The small area housing census data is now live in Local Insight. You can start using and analysing this data for all your custom areas. 

For guidance on using Census 2021 data in Local Insight please see “How to explore Census 2021 data in Local Insight”.

Summary of published data

Download the full list of indicators now available in Local Insight.

We have added 71 indicators to Local Insight. This release includes small area data from the housing topic summary. Indicators for the following datasets can now be seen live in Local Insight: 

• Accommodation Type (9 indicators) 
• Car ownership (4 indicators) 
• Central heating (1 indicator) 
• Heating type (11 indicators) 
• Number of Bedrooms (4 indicators) 
• Number of Rooms (10 indicators) 
• Occupancy rating of bedrooms (6 indicators) 
• Occupancy rating of rooms (6 indicators) 
• Second address type (8 indicators) 
• Second addresses (2 indicators) 
• Tenure (10 indicators) 

ONS also published datasets on Communal establishment resident by age and Communal establishment resident by management type. These are currently not available in Local Insight as the data has not been published at Output Area. 

Reports

We have updated 34 of the indicators in the Local Insight report (see Housing: pages 24, 25 and 29 and Access and transport: Car ownership: page 57). You will need to update your reports in order to see Census 2021 data here.

The Local Insight support team will be off during the Christmas break from Wednesday 21 December to Tuesday 3 January inclusive.

We will not be able to respond to any Local Insight support requests sent to support@ocsi.co.uk during this time.

Support

If you experience any issues or need support please visit  the Help Centre.

There are also tutorial videos available that may answer your question.

If you have another question which requires assistance from a member of the team, please email support@ocsi.co.uk.  We will reply upon our return in January.

Enjoy the festive break.

The small area labour market and travel to work census data is now live in Local Insight. You can start using and analysing this data for all your custom areas. 

For guidance on using Census 2021 data in Local Insight please see “How to explore Census 2021 data in Local Insight”.

Summary of published data

Download the full list of indicators now available in Local Insight.

We have added 67 indicators to Local Insight. This release includes small area data from the labour market and travel to work topic summary. Indicators for the following datasets can now be seen live in Local Insight: 

• Economic activity status (24 indicators) 
• Travel to work (21 indicators) 
• Industry and occupation (22 indicators)

ONS also published detailed breakdowns of different occupation and industry datasets. These are currently not available in Local Insight as the data has not been published at Output Area (and will show very low numbers in many instances). However, we can add breakdowns that are useful to you upon request – please send these to support@ocsi.co.uk 

Reports

We have updated 14 of the indicators in the Local Insight report (see Economy: Economic activity – page 51 and Economy: Job type – page 52). You will need to update your reports in order to see Census 2021 data here.

The small area ethnic group, national identity, language and religion census data is now live in Local Insight. You can start using and analysing this data for all your custom areas. 

For guidance on using Census 2021 data in Local Insight please see “How to explore Census 2021 data in Local Insight”.

Summary of published data 

Download the full list of indicators now available in Local Insight

We have added 68 indicators to Local Insight. This release includes small area data from the ethnic group, national identity, language and religion topic summary. Indicators for the following datasets can now be seen live in Local Insight: 

• English language proficiency (5 indicators)
• Ethnic Group (25 indicators)
• Household language (4 indicators)
• Households with multiple ethnic groups (6 indicators)
• Households with multiple languages (4 indicators)
• National identity (16 indicators)
• Religion (8 indicators)

ONS also published detailed breakdowns of main language, national identity and religion datasets. These are currently not available in Local Insight as the data has not been published at Output Area (and will show very low numbers in many instances). However, we can add breakdowns that are useful to you upon request – please send these to support@ocsi.co.uk 

Additional census religion data in Local Insight

The question about religion in the 2021 census was voluntary. Overall, 94.0% (56.0 million) of usual residents answered the question.

ONS percentages are calculated out of the overall population as opposed to out of the population who responded to the religion question. Because the census question about religious affiliation is voluntary and has varying response rates, caution is needed when comparing figures between different areas or between censuses (source ONS).

