Governments face significant challenges in designing and implementing effective policy, and the push for devolution in the United Kingdom has highlighted the critical need for improved access to, and use of, government data. As responsibility shifts to mayors and combined authorities for areas such as economic growth, health, skills, and public services, these regional bodies will require greater access to comprehensive data and the capability to analyze it effectively.

Currently, barriers to data access exist even within central government departments, creating frustrations among policymakers and researchers. Responsibility for managing data access is often divided among multiple entities, including various departments, the Cabinet Office, the Office for National Statistics, and arm’s-length bodies. While legal safeguards are in place to protect privacy, the main obstacles are frequently institutional: fragmented accountability, inconsistent interpretations of regulations, and incentives that favor caution over innovation. This environment often results in officials choosing to deny access rather than seek lawful pathways to share data.

For devolution to succeed, there must be a clear and comprehensive agreement regarding data usage that allows local authorities to navigate these challenges collectively, rather than each entity confronting similar hurdles independently. Such an agreement would facilitate data sharing across siloed government systems and enable data linkage—combining information from different sources to address complex questions that cannot be answered by individual datasets alone. While privacy risks exist, linked data can reveal insights into areas including education, health, earnings, welfare, and criminal justice.

Examples of national datasets that demonstrate this potential include the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset, which connects educational records to tax data, highlighting the impact of education on later income. This resource could support local authorities in addressing workforce needs, the relevance of vocational training, and educational outcomes for disadvantaged groups. Similarly, the Ministry of Justice has developed secure research access to datasets linking education and criminal justice information, further aiding policy evaluation.

At the local level, projects such as the Born in Bradford study have successfully linked health and education data to improve outcomes, notably identifying untreated vision problems affecting children's literacy. In Greater Manchester, Health Innovation Manchester and NHS Greater Manchester have integrated data from primary, secondary, and social care for millions of residents, supporting both clinical decision-making and research efforts. Economic analyses, such as those conducted by Frontier Economics, have used linked data to inform targeted policies for preventing cardiovascular disease in the region.

Despite these successes, data infrastructure remains inconsistent across the public sector, and existing resources can be difficult to access. Critics point to a prevailing culture of risk aversion and lack of prioritization for data infrastructure, which hampers policy development and undermines the benefits expected from devolving power away from Whitehall.

To realize the vision of effective devolved governance, experts argue that data enablement must be central to the devolution framework. This includes establishing legal clarity, streamlined processes for data access and linkage, and support for developing the capabilities of local authorities. Such measures are viewed as key to preventing duplication, reducing wasted effort, and ultimately achieving more responsive and effective local policy delivery.