Image source: GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) has developed an interactive visualisation tool to provide a regional picture of the issue across the UK.
Named the Data Explorer, it will become available in September and breaks down social mobility measures by geography, gender, ethnicity and disability.
The SMC said it could revolutionise policy making by helping education, business and local government leaders to provide coordinated help for disadvantaged families in their regions. Currently there is not enough data to show how education and employment outcomes interact with socio-economic data on a geographical basis.
The tool could also be used by the public to better understand the area they live in.
It will be published alongside the SMC’s State of the Nation report, providing an interactive view of its findings. The report will include a detailed update on social mobility outcomes across more than 40 regions.
Game changer
Chair of the commission – a non-departmental public body – Alun Francis said: “The Data Explorer tool should be a game changer in policy making. School, university and business leaders should now work with local government to address regional inequalities more effectively. There are big challenges to face in the levelling up agenda but there can be no one-size-fits-all approach.”
He presented a model of the Data Explorer at an event in Manchester to discuss how to tackle geographical inequality by working with local partners.
