Welcome to the latest edition of Public Data Insights, our monthly summary of the latest data and statistical releases from various government departments and public bodies, all with a focus on sub-national insights.
With a wealth of statistics available from government sources, there are many opportunities to leverage this data to communicate key issues to stakeholders at a local level.
Whether you’re tracking energy efficiency installations, crime related figures, or more specialised data releases, this round-up is designed to spotlight some of the most intriguing regional and local-level statistics.
Social mobility
When responding to the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN), 56% of people responded ‘Strongly disagree or disagree’ when asked if they believe children of today will have a better future than the current generation of adults.
The statistics published by the Office for National Statistics on social mobility also show that 46% of people surveyed strongly believe that they are doing better in life than their parents or guardians at their age.
On a regional level, the South West saw the highest rate of people who strongly believe they will not do better than their parents/guardians, at 24%.
Next update: Monthly
Source: Office for National Statistics
Crime in England and Wales
The number of incidents of headline crime increased by 14% in December 2024, over the year. This includes theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, and violence with or without injury.
This month’s Crime in England and Wales figures show that the surge in crime rates are mostly due to the number of incidents of fraud and theft rising. Fraud increased by 33%, whilst theft rose by 13%.
On a local authority level, the highest crime rates per 1k people were seen in the London areas of Westminster, at 432 crimes, Camden (195), Middlesbrough (162), and Kensington and Chelsea (157).
Conversely, this was lowest in the Isles of Scilly (25), Broadland (37), and Rutland (39). Read more and explore Polimapper’s visualisation here.
Next update: TBA
Source: Office for National Statistics
A&E Attendances & Emergency Admissions
In March 2025, there were 551k A&E attendances recorded as Emergency Admissions in England. This is an over the year decrease of 2.9%.
The data released earlier in the month by NHS England shows that there were a total of 2.3 million A&E admissions. 75% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours in all A&E Departments, an increase from 74.3% the year before.
The NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board saw the highest rate of attendances responded to within 4 hours, at 82%. This was lowest in the ICBs of Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin (61%) and Staffordshire and Stoke-On-Trent (65%).
The number of overall attendances was highest in the NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB (149k) and lowest in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin (17k).
Next update: Monthly
Source: NHS England
Outcomes for children in need
Nearly half of children in need were persistently absent from school in 2023/2024. This is a rate of 44%, considerably higher than the 30% seen in 2020/2021, but slightly below that in 2022/2023, at 44.4%.
According to the Department for Education, a ‘Child in need’ (CIN) is defined as a child who is unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or a child whose health or development will be significantly impaired without the provision of children’s social care services, or a disabled child.
On a local level, CIN absences were highest in the London areas of Kingston Upon Thames (54%) and Kensington and Chelsea (53%) and lowest in Hampshire (20%) and Rutland (33.3%). Read more and explore Polimapper’s visualisation on Children in need in education here.
Next update: yearly
Source: Department for Education
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund
By the end of February 2025, there were over 65k measures installed in 33k households under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund in England.
The Social Housing Decabornisation Fund (SHDF) is a government scheme, launched in August 2021, designed to upgrade a significant amount of the social housing stock with an Energy Performance Certificate rating below C.
The most recent wave of the SHDF has seen an increase in number of installations of 13% over the month.
The highest number of measures installed under the 2.1 wave were in the constituencies of Coventry North West (1,796) and Coventry South (1,656).
Over 250 constituencies registered no measures installed under the last SHDF wave, including Worcester, Tooting and Stourbridge.
Next update: Monthly