Impact case study database

Effective policy decision making and informed public debate requires access to good quality data and measures which often do not exist. Research at the University of Liverpool has generated novel data products to improve our understanding of health and social inequalities, and has benefitted local (e.g. Local Authorities), national (e.g. Public Health England) and international (e.g. United Nations) policy makers, as well as informed the public and school children. Impact was achieved through our two pillars of research engagement:

Pillar 1: Enabling policy action through generating new data products

To enable effective policy action, governments require relevant data to underpin decision making. We have created new data products to address gaps in availability in two key areas:

(i) Supporting local and national public health intelligence in England

Dr Green’s research investigating how neighbourhoods contribute to health inequalities led to the generation of the most comprehensive open source database on healthy environments – Access to Healthy Assets and Hazards (AHAH). AHAH addressed skills and data gaps among local and national governments as detailed spatial data did not exist in a form that was easy to use previously, meaning decisions were being made without suitable data to support them.

The creation of a new indicator summarising how healthy environments are was adopted by Public Health England into their online toolkit 'Public Health Profiles' in November 2017 [5.1a].The system provides health-related data to all Local Authorities in England, helping to inform their policy planning and local decision making. In the 6 months following its release it was ranked as the 11th most popular indicator (out of 75) on their system. Public Health England described our contribution to their activities as “ …essential for addressing the lack of information we had on these indicators and our lack of technical skills for producing them” and “ AHAH index has improved our product by offering local public health analysts a unique means of understanding which areas have poor environments for health.” [5.1b].

AHAH recorded a total of 7432 unique views and 1071 unique downloads since their online publication including being used by 175 Local and 28 Central Government unique users [5.2]. Notable applications of AHAH for informing policy decisions to tackle health inequalities include: Key data for measuring spatial inequalities in air pollution by Gloucestershire Council to underpin their ‘Air Quality Action Plan’ [5.3a]; Integrated into an infographic to demonstrate the extent of poor quality environments in Tower Hamlets and the need for greater policy investment [5.3b].

The dissemination of AHAH has informed public learning and participation on how environments influence health. Dr Green was invited to debate an item on how healthy high streets are on the on the BBC News Channel (12.30pm 2^nd Nov 2018; BBC estimated 505k viewers). The AHAH resource has also been downloaded by 88 users from schools [5.2] including Shotley Community Primary School who co-designed with Dr Green (Sept to Dec 2019) projects investigating how their local area impacts health (e.g. food produced nearby and healthy eating exercises).

(ii) Informing the United Nations strategy on migration in Latin America

Dr Rowe’s novel open source methodology and software for making future data predictions on how internal migration patterns change local age structures have helped planning for future service needs. Dr Rowe’s research led to a commissioned report for United Nations’ (UN) Population Division in Latin America [5.4a]. Research findings were used to inform an expert group meeting at the UN in 2017 [5.4b], and the results from this commission were integrated into the Global Compact for Migration (GCM; 19 Dec 2018). GCM was the first-ever, UN global inter-governmentally negotiated agreement to approach migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.

Pillar 2: Influencing policy and welfare decisions with novel data insights

Insights generated from geographic data research have directly benefitted UK Government health and welfare policy in three core areas:

(i) Revealing the health impacts of austerity

Dr Green’s research on austerity effects have become a key evidence in policy documents due to the timeliness of the work where there is a lack of alternative data available to assess the impacts of austerity on population health. The work has been used (citations and quotes) in major reviews by Public Health England, the Chief Medical Officer and Food Standards Agency [5.5], which have informed debates about changing policies about austerity due to the negative impacts on health being observed. The significance of the research has seen it covered in multiple national newspapers helping to maximise the reach to the public [5.6].

(ii) Leading policy debates about ethnic segregation

BAME groups are considerably disadvantaged in the labour market partly due to their experiences of segregation in society. Dr Catney’s research on inequalities in ethnic residential segregation informed the Department for Communities & Local Government’s Casey Review into Opportunity & Integration (citations, quotes and reproduced figures) [5.7a]. The review is one of the main sources informing national policy interventions for local communities and welfare relating to segregation and integration. The same research was extensively cited as evidence on ethnic inequalities in employment within the McGregor-Smith Review of Race in the Workplace [5.7b]. The report was used to inform the Department for Work and Pensions response to Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge to increase ethnic minority participation in the labour market by 20% by 2020. The dissemination of Dr Catney’s research has also led to invitations to submit written evidence to All-Party Parliamentary Groups [5.7c]. These major reports and evidence committees have set out how to improve the social and economic circumstances and opportunities for some of the most vulnerable ethnic and migrant groups in the UK.

Racial prejudices, often misinformed about ethnic segregation or integration narratives, remain prevalent in the UK. Dr Catney’s segregation research has also informed the development of the Edexcel A-Level Geography curriculum (influencing 12,407 students in 2019; 39% of all Geography A-level students) to help ensure future generations continue to be well informed. Reproduced figures from Catney’s research provided a case study influencing how school children understand ethnic diversity and segregation [5.8].

(iii) Future planning for narrowing regional economic inequalities

Dr Rowe’s research on regional differences in economic performance and poverty identified long-term struggling neighbourhoods in Scotland and North England. Dr Rowe was invited in 2019 to supply evidence to the UK 2070 Commission on tackling inequalities about their work [5.9]. Dr Rowe’s research formed a key piece of evidence for setting out neighbourhood focused economic policies in the UK2070 Ten Point Action Plan which directly feeds into UK Government strategies for achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 10 (reduce inequalities).