusted intermediaries, and the general public. The panel and team have promoted best practice across the ADR UK network, including directly via partnerships with Research Data Scotland and others.
ADR Wales panels have involved members of the public to inform their work this year. Their engagement extended to attending funder reviews and intern events—where they also served as judges—and supporting early career researchers and PhD students through mentoring. Public perspectives have also been shared through published blogs, helping to shape and communicate the impact of research more broadly.
As part of the DARE UK programme, SAIL has had direct input into public attitudes to federation and AI. The team are also directly involved in a DARE UK project focusing on developing a governance model for federated data access in the UK.
