Accredited official statistics

Statutory homelessness in England: Statistics use, improvements, and user engagement note

Published 8 August 2024

Applies to England

1. Statutory homelessness statistics users

Our statutory homelessness statistics form the basis of evidence on homelessness duties. Local housing authorities are both providers and users of our statutory homelessness statistics and use the data extensively to plan services, allocate resources, monitor performance and benchmark against other authorities. Linked to this, a number of software suppliers provide IT systems to our local authority users to facilitate the collection and provision of statutory homelessness data. Software suppliers use our specification and associated guidance documents in order to build, maintain, and update IT systems for local authority use.

Ministers and officials in the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) use this information to understand the scale and causes of homelessness and to consider possible policy responses. The data are used to ensure democratic accountability in answers to Parliamentary questions, ministerial correspondence, Freedom of Information Requests and queries from the public. They are used by MHCLG Ministers to help determine local authority performance for the 2017 Homelessness Reduction Act. This includes assessing the performance of other government departments under the duty to refer. They are also used to allocate resources, monitor performance and to support bids for funding from the Treasury.

Other government departments also use the statistics, for example: Department for Work and Pensions (monitoring those in temporary accommodation in receipt of housing benefit), Department of Health and Social Care (Public Health Outcomes Framework), Department for Education (Child poverty needs assessment toolkit for local authorities).

The voluntary sector also uses the statistics to monitor and evaluate housing policy and for campaigning and fundraising purposes. These statistics, along with MHCLG’s annual rough sleeping count, are regularly used by Homelesslink, Crisis, Shelter, Centre for Homelessness Impact and other homeless organisations.

Journalists and media teams also regularly use our published statistics, and there has been increased interest in using our statistics from academic researchers- this is evident through increasing email correspondence and increases in number of FOIs received by the team.

2. User engagement

2.1 Past engagement activities

The H-CLIC data specification was first produced after consultation with charities, local authorities, local authority homelessness case management system software suppliers, other government departments and the Scottish Government (who moved to a case level reporting system in 2001). The final draft H-CLIC data requirement was shared with local authorities in August 2018. Feedback received on the data requirement meant that the draft was revised until January 2018. Since January 2018, minor amendments to the H-CLIC data requirement have been published as revisions on the homelessness statistics user forum website from January 2018. In the development and QA process MHCLG has been in continued contact with software suppliers and local authorities via phone, email and face to face meetings.

In summer 2023 we have initiated a statistics user contact list, and sought further feedback from users who have previously provided us with feedback.

2.2 User engagement strategy

Information on our user engagement strategies are provided at 3 levels:

• The department’s general engagement strategy to meet the needs of statistics users
• An overall Statutory homelessness and rough sleeping statistics user engagement strategy published in summer 2022. Provides additional detail to users of homelessness and rough sleeping statistics but follows principles laid out in the departmental user engagement strategy.
• Our specific Statutory Homelessness Statistics User Engagement Strategy and commitments (as described in this note). Gives full details of user engagement and commitments specifically for our statutory homelessness statistics. This both follows principles in the departmental strategy and follows the objectives and commitments laid out in the Statutory Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Statistics strategy.

Meeting commitments laid out in the homelessness and rough sleeping user engagement strategy