Alongside adding the official ONS figures to Local Insight, we have also included an additional indicator for each religion that uses only people who responded to the religion question as the denominator. These indicators are displayed as [Religion] (% of all respondents – Census 2021)

Below is an example how these distinct indicators display in Local Insight

• Jewish (% of all people – Census 2021)
• Jewish (% of all respondents – Census 2021)

These supplementary indicators that use respondents only as the denominator provide additional value as the response rates vary considerably across local areas. There are a multitude of possible driving factors behind non-response rates, which are not necessarily related to religious affiliation.

The ONS figures are the ones that will be in your default themes. However, should you want to use the alternative figures you can find these on the Dashboard or add them to the map using the manage indicators page.

Reports

We have updated 35 of the indicators in the Local Insight report. You will need to update your reports in order to see Census 2021 data here.

Data includes:

• Population by ethnic group (pg. 5)
• Population by household language(pg. 6)
• Population by religion (pg. 9)

Small-area Census 2021 data is here. Topic summary data will be released in stages over the coming months.

Alongside making sure the data is available in Local Insight as quickly as possible, the OCSI team are also providing additional support and resources for using and understanding the data.

We will add links to our resources and analysis here as and when they are published. Alternatively, sign up to our Census 2021 mailing list to get the latest news directly to your inbox. 

As always, let us know if there is anything else you would like to see from us.

General resources:

• How do councils present Census 2021 data?
• Census 2021 data analysis for local authorities in England

Analysis:

• Census 2021 – East of England has seen the largest population increase

The small area UK Armed Forces Veterans census data is now live in Local Insight. You can start using and analysing this data for all your custom areas. 

For guidance on using Census 2021 data in Local Insight please see “How to explore Census 2021 data in Local Insight”.

Summary of published data 

Download the list of indicators.

We have added 14 indicators to Local Insight. This release includes small area data from the UK Armed Forces Veterans topic summary. Indicators for the following datasets can now be seen live in Local Insight: 

• Household reference person indicator of previous service in UK armed forces (4 indicators) 
• Previously served in the UK armed forces (4 indicators) 
• Number of people in household who have previously served in UK armed forces (4 indicators) 
• Population who have previously served in UK armed forces in communal establishments and in households (2 indicators)

Data availability

Please note the smallest geography this data has been published at is MSOA level. 

This may have an impact on how you can view data for your custom areas.

Viewing data on the map

While the smallest geography that the data has been published at is MSOA level, we have used population weighted apportioning so that you are also able to view this data at LSOA level on the map. 

As we have used population weighted apportioning, this may mean that some component LSOAs of a parent MSOA will have slightly different data values and may be shaded a different colour on the choropleth map.

Viewing data for custom areas

As the data is published at MSOA level, it is more difficult to accurately apportion to custom areas that are built out of smaller building blocks. We use population weighted apportioning to generate data for your custom areas (read more about our apportioning methodology here). Please see below for guidance on how this works for different area types.

Areas larger than an MSOA, built out of MSOA or Local Authorities: We use the figures published by ONS to build areas out of MSOAs and Local Authorities.

Areas larger than an MSOA, built out of LSOAs or OAs: Some custom areas are larger than MSOAs but built out of smaller component areas (eg, areas that you create by drawing on a map or through importing shapefiles). For these, we use population weighted apportioning to derive a value for each of the LSOAs. 

As we round apportioned results to the nearest round numbers, there may be some small variances in data at a sub-MSOA level.

Areas smaller than an MSOA: As with the above, we use population weighted apportioning to derive values for areas smaller than MSOA level. 

As the data is only published at MSOA level, data values are based on estimates rather than exact figures and so should be used with caution.

Reports

UK Armed Forces Veterans data is not available to view within reports. For guidance on how best to view this data in Local Insight, please see “How to explore Census 2021 data in Local Insight”.

You can view Census 2021 indicators across Local Insight through Dashboards, Maps and Reports.

To make it easier to locate the new census indicators they all have (Census 2021) in their indicator titles. 

The Dashboard 

The easiest way to see Census 2021 indicators for your custom areas is by using the Dashboard.

