Members:

• Dame Julia Cleverdon (Chair)
• Tina Chui (Statistics Canada)
• Professor Jenny Gibson (University of Cambridge, Nesta)
• Professor Anthony Heath (University of Oxford)
• Lela Kogbara (Black Thrive Global)
• Si Chun Lam (West Midlands Combined Authority)
• Professor Tom Shakespeare (LSHTM)
• Sam Freedman (Institute for Government)
• Dr Evelyn Collins (former Equality Commission for Northern Ireland; Honorary Professor at Queens)
• Professor Uzo Iwobi (Race Council Cymru)

Office for National Statistics (ONS):

• Ruth Studley
• Fiona Dawe
• Alex Buckley
• Louise Fryer
• Alice Toms
• Laura Wilson
• Mary Gregory
• Sarah Caul
• Ryan Hill
• Gerlinde Sansum

Additional attendees:

• Professor Lucinda Platt (London School of Economics)
• Sandy Doyle (Department for Education)

Apologies:

• Amie Dede-Benefor (ONS)
• Nitesh Prakash (Bain & Company)
• Dr Milly Zimeta (Former Director of Policy, Open Data Institute)
• Professor Shannon Vallor (University of Edinburgh)

1. Welcome and introductions

1. The Chair welcomed members to the seventh meeting of the NSIDAC, noting apologies from Amie Dede-Benefor, Nitesh Prakash, Milly Zimeta and Shannon Vallor.
2. The minutes of the December meeting were approved.

2. Reprioritisation of and Roadmap to monitoring and reporting Inclusive Data Taskforce recommendations – for discussion and approval

1. Alex Buckley (on behalf of Amie Dede-Benefor) gave a presentation to the committee on the proposed approach to the monitoring and reporting of Inclusive Data Taskforce (IDTF) commitments, and priorities of the NSIDAC for the 2024-2025 period.
2. The Chair highlighted the need to focus on the 8 inclusive data principles, taking a whole systems approach.
3. The choice of 3 key priorities was informed by themes that emerged from past NSIDAC meetings. There was support from the committee regarding the 3 suggested priority areas for 2024, which included the social charter, data on children, and disabilities.
4. Members of the committee proposed additional areas of importance for 24/25, which included residents in non-private households. It was suggested these groups could form a fourth priority area.
5. Several members highlighted the importance of focusing on intersectionalities (children and young people, disabilities, race, neurodivergence, etc). It was discussed that some aspects of these could be covered as part of the 3 key priorities.

Action:

Ruth Studley and the senior team to consider the future terms of the NSIDAC.

Action:

ONS team to contact the Department for Education to engage further collaboration on children and young people’s data.

3. Key priorities for 2024-25: Social charter, children and young people, disability, administrative data and future of population and migration statistics (FPMS) – for information

1. Sarah Caul presented the results of a discovery activity undertaken relating to the potential of a ‘social charter’ to be developed.
2. The main findings of the discovery exercise were that no clear user need has been demonstrated for a social charter to be developed. Information relating to the use of data by ONS is available on the website and is shared with survey and other research participants directly.
3. The challenges of a potential social charter were discussed. These included the ability to cover both surveys and administrative data across government, and how to communicate the benefits of taking part or sharing data with the ONS.

Action:

Si Chun Lam to engage with his contacts in Cabinet Office to consider how to gain involvement from Chief Data Officers from the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO).

Action:

ONS to review current practices surrounding social charters and other associated functions and look across government as a next step.

4. Special educational needs and disability: a lifetime of disadvantage in the labour market? – for information

1. Professor Lucinda Platt, (London School of Economics and Political Science), presented on her joint research with Dr Sam Parsons (University College London) on labour market outcomes for cohorts of people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
2. The research identified substantial gaps in education, employment and training for those with SEND compared to those without. Analysis found unexplained differences in the disability employment gap between older and younger age groups, and gender differences in outcomes.
3. In the subsequent discussion, the role of education, attainment and type of disability was highlighted. The changing definitions and number of people with SEND was discussed. Findings indicate an improvement in the economic opportunities for younger generations with SEND.
4. As well as employment, prospects of promotion were pointed out to be of importance, with there being a wage deficit for disabled people. The role of intersectionality between social class and disability was raised, as were geographical variations. Members agreed that the lack of measure remains an issue when conducting analysis of outcomes for people with SEND.

Action:

ONS to circulate the slides from Lucinda’s presentation to the NSIDAC members.

Action:

The Chair to consider contacting Project Search to request information and any findings from research relating to their programmes which provide education and work placements for people with SEND.

5. Children’s data landscape presentation and proposed approach to filling the data gaps – for information and discussion

1. Alex Buckley presented an overview of the children’s data landscape across the Government Statistical Service (GSS). The presentation drew on several recent reviews of data relating to children, including the Inclusive Data Taskforce (2021) report and recommendations, and the Office for Statistical Regulation’s Review (2022). Common issues identified by these reviews included collecting data by proxy rather than directly from children, a focus on metrics of service use rather than on experience, and a lack of data across children’s lifetimes, making comparisons of outcomes challenging. The presentation pointed out that for specific groups of children there was a particular risk of data being missing or incomplete.
2. An overview of recent research on children by ONS and the Department for Education was provided, alongside information on children’s data within the Future Population and Migration Statistics (FPMS). Work is ongoing to identify, acquire and evaluate administrative data sources to understand population coverage with the aim of linking sources.
3. In discussion, it was raised that post-COVID the proportion of children absent from mainstream education has increased. Identifying these missing children was acknowledged as challenging, both in respect to tracking the progress of children who are electively home educated and ability to access data on independent schools.
4. The potential approach to the NSIDAC developing ‘use cases’ to identify priority data and analysis areas in a workshop during September 2024 was presented, in order to feed into the FPMS programme. Examples of working use case statements in a local government context were shared to help explain what is meant by use cases and how they can be beneficial.

Action:

ONS to investigate whether independent schools’ data features within the Longitudinal Education Outcomes database for Department for Education.

Action:

ONS to provide a more detailed workplan for the committee covering plans for the social charter, data on children and disability, including consideration of the devolved nations.

6. Inclusive by Design definition – for discussion/advice

1. Alice Toms presented on draft guidance on inclusivity and accessibility for Survey Development.
2. The ONS Data Quality Hub, and ONS Survey Strategy Hub aim to create a high-level document by the end of April 2024 to help government researchers to design inclusive surveys. It is to be shared on the Analysis Function website. The guidance includes two definitions relating to inclusivity – Inclusive by Design and Inclusive Data.
3. Subsequent discussion around definitions of inclusivity occurred. Members proposed some changes to the definition, and recommended consideration of the Inclusive Data Taskforce principles during the development of the guidance.

Action:

Committee members are invited to comment on the draft definitions of ‘inclusive data’ and ‘inclusive by design’ by 10 April.

7. Any other business

1. The Chair proposed a new date for the 8th NSIDAC meeting, which will be held in the ONS Manchester office and hybrid, to be the 20th June.
2. The focus of the 8th meeting will be data in the local authority context, guided by the priority themes agreed. Data collection in and across the Greater Manchester area will feature as an example of data in the local authority context, and the ONS Local will come to present on their work.
3. Members suggested inviting representatives from the Greater Manchester Authority, alongside potential invitees including BeeWell and the Nuffield Foundation, who are both undertaking research with children based in Manchester.

Action:

The Chair to work with the ONS Secretariat to establish a suitable date for the 8^th NSIDAC meeting.