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The Steering Committee in London
14 May 2025
In collaboration with a project Steering Committee consisting of local authority officers, a public representative and colleagues from SCPH delivered by University of Southampton and Partners, we invited a panel of 60 colleagues from local authorities, who represent a range of job roles, directorates and geographical areas to contribute to a consensus definition of research in a local authority setting.
For the first part of the project in September 2024 (Round One survey), we asked panellists to assess 24 potential definitions.
Based on the responses we produced some updated definitions which panellists assessed via a second survey (Round Two) in November 2024.
The project Steering Committee held a workshop in January 2025 where the survey responses were reviewed and a consensus definition, based on the responses, was agreed.
The consensus definition
The consensus definition
Local authority research supports decision making about practice, policies and interventions at a local, regional or national level
and/or
It helps us understand how people are impacted by the context in which they live, work and go about their daily lives.
Research uses structured, organised and reproducible methods to:
produce new information or knowledge, which may include testing an idea, theory or new intervention
and/or
provide a new interpretation of existing information. This may include routinely collected data being used for a new purpose, as well a publicly available data.
We would like to thank everyone who was involved in this project, from those who expressed an interest, to those who completed both rounds of surveys.
To support the definition of research being used in local authorities, we are currently finalising a decision tool and supporting guidance. This guidance will provide context to the definition and support local authorities in thinking about which activities would benefit from research governance or ethical review processes. It will also include links to further resources and support.
Louise Hayes, Research Design Lead, and Laura Brown, Public Health Research Programme Manager, are showcasing the definition with a poster display at the R&D Forum Conference 2025 next week, and also at the Society for Social Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting 2025 in September! Alongside the poster displays, members of the Steering Committee will also be presenting the results at the HDRC annual event in June, and the South East Public Health annual conference.
We would be keen to hear your feedback on the definition and whether it will be useful to you. Please email nihr.rss.publichealth@newcastle.ac.uk to share your thoughts.
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