• Pre-announcing the time and date for the publication of our homelessness and rough sleeping statistics We have historically pre-announced quarterly and annual publication with date and times at least a month in advance, with pre-release calendar for the department including publication timetable a year in advance. This is updated on a regular basis to ensure users are aware of the timeframes.
• Publishing our statistics on the time and date pre-announced Our commitment to releasing publication on schedule has continued over the years and we plan to ensure it continues to happen. Our processes are planned to build in contingencies that enable us to deliver quality statistics on time.
• Publishing an accessible and easy to navigate technical note, which will include methodology, quality report, revisions policy and comparison to related statistics We publish a quarterly technical note that covers all these details and have committed to providing a technical note for the annual release from 2023 onwards. We seek continuous user feedback to improve and update these notes, along with the release, to enhance accessibility and improve user experience. This adds to the quality of our statistics and builds a fuller picture of how the statistical processes (such as imputations and weighting) have evolved over time. Comparison to statistics such as the Rough Sleeping statistical releases have also been included for the users’ benefit.
• Meeting user needs by continuing to develop knowledge of our users, potential users, data providers, and their needs through regular communication and updates We have regular newsletters and communications with local authorities and IT suppliers to update them on new processes. We also engage with users and media openly through the team inbox and invite regular feedback to improve how we meet diverse user needs.
• Meeting user needs by continuing to ensure our statistical products are fit for purpose Our approach to user engagement and inviting regular feedback enables us to be aware of changing user needs. To this end we update our statistical products to ensure timely and appropriate statistics are reported by updating our data collection through new options and questions in the data specification. These reporting requirements are validated through new burdens assessments and CLIP-H meeting where feedback is provided on the ease with which these changes can be implemented. We also engage with policy colleagues and advisors to ensure the products are fit for purpose. For example the performance dashboard was finalised after several iterations following feedback on its effectiveness for measuring and comparing local authority performance.
• Meeting user needs by developing a variety of methods to share and publicise our statistics We have shared our outputs in a variety of formats (for example excel tables, dashboards and infographics) to help different users navigate through our statistics and narrative. We share through gov.uk as it’s an open platform and publicise through communication directly with users via the inbox. Advisors team have also done roadshows to highlight our outputs and their usability.
• Meeting user needs by consulting with users on developments and changes to our statistical processes and methodologies and outputs We have done this through direct consultation with our users. This was last done in summer 2021 when a user engagement event gave us in depth feedback on our outputs and processes. The new weighting and imputation process was further developed as a result, and implemented across all data tables. We have since sough direct feedback from users of our statistics such as charities and will continue to do so to improve the overall publication cycle and outputs.
• Meeting user needs by responding in a timely manner to questions and enquiries from our users and data providers We have recently introduced an auto-response for all queries to the team inbox. This is a detailed response that covers guidance notes documents and points to various other useful outputs that are often overlooked but can be useful for data providers specifically when checking their data. Introducing this response and dedicating more resource to stakeholder engagement has meant some local authorities who have previously had difficulties submitting accurate data since abolishing P1E system have now been able to resolve their data issues and been guided to submit correct data.

Our specific statutory homelessness statistics user engagement strategy and commitments

Finally, in making improvements to our user engagement strategy, we have published this separate note on “Use, Improvements, and User Engagement” specifically in relation to our statutory homelessness statistics (first published alongside the autumn 2023 annual release). This page consolidates and expands upon information which has previously been published in our quarterly technical note. We will review, update and publish this page at least on a yearly basis with our annual release. Any notable changes to our engagement strategy will be marked in the next published version of this page.

Our specific engagement strategy encompasses activities targeted at engaging our 2 broad user groups.

Data providers

Our engagement processes with data providers are regular and well established. As described above, local housing authorities are both providers and users of our statutory homelessness statistics. Software suppliers also play an important role in this process. Because of this, they form an important and unique user group. Our engagement activities, which supports local authorities to submit data, in turn improves the overall quality of the statistics we publish and can make available to our users.

Summary of our ongoing engagement with data providers:

• Contact via homelessness inbox and meetings provide guidance and regular feedback on data We continuously engage with local authorities via emails and meetings to resolve reporting issues and ensure help is provided for improving data accuracy.
• Quarterly newsletter for local authorities: This targeted newsletter gives updates on the collection, links to documentation, and answers to frequently asked questions. This gives data providers a reminder of who they can contact with questions or issues and makes us more approachable.
• Central and Local Government Information Partnership Housing (CLIP-H) group: We consult with Local authorities on further developments to the collection and burdens of the process via the CLIP-H group. This also provides another platform for authorities to raise issues and provide feedback.
• Discussions and email feedback from software suppliers: We invite software suppliers to discuss further amendments to the data specification, as well as other planned developments. We have developed and maintain a software supplier contact list to facilitate this, and have engaged with suppliers over email and video meetings.
• Software supplier newsletter: Based on a consultation of software supplier preferences, we send out an ad-hoc newsletter ahead of any upcoming developments or changes to our data specification.
• Engagement via our Homelessness Advisory and Support Team (HAST): Our team of MHCLG HAST advisors each work closely with a smaller group of local authorities to provide targeted advice and support on service delivery, including recording and provision of H-CLIC data. We have monthly meetings with the HAST advisors to discuss any feedback or issues raised by local authority users or software suppliers. These meeting have been used to identify and discuss areas for improvement in our communications, guidance documents, as well as the data specification and submission process.
• Focused improvement meetings with HAST and local authority housing colleagues: Alongside our HAST advisors, we also join focused virtual meeting or in person visits to local authorities to provide tailored support to data providers facing particular difficulties in their service provision or H-CLIC data submission.

