Major investment secures next phase of ADR UK’s vital work linking data for public good
Categories: Data linkage programmes, Research using linked data, Press releases, ADR UK Partnership
24 July 2025
ADR UK is delighted to announce a £168 million investment from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) that will fund the next phase of our mission to enable data-driven research that improves lives across the UK.
UKRI's reinvestment in ADR UK will continue our ground-breaking, UK-wide data linking and research projects.
Unlocking data responsibly
The public sector holds vast amounts of data and unlocking it in a responsible way can provide insights and drive policy improvements that make a real difference to our lives and livelihoods.
ADR UK does this by facilitating secure access for accredited researchers to that data, unlocking evidence that would otherwise remain hidden.
In the next investment phase, ADR UK will be supporting a range of research programmes, including projects to improve cancer detection using health and administrative data through the Cancer Data Driven Detection programme in partnership with Cancer Research UK and others.
The funding will also support policies to help drive economic growth and improve living standards by enabling ADR UK to further expand the linked economic datasets available to researchers and policymakers. These will support critical research to better understand the drivers of UK productivity by linking employment, business, benefits and income data, giving policymakers a more complete picture of how the UK economy works.
ADR UK is an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) hosted programme.
Transforming lives for the better
Science and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle said:
"Data is absolutely vital when making key policy decisions to help transform lives for the better, and the Administrative Data Research UK partnership has shown that in practice, from helping to secure pay rises for millions, smashing the glass ceiling for underrepresented groups and cracking down on crime that blights our streets.
"By investing £168m of Government funding to extend this programme, we are backing our world class researchers to build on this work, unlocking more of the data they need to improve lives and deliver the economic growth and opportunity as part of our Plan for Change."
Commitment to harnessing data
Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of ESRC said:
"Our £168m investment in ADR UK is a sign of UKRI’s commitment to harnessing data to drive economic growth, better public services, and outstanding research.
"Linking government social, economic and health data in a secure manner that preserves citizens’ privacy is a powerful driver of better research and better public policy, and a vital resource for the scientists and researchers in the UK and beyond."
Delivering real impact
Recent impacts from ADR UK research projects include:
- providing key evidence through linked administrative data analysis to support continuation of the minimum alcohol unit pricing policies in Scotland estimated to save 156 lives per year
- identifying critical recommendations to improve outcomes for care-experienced children through analysis of the ADR UK Growing Up in England dataset
- the ongoing societal and economic benefits of the ADR UK Data First programme, which provides rich data insights that directly inform policy related to the reduction of reoffending through linking MoJ data
- providing the evidence needed to plan a safe return to school for children and young people in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic
National partnerships across the UK
Following the funding decision, the programme is now confirming its national partnerships of:
- ADR England
- ADR Scotland
- ADR Wales
- ADR Northern Ireland
We will also continue funding for the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service.
This devolved partnership model ensures data linkages and research projects connect directly to local policy priorities and community needs.
Provision of trusted research environments in every nation, as well as the national network of ADR UK funded SafePods for secure data access, will also continue during the new funding period.
Supporting the brightest minds
This investment will expand ADR UK’s fellowship and PhD programmes, strengthening links between researchers and policymakers and enhancing collaboration across social research.
The funding also supports ADR UK’s training and capacity-building programme, equipping researchers with skills to use linked administrative data for public good.
A synthetic data initiative will be scaled up, enabling researchers to test analyses before accessing secure data.
Looking ahead: the National Data Library
ADR UK is currently sharing best practice guidance with teams within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to support an exciting new future for joined-up data management and access.
This will ensure the emerging plans are informed by the lessons learned and successes made through the ADR UK programme to shape a strategy that benefits researchers, policymakers and the public.
Generating unique insights for public good
Dr Emma Gordon, Director of ADR UK, said:
"We are delighted that DSIT, UKRI and ESRC have confirmed their ongoing support for our vital data linking and research programme.
"This commitment will ensure the expertise, infrastructure and momentum we have developed since we formed in 2018 will continue to expand for the benefit of all UK nations.
"We look forward to continuing our support and funding for trusted research environments, delivering more important linked datasets for research, and growing our network of accredited researchers to generate unique insights that inform policy change for public good."