1. Open the Dashboard tab
2. Click the Data icon 
3. Select Build a custom dashboard
4. Use the search bar to find the census indicator you want, for example, Pensioner living alone. Or type in the key search term Census 2021
5. You can select both the 2011 and 2021 timepoints (Not all the 2021 indicators have corresponding 2011 indicators as some questions were asked for the first time in the 2021 census)
6. Click on the ‘currently selected’ theme to see the indicators you have selected (this will also show you if they are assigned to a theme or not, which will be useful to know when it comes to adding indicators to the map)
7. When you are happy with your selection, click the blue Done button.

The Map

Not all Census 2021 indicators will be available on your map’s data menu by default. Many of the indicators will be in the unassigned theme. This means that they will need to be added to a theme by Group Admin users on the manage indicators page before they can be viewed on the map.

Additionally, depending on how your themes have been set up by your organisation, you may find that the indicators are somewhat spread around various themes.

We provide guidance below on where to look, but please get in touch with our support team if you are having trouble – we are happy to help.

The Census 2021 theme on the map

Back in June 2022 when the first round of census data was released, we created a theme for all our clients titled Census 2021. This contained the 25 headline usual resident population indicators (by sex and age). Originally ,this data was only published at local authority level and rounded to the nearest 100. 

ONS has published the small-area equivalents of:

• All people (Census 2021)
• All Males (Census 2021)
• All Females (Census 2021)

We have now updated these indicators in the Census 2021 theme with the more granular data, so that you can see the data at MSOA and LSOA level as well as for all custom areas. 

You can use this Census 2021 theme as you choose:

• Keep as is with key population indicators
• Remove Census 2021 theme and move the indicators to alternative themes
• Use the Census 2021 theme as your go-to theme for Census 2021 data to help your colleagues find data more easily.

Any changes to the Census 2021 theme need to be managed by a Group Admin, using the Manage Indicators functionality.

New indicators for Census 2021

Some indicators are  based on questions that were asked for the first time in Census 2021. For example, the indicator Married: Same-sex. These new indicators (that do not have 2011 counterparts) are not available on your Local Insight Map by default. Group Admin users can add these indicators to the maps using the Manage Indicators functionality.

Census 2021 indicators that have Census 2011 counterparts

If you already had an existing Census 2011 indicator displaying on your map, which has now been updated, it will be automatically replaced with the Census 2021 data. For example, the Pensioner living alone indicator.

Reports 

Some census indicators will also be updated and included in your Local Insight reports. We will inform you which indicators have been updated in reports as part of each data release.

You will need to update your reports to see the latest Census 2021 data after each release.

Compare Census 2011 and Census 2021 data in Local Insight 

You can compare Census 2021 indicators with their 2011 counterparts in Local Insight through the Dashboard and on the Maps.

View 2021 and 2011 data on the Maps 

When viewing an indicator on the map, click on the name and the corresponding 2011 indicator will show underneath it. 

Use the Data for your areas popup

The Data for your areas popup shows a table with the percentage and count data for the indicator you’ve selected for all your custom areas. When viewing the census indicators you can see 4 columns: percentage and count data for the 2021 and 2011 census timepoints. 

How to open the data for your areas popup?

• Click on the Data button to open the menu and click on the name of the dataset to view it on the map.
• Click on the Info button, in the top right hand corner
• Click Data for your areas to see the data for your custom areas

On the dashboard

Use the build a custom dashboard tool to select any of the 2021 and 2011 census indicators to view on your dashboard. 

Top tip: Use the search bar and type in 2011 or 2021 to filter for the relevant indicators.

Organise the new census data in your Local Insight Group

Group Admin users can add new indicators to the maps using the Manage Indicators option.

To do this:

1. Go to the Group admin tab and click Manage Indicators
2. Click on the theme titled unassigned located under the themes header 
3. Search for the census indicator by typing the indicator name or a keyword such as Census 2021.
4. Drag and drop the indicator into a theme 
5. Check the box underneath the map column to show that indicator on your groups map

Upcoming census releases 

ONS has a release calendar that is regularly updated to provide information on upcoming releases. Once ONS publishes the data, we aim to have data live within 3 working days. 

Sign up for a Local Insight census webinar

We will be running webinars on using census data in Local Insight (alongside our more general monthly refresher training). See Eventbrite for our upcoming webinar schedule.

The small area Demography and Migration census data is now live in Local Insight just two days after release by the The  Office of National Statistics (ONS). You can start using and analysing this data for all your custom areas. 

