Transparency data

MHCLG: Annual statement of compliance with the Concordat to Support Research Integrity, 2025 to 2026

Published 10 June 2026

Introduction

1. This statement sets out the actions the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) takes to comply with the Concordat to Support Research Integrity (RIC) which is a national framework for good research conduct and its governance.

2. Our department has a strong record in evidence-based policy making and is firmly committed to better and more extensive policy and programme evaluation. Assuring and enabling research integrity is an ongoing process across our analytical community.

3. This statement recaps on the key processes we already have in place (which were set out in our earlier statements) and also sets out some further developments made in 2025 to 2026 which align with the principles of the concordat. These cover governance, our research gateway processes, our commitment to key analyst protocols, training, external engagement and publications.

Governance

4. Accountability for research integrity is currently overseen by Stephen Aldridge, the Chief Analyst/Chief Economist and Director of the Central Hub for Analysis, Statistics and Evaluation. Stephen is supported in this role by our various Analytical Heads of Profession and also via the Research Gateway team (para 6).

5. Any queries on matters of research integrity arrangements in MHCLG can be addressed by contacting Stephen in the first instance: Stephen.Aldridge@communities.gov.uk.

Processes to support a culture of research integrity

6. New requests for research (costing over £12,000) are approved by our internal Research Gateway Team and the lead minister. The gateway group has been running since 2008 and includes other senior analysts and representatives from finance, procurement and data protection teams. The panel assesses proposals to ascertain whether they have necessary approvals, appropriately robust methodology and follow the relevant ethical procedures, offer value for money and have appropriate budgets allocated. The panel asks for regular progress updates, feedback on interim findings and act as a further quality check on final reports.

7. Individual projects have bespoke governance arrangements which are tailored to the needs of each project. These can include wider steering groups including external stakeholders and academics working in an advisory and peer review capacity. We also consider the need for external peer review of outputs on a case-by-case basis.

8. We have maintained a quarterly Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy group, which includes internal analysts, policy makers, and external stakeholders. This group is a key mechanism for sharing progress and best practice on our wide range of evaluation activity as well an opportunity to learn about and engage with key initiatives led by the Evaluation Task Force. We will consider the ongoing role of this group, linked to further ways on engaging policy colleagues and analysts with evaluation activity across the department.

9. We are putting in place plans to strengthen governance for some of our evaluation work, setting up more senior led governance boards that span programme areas. As well as prioritisation, these boards will help to review and disseminate emerging findings to maximise learning and policy impact.

Guidance for researchers, employers and commissioners of research

10. Our analysts work within the professional standards and protocols set by the Analysis Function and Professions. Particularly relevant are protocols for statistics, and Government Social Research (GSR) protocols for research, including ethics and GSR publication requirements.

11. Our work is aligned with guidance from HM Treasury (HMT) such as the Green Book, the Magenta Book, and the AQuA Book. In February 2026 we published a new version of the MHCLG Appraisal Guide.

12. We also contribute to ongoing updates of guidance – for example, the Magenta Book – by providing up to date examples of trials and place based evaluations.

13. We have an internal process document in place and templates to explain the research gateway process, and our research gateway secretariat team provide guidance and support to staff working on new bids.

14. We follow Cabinet Office guidance in relation to fieldwork and national and local election periods. This is all supported by our Social Research Head of Profession and our research gateway secretariat team.

15. Researchers are required to consider data protection principles from the outset of project design, including identifying a lawful basis for data use, data minimisation, and ensuring transparency with data subjects where appropriate.

16. Our department uses Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) to assess and mitigate risks to personal data in research, particularly where data is sensitive or large-scale.

17. Guidance is available to researchers on topics such as lawful basis for processing, use of special category data, anonymisation, and secure data handling. Anonymisation standards are aligned with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance and the Data and AI Ethics Framework, ensuring that personal data is only used where necessary and that robust safeguards are in place to prevent re-identification. Our analysts have set up a working group to collaborate and share templates and good practice examples that other teams can learn from, along with regular updates to profession and divisional meetings to remind analysts to keep data protection in mind throughout projects.

Training and awareness raising

18. We have a strong culture of learning and development for all analysts in MHCLG, and we encourage staff to take up appropriate training, which can include professional skills development, training on different aspects of research conduct and ethics.

19. In this reporting year, we have increased the number of our staff trained to deliver Evaluation Academy Training (which is led by the Evaluation Task Force). The MHCLG team have tailored the content with departmental examples, and have also developed an induction session for new analysts. We have also delivered some sessions to our partners in local authorities – for example, on Theory of Change.

20. We continue to run our popular Economic and Social Research and also Science seminar series where we invite leading academics and practitioners to share their work to analysts and policy colleagues via lunchtime sessions, and have also re-introduced regular newsletters to analysts sharing updates on key workstreams and key achievements.

21. We continue to offer a bursary scheme for Masters Training for our analysts. We are also actively engaged with various government recruitment early careers schemes such as apprenticeships and student placement schemes.

External engagement

22. MHCLG has a strong culture of engagement with external organisations on our research and analysis. This includes a strong policy focus, as well as research principles in line with the research integrity guidelines.

23. We have strong working links with the What Works Centres which are closest to our interests, such as the Centre for Homelessness Impact and the What Works Centre for Local Growth. We also organise knowledge sharing events such as academic round tables, and for academics to present at our regular internal seminar series.

24. In the previous reporting year (2025) we published the MHCLG Areas of Research Interest document, which has generated some interest in engaging with the department, which we are following up.

25. We also have provided a range of letters of support to various academic research projects aiming to use data in innovative ways to support MHCLG’s policy objectives, or carry out research funded by other organisations that are close to our interests.

Open Science and research protocols

26. The department has arrangements with UK Data Archive and ONS Secure Research Service to archive anonymised data for research contracts where appropriate.

27. Some of our evaluation projects are based on experimental designs including random controls trials, and with our contractors we aim to publish our trials protocols on either GOV.UK or our contractors’ websites.

Publication of research

28. We adhere to the cross-government protocol that government research should be made publicly available, normally within 12 weeks from agreeing the final report, unless there is a reason publication is not possible. We are also working on other ways to promote our research findings with the research community and practitioners, including webinars.

29. In 2022 we published the department’s first evaluation strategy document evaluation strategy. Delivery against this plan has been very strong, and a wide range of evaluation activity is now underway, and a number of evaluations have been published on GOV.UK. We are working on a refresh of this document, for publication later in 2026.

30. We also list our evaluation activity, emerging findings and links to published outputs on the Evaluation Task Force’s evaluation registry, which provides a transparent process for demonstrating our evaluation activity and making our evaluation outputs more accessible.

31. The department generally commissions research studies through a mix of call off contracts, one-off commissions via the Research and Insights Dynamic Purchasing system (framework), or open tender for larger studies.

32. We periodically refresh a published list of externally commissioned research where the cost of the study exceeds £12,000 (including VAT) unless a specific exemption applies, which was introduced in 2023 for transparency.

Research misconduct

33. There were no cases of research misconduct in relation to research conducted or commissioned by MHCLG during financial year 2025 to 2026. Any issues with research would be raised with the appropriate Analytical Head of Profession and Chief Analyst first and if the issues relate to an external contractor with our procurement colleagues. Depending on the nature of issues, there could also be further investigation and handled through MHCLG’s conduct processes, whistleblowing guidance and the Civil Service Code as appropriate.