Future user engagement plans for this group:

• Training and drop-in sessions: We will trial and deliver a number of virtual training and drop in sessions during collection periods to give data providers an alternative way to engage with our guidance materials and seek support on collection issues.
• Additional improvement meetings with HAST and local authority housing colleagues: We will work alongside the HAST advisor team to identify additional authorities who may benefit from additional support. This will be used to plan and deliver further tailored sessions to improve H-CLIC data best practice.

Wider statistics users

Unlike local authority users, we have less regular contact with our wider statistics users. This means that engaging with the needs of this diverse group requires a more active and structured strategy. The following describe a combination of existing activities and additional commitments which will form a yearly engagement cycle.

Summary of our ongoing engagement with wider statistics users:

• We have an existing User Engagement Survey to invite feedback from our users:. To make this more accessible we are now including a link to this survey in an automatic response and email signature from our homelessness statistics mailbox. This survey is also now included on our homelessness statistics user forum page. We will review responses to the survey at least every 6 months.
• Statistics user contact list: From summer 2023 we have initiated a voluntary statistics user contact list. Users can opt to join this list by emailing our mailbox, alternatively users will be given the option to join this list when they complete the user engagement survey. We give information on our statistics user contact list to relevant contacts who contact our mailbox.

Future actions to deliver a yearly engagement cycle:

• Post-annual newsletter: Each year after delivering our annual publication we will send out a newsletter to our statistics users contact list. This newsletter will be sent November/December and will highlight recent developments and improvements to our statistics which were delivered, with a focus on improvements delivered for the annual publication. This newsletter will also invite users to submit feedback on what they think about the recent developments and what improvements they would like to see in future.

• Metrics on access to our GOV.UK content: To supplement feedback, the team may also request data on number of visits and number of unique users of our data outputs on GOV.UK. This will be used to inform what potential developments may benefit the widest number of users.

• Review and prioritisation: Based on this feedback and use metrics, the H-CLIC statistics team will carry out additional work to scope and prioritise suggested development ideas. This work will be planned for January/February. Our approach to this will depend on team capacity and volume of feedback responses received. Work to scope and prioritise new developments may include: 1 to 1 meetings with users to discuss feedback  and improvement needs, follow ups via email, small focus group sessions/virtual meetings, and internal discussions with policy colleagues and HAST advisors.

• Update on planned developments: The H-CLIC statistics team will then provide an update to consulted users on planned developments for the next annual or quarterly publications. Justification will also be provided on why certain developments have not been prioritised, or would not be possible in the short or long term. We will aim to provide this update by March/April via newsletter or a virtual event.

• Development delivery: The remainder of the year, until the annual publication, will include actions to progress planned developments. Our user engagement cycle will begin again after the delivery of our annual publication.

Minor suggestions for improvements may be implemented in shorter timespan depending on team capacity. Conversely, if urgent development needs become apparent, we may need to reprioritise other planned developments- these will be communicated to relevant users via email as soon as practical.

3. Improvements to our statistics

Our statistics on statutory homelessness are being continually developed and improved, as a result of engagement with our different user groups. The following sections outline some of the important improvements we have made in the last several years.

