As more and more decisions around economic development, infrastructure, skills and welfare are made at the local level, greater understanding of the particular economic, social, and cultural circumstances of different places is needed. To improve the quality of policy-making and outcomes, accurate and timely data at the appropriate spatial level will become ever more important. If such data are not available, policy design and delivery at the local level will fail to create the prosperity that devolution offers.

To help improve the production and use of sub-national data, Centre for Cities and the Office for National Statistics co-hosted a public policy forum event for around 50 national and local policy-makers, data producers and data users to explore how we can work together to ensure that the devolution agenda is supported and underpinned by appropriate data and intelligence.

Read the briefing note from the event

Agenda and slides

10.30 REGISTRATION – tea/coffee

11.00 WELCOME – Jonathan Athow from the ONS and Andrew Carter from Centre for Cities

SESSION 1 – Policy context and changing data requirements

11.05 Changing statistics: how is the ONS responding to city-region devolution? Jonathan Athow, ONS [SLIDES]

11.15 Data in Whitehall: how is central government using city-region data and intelligence? Tom Walker, DCLG

11.25 Data in local government – How are cities using data?

• Manchester: Lucy Woodbine, New Economy [SLIDES]
• London: Matthew Waite, Greater London Authority

11.45 Questions / Discussion

12.00 Statistical developments across government – How is the emerging policy impacting agencies, departments and devolved administrations?

• Department for Transport: Graham Pendlebury, DfT [SLIDES]
• HM Revenue & Customs: Darren Warren, ONS [SLIDES]
• Devolved administrations: Roger Halliday, Chief Statistician, Scottish Government [SLIDES]
• Department for Work and Pensions: Tom Davies, Head of Client Statistics, DWP [SLIDES]

12.30 Questions / Discussion

12.40 LUNCH

SESSION 2 – Changing use of data – local perspective

13.10 Other data users – How are data being exploited and developed to better meet local needs?

• Big data: Nick Bailey, Urban Big Data Centre, University  of Glasgow [SLIDES]
• Open data: Stephen Blackburn, Data Mill North [SLIDES]
• Estimating the value of service exports abroad from different parts of the UK: James Harris, ONS [SLIDES]

13.55 Questions / Discussion

SESSION 3 –  Data requirements to deliver the decentralisation / devolution agenda

14.10 Breakout sessions / feedback

14.50 Wrap up

15.00 CLOSE