Strengthen links between census and admin data, says Boyle

The UK needs a simpler process for linking administrative and census data sets, according to Paul Boyle, chief executive of the Economic and Social Research Council.

Boyle was speaking on 6 March at an event to mark data from the 2011 census being linked to the UK’s longitudinal studies, which collate census data over time so that researchers can assess long-term trends. He said the benefits of using administrative data such as health and tax records, which are routinely gathered by governments, were “immeasurable”.

The UK is at risk of undermining such benefits with restrictive access agreements, Boyle said, adding that the ESRC must strengthen its relationship with the national statistics agencies to create a “much more joined-up approach” to collecting and sharing data. “In theory, if we can free up government data, we can link census longitudinal studies with information from tax, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health,” he said.