3.1 Collection

The H-CLIC data specification has continuously been updated to limit sources of bias and errors by having stricter validation and routing within the form. Some of the key improvements to the collection are described below:

• Addressing quality issues by improving data validation: The warnings and error messages that the DELTA system produces when homelessness case information is provided are being continually improved. Errors highlight data provided that that should not be possible (for example an error message if a case was entered with an application date after a homelessness decision date) and warnings identify case information which is unlikely to be correct (for example an applicant over the age of 100). In-built validations in the DELTA system have improved quality of submitted data by alerting data providers to potential case issues early in the submission process.
• Communicating sources of bias and error: we make users aware of known sources of bias and error before we’re able to put mitigations in place.
• Limiting subjective recording: We have improved our H-CLIC data specification to limit subjective recording, particularly with the overuse of options such as ‘Other’ in different areas of the data.
• Recording support needs: We have also made improvements to our data specification relating to household support needs. Recording options have now been intentionally broadened to cover both characteristics (e.g. old age) and life experiences (e.g. Victim of Modern Slavery) irrespective of whether more assistance for that support need is required. From user feedback we recognise that improvements to how we describe this and other similarly subjective areas are needed.
• Improvements to collection and submission process In autumn 2019, we carried out a consultation on how improve monitoring related to the collection, and explored the views of our users by analysing survey feedback. We also delivered a user event and survey 2021 to further understanding of user needs related to the collection. Based on these, we have delivered a number of improvements. This included the creation of a dedicated Quality Assurance (QA) Dashboard, which has allowed local authority users and our HAST advisors to interrogate potential data issues and check data submissions more easily.

Further changes to the specification are underway and are explored each year. For these new options response rates are recorded and consultations are sought to think about reporting to ensure maximum impact. This is done collaboratively with other internal (HAST/Policy teams) and external (CLIP-H) users through monitoring response rates and checking how best to report data.

Improving response rates and reducing missing data

It affects a number of our user groups when there are missing data in our statistics. For local authority data providers missing data means that they are not able to evaluate their own data, and monitor performance using the data products which we produce.

For other users we understand that missing data is an issue as it means there is some degree of uncertainty in regional and England level totals (which include estimates for missing data). This is also an issue when users are interested in data from specific groups of local authorities, if some of these are not published.

There have been continual efforts aimed at improving response rates for the H-CLIC collection. From April-June 2023, new funding conditions for the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) were introduced by MHCLG’s homelessness policy team which meant that local authorities not providing data which is high quality and publishable, will have a review of circumstances at the end of the year, and may have future years HPG funding reduced by up to 10%. This incentive has also been combined with more focused engagement with authorities who have previously experienced greater difficulties providing publishable H-CLIC data. This engagement has taken a variety of forms including, email correspondence, teams meetings and in person visits from MHCLG HAST advisors and the homelessness stats team to provide submission support.

Furthermore, since April-June 2023 we have begun providing data providers with planned collection dates up front for a full financial year. We hope this will improve submission rates by giving data providers more advanced notice and enabling better planning.

3.2 Imputations and weighting

For each section of the release, we have now included the proportion of missing data which has been subject to our imputation and weighting process. This meets user needs to understand how much data is missing and how this may affect overall figures. Footnotes at the end of tables give details on which local authorities have missing data, either because their data was not submitted, or potential quality issues were identified meaning that data should not be published.

Based on user feedback on understanding of our processes which classify and deal with missing data, we have also made improvements to our communication on our imputation and weighting process in the technical note as of summer 2023.

3.3 Homelessness statistics user forum

The Homelessness statistics user forum was created to keep users up to date with latest developments in the department’s homelessness statistics. It contains targeted information on our guidance documents, updates, and news on other related projects. We made a number of updates and improvements to this page in October 2023.