For guidance on using Census 2021 data in Local Insight please see “How to explore Census 2021 data in Local Insight”.

Summary of published data

Download the full list of indicators now available in Local Insight

We have updated or added 74 indicators to Local Insight. This release includes small area data from the Demography and Migration topic summary. 

Indicators for the following datasets can now be seen in Local Insight: 

• Resident age and sex (3 indicators)
• Household (1 indicator)
• Number of Usual Residents in Households and Communal Establishments (1 indicator)
• Legal Partnership Status (11 indicators)
• Household Composition (14 indicators)
• Households by Deprivation Dimensions (5 indicators)
• Country of Birth (11 indicators)
• Passports Held (17 indicators)
• Length of Residence (4 indicators)
• Age of Arrival in the UK (3 indicators)
• Migrant Indicator (4 indicators)

Reports

We have updated 26 of the indicators in the Local Insight report. You will need to update your reports in order to see Census 2021 data here.

Data includes:

• Country of birth / passports held (pg. 6)
• People who have moved addresses (pg. 7)
• Household composition (pg. 8)
• Household deprivation dimensions (pg. 22)

Sign up for a Local Insight census webinar

We will be running webinars on using Census 2021 data in Local Insight. Please see Eventbrite for our upcoming webinar schedule.

We are delighted to announce that the first 2021 census outputs are live and available in Local Insight. Read on to find out about:

• How many datasets are there?
• How do I find the new census data on Local Insight?
• Why are the datasets available at Local Authority level only?
• How do I compare census 2011 and 2021 data?
• Why is the census data not in the Local Insight reports?
• FAQs 

How many datasets are there?

In total, there are 63 new datasets on the tool with 25 being displayed automatically under the Data icon on your maps. The first outputs include:

• Usual resident population by sex
• Usual resident population by 5-year age group
• Usual resident population by sex and 5-year age group
• Usual resident population density

Download the full list of new datasets

How do I find the new census data on Local Insight?

We have created a new theme called Census 2021. In that new theme 25 of the new census datasets will appear (along with their 2011 counterparts). We have applied this to all groups, so you do not need to do anything in order to start using the census data straight away.

Those 38 other datasets not in the new default theme will be in the Unassigned theme.

• Group Admin users can add these new datasets to the maps using the Manage Indicators functionality.

• Remember, if you would like to see the indicators on the dashboard you can build custom dashboards and search for any indicator.

Why are the datasets available at Local Authority level only?

The datasets are published at Local Authority level only in this release. The ONS are indicating that small area level data will be published in Autumn. 

For the purpose of accuracy we have put in place measures to prevent this data showing for small areas. 

You cannot zoom below Local Authority level when viewing these datasets on Local Insight.

Usually, when viewing datasets on the map, you can zoom in and out and the geographic level at which you are viewing the data will automatically change. This is not the case for datasets published at Local Authority, the data will stay frozen at Local Authority level.

Any custom areas smaller than Local Authorities will not show any data.

When viewing these datasets on the dashboard and the data for more areas popup no data will show for custom areas that are smaller than Local Authorities. This includes, but is not limited to wards, MSOAs, LSOAs and parishes. This is because the datasets are only available at Local Authority level and so we cannot accurately  apportion data down to smaller geographies.

How do I compare census 2011 and 2021 data?

You can compare census 2021 datasets with their 2011 counterparts in Local Insight. This is possible when viewing those datasets on the maps and in the data for your areas popup. 

Viewing the data on the maps

Data for your areas popup

The data for your areas popup shows a table with the percentage and count data for all your custom areas. When viewing the census datasets you can see 4 columns: percentage and count data for the 2021 and 2011 census timepoints. 

Why is the census data not in the Local Insight reports?

New census data will only be available on the Maps and the Dashboard, as these initial outputs are only available at Local Authority level. Reports will be updated when census data at smaller geographies is released. 

Join a census webinar

Make sure you sign up here in order to join us on the 5th of July where we will run a census webinar. To stay up to date with all the webinars we run please follow us on Eventbrite. 

FAQs 

Below are some frequently asked questions we’ve already had. We will continue to add to this resource: 

Will the census data be available at Local Authority level initially and then small area data will be available later on? 

