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 wellbeing rates, NHS waiting times, or more specialised data releases, this round-up is designed to spotlight some of the most intriguing regional and local-level statistics.
NHS cancer waiting times
74,000 people did not start their cancer treatment on time last year, as the majority of Integrated Care Boards (ICB) failed to meet targets set for cancer waiting times.
According to data published by NHS England in February, all 42 ICBs missed the 62 day referral to treatment standard, which states that 85% of people should receive their diagnosis and have started their first treatment within 62 days of referral.
On average, across all NHS cancer waiting times measures, the NHS Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board registered the best performance with 88%, whilst the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board registered the worst (68%).
Next update: updated monthly
Source: NHS England
Statutory homelessness in England
The number of households in temporary accommodation increased by 15.7% in September 2024 from the previous year. In late February, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government published a new dataset on statutory homelessness in England, reporting on duties placed on local authorities to take reasonable steps to prevent and relieve homelessness.
On a regional level, last year, there were 19.3 households living in temporary accommodation per 1,000 households in London compared to 2.7 households per 1,000 in the rest of England. The highest number of households threatened with homelessness within 56 days and owed a prevention duty from local authorities was seen in Birmingham, at 886, followed by Leeds, with 721.
Next update: updated quarterly
Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Solar photovoltaic deployment in the UK
There is a total of 17.9 GW of solar capacity in the UK across 1,714,000 installations, as of the end of January 2025. This represents an increase of 6.9% (1.2 GW) from the previous year, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero reports.
During the month of January 2025, there were 17,603 installations of solar photovoltaic panels, a higher figure than the average ones seen between 2016 and 2021. After a drop in installations due to the Covid-19 lockdown, this number quickly recovered by the second half of 2020 and gradually exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
The number of installations was highest in the constituency of Peterborough at 7194, followed by Ceredigion at 6825. Ceredigion also had the highest installed capacity generated from solar photovoltaics at 26.4 MW.
Next update: updated monthly
Source: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Homicide criminal offences statistics
In the year ending March 2024, 570 people in England and Wales died from homicide, 3% less than in the previous year. This was the lowest number of homicides recorded since 2016, excluding 2020/2021 due to coronavirus.
The data released by the Office for National Statistics registered 108 domestic homicides between March 2023 and March 2024, 76.85% of those were women and 23.15% were men.
London saw the highest number (108) and highest rate (13.5 per 1m) of homicide offences in England and Wales. The lowest rates were in the South East and South West, 6.2 and 8.6 per 1m people respectively.
Next update: update yearly
Source: Office for National Statistics
UK measures of national well-being
In the UK, 1 in 20 adults have reported low life satisfaction in July to September 2024, data from the February UK measures of national well-being shows. Within the same period, 22.5% of adults also reported having had high anxiety levels within the last 24 hours.
The most recent statistics show a negative trend in the number of people who are fairly or extremely unhappy in their relationships in 2021 to 2022, additionally a higher rate of adult individuals felt unfairly treated by society (1 in 5) between December 2024 and January 2025 compared to the previous time period.
On a regional level, Wales registered a higher rate of adults who are unsatisfied with their lives and who are unhappy, whilst Scotland reported the highest rates of people feeling high levels of anxiety.
Next update: TBA
Source: Office for National Statistics