Issues addressed:

• Updates to email addresses, references to MHCLG, and references to outdated documents
• Information on documents no longer in use removed, to avoid confusing users
• Streamlined content and removed repetition for easier user navigation
• Prompts user to get in touch to if they would like to join any of our specific user contact list (i.e. LAs, IT suppliers, Statistics Users)

Additional improvements:

• Now provides a link to our user feedback survey
• Signposts users on how to find out our upcoming publication dates on GOV.uk
• Signposting to our mailbox autoreply which enable users to access some of our latest guidance/documents immediately

3.4 Summary of improvements to our published outputs

The Office for Statistics regulation (OSR) carried out and assessment for the compliance with the code of practice for our statutory homelessness statistics in 2021. The result of this assessment was published on 21 December 2021 (see Assessment of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics: Statistics on Statutory Homelessness in England). Since this time, we have made a number of key improvements and additions to outputs for both our quarterly and annual publications.

Before the assessment was published in December 2021, the 2020-2021 financial year release was the latest annual publication, and the April to June 2021 release was the latest quarterly publication.

The tables below outline the key published outputs at these points prior to the assessment published in December 2021, and also note the additions and improvements which have been made in releases since then.

These statistics have since been re-reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in October 2023 (see confirmation of accreditation) and have now been labelled as Accredited Official Statistics. More information on our statistics labelling and compliance with the code of practice for statistics can be found in the statistics release and technical note pages.

Statutory Homelessness Annual Releases

Summary of outputs in our Statutory Homelessness Annual Releases, and how these have been improved over time:

Summary of Outputs in 2020-21 Release (Published 9 September 2021)

• Release (PDF)
• Detailed LA tables
• Time series data tables
• Households with/without children
• Annual flows analysis and tables
• Support needs dashboard
• Additional tables on cohorts of interest in the year (Note that these products may change year on year dependent on need and interest)

Annual homelessness statistics data available on the SRS(Published January 2022)

Improvements for 2021-22 Publication (Published 22 September 2022)

• Additional temporary accommodation tables introduced (e.g. time in TA)
• PDF infographic introduced
• Flows Dashboard introduced

Improvements for 2022-23 Publication (Published 13 October 2023)

• Now provided in HTML format for accessibility
• Dedicated Annual Technical Note introduced
• Statistics Users, Improvements and User Engagement Note introduced
• Additional Cohorts added to Flows Tables and Dashboards based on user feedback
• New annual user engagement and technical note
• Further improvements to the communication on our imputation and weighting process in the technical note

Statutory Homelessness Quarterly Releases

Summary of outputs in our Statutory Homelessness Quarterly Releases, and how these have been improved over time. To note that improvements have been made across a number of quarterly publications. Changes listed below are indicative that the change had occurred in any quarterly publication between these dates.

Outputs from April to June 2021 Release (Published 28 October 2021)

• Quarterly Release (in PDF)
• Technical note
• Detailed LA tables
• Time series
• Performance Dashboard

Improvements up to April to June 2022 Publication (Published 24 November 2022)

• Infographic introduced
• Action Plan for OSR assessment of compliance published
• Statutory Data Dashboard introduced

Improvements up to January to March 2022 Publication (Published 25 July 2023)

• Now provided in HTML format for accessibility
• Improvements and additions to technical note information

4. Upcoming developments

We are also looking to update the data tables to reflect changes to the data specification last updated in April 2023. To access the latest H-CLIC specification, along with full information on changes that have been introduced, please email HomelessnessStats@communities.gov.uk.

These updates will include the addition and removal of various options that were implemented to make the H-CLIC collection more flexible, and to improve data quality. For instance, by minimising the use of categories such as ‘Other’ that are known to be overused.

The data specification is constantly being updated after consultation with key users and advisors/policy teams. The new collections are based on the most recently updated specification, though these updates will start being reported in publication in slower time reflecting slow adoption rates. We are keeping our data providers updated on the timescales for new fields and options to become mandatory, so that they can liaise with IT suppliers to implement these changes on their systems. These updates are done through regular newsletters and direct guidance to local authorities.

We plan to review changes and update HCLIC data specification frequently to ensure our statistics are relevant but do not pose too much collection burden on local authorities.

5. Keep up to date

If you would like to join our statistics user contact list, please send us an email request to HomelessnessStats@communities.gov.uk.

We would also welcome any feedback on our statistics and how we might be able to improve experience for our users. Have your say by completing this user engagement survey.