The ONS are indicating that small area data will be published in Autumn. When they publish this we will add it to the tool within days of publication. We are very excited for this release and will keep you updated regarding when the datasets will be available in Local Insight.

Why are there gaps on the Dashboard for some of my areas?

Datasets that are published at Local Authority level (like these initial census ones) will not show data for any custom areas thatinclude constituent regions smaller than Local Authority.

Do you know if Local Authority level data regarding ethnicity will be included within this first census release, or if it will be included in a later release?

Local Authority level data regarding ethnicity will not be released on the 28th June. However, we will be providing more information regarding the next releases, so ensure you keep a close eye on our updates

Get in touch!

If you have any questions or feedback then get in touch with us on support@ocsi.co.uk.

Did you know that there are some census 2021 datasets already available in Local Insight? This blog outlines; how to access that data, when you can expect to see the rest of the census data and how you will be able to compare 2011 and 2021 census data in Local Insight.

Go straight to

• Latest timeframes
• Census 2021 datasets already available in Local Insight
• Compare 2011 and 2021 census data in Local Insight 

Latest timeframes

Timeframes

The latest information is that the census outputs will start to be published early summer (June, we believe). Stay in the know on publication dates directly from the ONS.

Our intention is to have the datasets loaded into Local Insight within days of publication by the ONS.

Geographical changes

There will be changes to the census geographies (OAs, LSOAs and MSOAs). We will manage this in Local Insight for you and communicate how we are doing this. Rest assured, you will be able to see census 2011 and 2021 data for all geographies including the latest wards.

Census 2021 datasets already available in Local Insight

The ONS recently published some early census 2021 outputs. They published Country of birth by Local Authority for Ukraine and neighbouring or relevant countries to help local and national emergency planning in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This data is now live in Local Insight. The full list of datasets available are:

• Born in Afghanistan
• Born in Belarus
• Born in Estonia
• Born in Hungary
• Born in Lithuania
• Born in Latvia
• Born in Moldova
• Born in Poland
• Born in Romania
• Born in Russia
• Born in Slovakia
• Born in Ukraine

These datasets are published at Local Authority level only. As data is not available at smaller geographies, there are measures in place to prevent this data from showing for small areas in Local Insight to avoid any confusion. This means that:

• You will not be able to zoom into MSOA or LSOA level when viewing these datasets on the map.
• Any custom areas that contain constituent regions smaller than Local Authority will not show data in the tables and dashboard. For example in figure 2 below, you can see that data is showing for the Local Authority custom areas but not for the wards.

Finding these datasets in Local Insight

These new datasets are not shown on your Local Insight Map by default.

• Group Admin users can add these datasets to the maps using the Manage Indicators functionality.
• Remember, if you would like to see the indicators on the dashboard you can build custom dashboards and search for any indicator. 

Compare 2011 and 2021 census datasets in Local Insight

You will be able to compare the census 2021 datasets with their 2011 counterparts in Local Insight. This will be possible in the data for your areas pop-up on the map and in the Local Insight reports.

Data for your areas popup

When viewing census datasets on the map, Local Insight will automatically update to show the latest 2021 census data. When you view data for your areas the table will show percentage and count data for all your custom areas for the 2021 census and the 2011 census questions. For example, see below how this table will look for the data related to those who selected Christian as their religion in the census.

Please note: This is a mocked up image. The data in this table is not representative of real data as the Christian 2021 data has not yet been published.

Local Insight reports

The Local Insight reports will contain charts and graphs where you can compare the 2021 census data with the 2011 census data for your chosen custom area.

New datasets

New questions were asked on the 2021 census on the following topics:

• Sexual orientation
• Gender Identity
• New Ethnic groups (Eritrean, Romanian and Showman populations)

There will be associated datasets for these topics in Local Insight.

More combined datasets

The ONS will have a dissemination tool where you will be able to combine indicators. For example, you will be able to see areas with high concentrations of young adults, with both low skills and high unemployment.

We will consult with users to identify the most important combinations and upload them onto Local Insight. 

Support for using the new census data

We will be running regular webinars throughout the summer to support all users in getting the most out of the census 2021 data. Follow us on Eventbrite to receive information about all the webinars we run. 

If you have any questions please contact us at support@ocsi.co.uk