ONS Local is a service from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that offers tailored data and insights to local authorities and communities. Emma Hickman writes about a recent ‘datathon’ where the script was flipped. Teams of local leaders delved directly into the data themselves to investigate a problem their area was facing.
ONS Local has been built from the ground up over the past two years. In that time, we’ve worked to support local leaders across the UK by providing access to data, statistics, and analysis. This helps local governments make evidence-based decisions to better serve their communities.
To celebrate the many milestones in improving subnational data since then, we wanted a chance to mix things up and work even more closely with local analysts So, we arranged a ‘datathon’ – a chance for teams from local institutions to take the lead, explore our data and develop their skills. They were tasked with carrying out their own investigation and analysis to understand a challenge they faced, as well as possible solutions.
Seven teams took part in this datathon, coming from county councils and other local institutions from across the country. Each group also had a data expert embedded within from either the ONS or Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG). These experts collaborated in the teams providing support with accessing data, answering questions and suggesting possible ways forward.
With a list of publicly available ONS datasets, the teams set about tackling an issue that mattered to their community. These ranged from ways to kickstart economic growth to understanding causes of health inequalities in their area.
The datathon took place over several sessions spread out over two weeks, giving the teams flexibility in how they worked. It was still an intense couple of weeks, but also a lot of fun as everyone got a chance to develop new skills which they applied to problems that mattered to them.
After the two weeks were up, the teams presented their findings to a panel of judges from ONS, MHCLG, and the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence. There was some tough deliberation, but winners were selected across three categories:
Winning overall best project and best presentation: Buckinghamshire Council focused on “Kickstarting Economic Growth”. They found that young people tend to leave their county at age 18, returning only in their mid-thirties. The team also found their area has lower levels of housing development and a significant number of London commuters. These hamper growth, so they suggested a range of policies that could tackle these issues. These include attracting growth industries, increasing affordable housing, and trying to retain younger residents.
They told us about some of the challenges they faced:
“Initially, we struggled to identify a question, but after we focused on economic growth our work quickly evolved. As we examined the data, we wanted to understand the reasons behind each insight. So we compared Buckinghamshire to similar regions to explore issues like housing, travel, and industry. This helped us understand Buckinghamshire’s economic performance and now, with less time pressure, we can delve deeper into these issues.”
Winning most simple and impactful project: Data Cymru focused on care delays in Welsh hospitals. They looked at a snapshot census identifying people with a discharge delay from hospital of over 48 hours, and investigated whether social care availability was the reason for delayed transfer of care in hospitals. They would like to follow this research up with further investigation.
The Data Cymru team told us what they hope to do next:
“We’re excited about the potential to further develop our project to understand challenges and opportunities where health and social care meet. Our next steps involve engaging with partners in local councils and social care to better understand their needs and any related planned work. The datathon reinforced the value of community and collaboration in public sector data. The judging panel sessions were an invaluable opportunity to get feedback on our project and future plans.”
Winning best team collaboration: Oxfordshire County Council explored the impact of housing on public health inequalities in Oxfordshire. The team found their county had a high housing affordability ratio compared to salaries. They also found evidence of a link between deprivation and poorer health outcomes, although fuel poverty was not linked to poor health. As such, they hope working with communities to address deprivation may help improve public health outcomes.
Oxfordshire County Council told us what they learnt from the event:
“We enjoyed exploring new datasets outside our regular scope of work and having the opportunity to experiment with some different statistical techniques. The sandbox format of the event gave us creative freedom to try something new which was both liberating and a bit scary! However, once we had agreed on our research question, it was easier to focus on what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it, leveraging each other’s strengths and range of skills. Due to the swift turnaround, our ability to manage our time was tested and our project management skills came to the fore!”
Ultimately, the teams were not only able to investigate an issue facing their area but came away with a plan for further understanding and tackling them. As such, the datathon was a great success. By shifting our way of working, local analysts got a chance to learn more about interrogating data and the many challenges it can help us examine. Members of the ONS Local team also got to work more closely with local analytical teams, learning about the sort of problems they’re working to solve.
You can sign up here to learn more about upcoming ONS Local events. If you can’t wait for an event, you can use our interactive Explore Local Statistics tool to find out more about your local area. You can also find out about our ONS Local analytical advisory service, and how it is helping to improve access to subnational data, statistics, and analysis across the UK.
Emma Hickman is the Deputy Director for subnational statistics and analysis.