Recipient organisationWelsh GovernmentSource-published name: Welsh Government
Funding£4.1M
PeriodMar 2022 — Mar 2026
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
Welsh Government is linking together anonymised data from schools, hospitals, housing records, and social services to give accredited researchers a single, secure view of how people in Wales actually live, work, and need support. This matters because government departments typically hold data in separate silos—education records here, health records there, benefits data somewhere else—making it nearly impossible to see the full picture of a person’s circumstances. Without linked data, policymakers cannot answer basic questions such as whether a housing intervention reduces hospital visits, or how early-years support affects later employment. ADR Wales fills that gap by creating a safe, legal infrastructure for joining up these datasets while protecting individual privacy. If the research succeeds, Welsh Government will have evidence to shape decisions on early years, social care, mental health, housing, skills, and decarbonisation—the priority areas in its national strategy. Better linked data could mean, for example, that a housing policy is designed knowing its actual effect on health outcomes, or that mental health services are targeted where they prevent the most harm. The result is public services that are more effective and less wasteful, improving lives without anyone noticing the data work behind the scenes.
View original technical description
ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK) is a partnership transforming the way researchers access the UK’s wealth of public sector data, to enable better informed policy decisions that improve people’s lives. By linking together data held by different parts of government, and by facilitating safe and secure access for accredited researchers to these newly joined-up data sets, ADR UK is creating a sustainable body of knowledge about how our society and economy function – tailored to give decision makers the answers they need to solve important policy questions. ADR UK is made up of three national partnerships (ADR Scotland, ADR Wales, and ADR NI) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which ensures data provided by UK government bodies is accessed by researchers in a safe and secure form with minimal risk to data holders or the public. The partnership is coordinated by a UK-wide Strategic Hub, which also promotes the benefits of administrative data research to the public and the wider research community, engages with UK government to secure access to data, and manages a dedicated research budget. ADR UK is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation. To find out more, visit adruk.org or follow @ADR_UK on Twitter. Welsh Government receives funding as part of the ADR Wales (Administrative Data Research Wales) partnership, which brings together world-renowned data science experts, leading academics and specialist teams within Welsh Government - including statisticians, economists and social researchers - to produce evidence that shapes future policy decisions in Wales. The partnership is ideally placed to maximise the utility of anonymous and secure data to shape public service delivery, which will ultimately improve the lives of people in Wales. The data linked and analysed by ADR Wales aims to address the priority areas for action in Wales, as identified in the Welsh Government’s national strategy, 'Prosperity for All'. Early years, housing, social care, mental health, wellbeing, skills and employment and emerging government priorities such as decarbonisation are at the centre of the partnership’s work.
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know