Community Life Survey 2023/24 annual publication
The results of the 2023/2024 Community Life Survey, covering the period from October 2023 to March 2024.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The Community Life Survey is a nationally representative annual survey of adults (16+) in England that tracks the latest trends and developments across areas that are key to encouraging social action and empowering communities. Data collection on the Community Life Survey commenced in 2012/13 using a face-to-face format. During the survey years from 2013/14 to 2015/16 a push-to-web format was tested, which included collecting online/paper data alongside the face-to-face data, before moving fully to a push-to-web format in 2016/17. The results included in this release are based on online/paper completes only, covering the ten survey years from 2013/14, when this method was first tested, to 2023/24.
In 2023/24, DCMS partnered with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to boost the Community Life Survey to be able to produce meaningful estimates at the local authority level. This has enabled us to have the most granular data we have ever had. The questionnaire for 2023/24 has been developed collaboratively to adapt to the needs and interests of both DCMS and MHCLG, and there were some new questions and changes to existing questions, response options and definitions in the 23/24 survey.
In 2023/24 we collected data on the respondent’s sex and gender identity. Please note that patterns were identified in Census 2021 data that suggest that some respondents may not have interpreted the gender identity question as intended, notably those with lower levels of English language proficiency. Analysis of Scotland’s census, where the gender identity question was different, has added weight to this observation. More information can be found in the ONS sexual orientation and gender identity quality information report, and in the National Statistical blog about the strengths and limitations of gender identity statistics.
Fieldwork for 2023/24 was delivered over two quarters (October to December 2023 and January to March 2024) due to an extended period earlier in 2023/24 to develop and implement the boosted design. As such there are two quarterly publications in 2023/24, in addition to this annual publication, which covers the period of October 2023 to March 2024.
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Released: 4 December 2024
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Period covered: October 2023 to March 2024
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Geographic coverage: National, regional and local authority level data for England.
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Next release date: Spring 2025
The pre-release access list above contains the ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release of Community Life Survey data. In line with best-practice, the list has been kept to a minimum and those given access for briefing purposes had a maximum of 24 hours. Details on the pre-release access arrangements for this dataset are available in the accompanying material.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards by emailing evidence@dcms.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
The responsible analyst for this release is Rebecca Wyton. For enquiries on this release, contact communitylifesurvey@dcms.gov.uk