In his first speech as Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street, Andy Burnham pledged to take political power out of London and “carry it into every postcode in the land.” Calling this a “circuit breaker for Britain,” he set out a strategy to bring about a new political and economic model that delivers positive growth across every community.
To address the legacy of centralised power and de-industrialisation, the Prime Minister outlined key priorities: tackling the cost of living, cutting VAT on domestic electricity bills, building more council homes, providing more support to help young people into work, re-industrialising Britain, and ending rough sleeping.
How these pledges will materialise is due to be set out in a new 10-year plan for the UK.
At Polimapper, we often talk about the importance of postcode and sub-regional level data to understand the changing conditions in communities across the UK. Visualising public datasets for every community helps identify and measure growth while pinpointing the areas most in need. This relies on a wide availability of localised data across all government departments.
With the government’s tone shifting towards local-level impact, having access to granular data is paramount. Yet in recent years, the trend has often gone in the opposite direction; for instance, the ONS announced last year that it was streamlining processes and reducing data publishing, directly impacting sub-national datasets.
If Burnham is to deliver on his local-first agenda, we expect this trend to reverse, enabling organisations to hold the government accountable and track the real-world impact of these policies.
Why localised data drives solutions
A promise to devolve power to “every postcode” sounds simple on paper, but no two postcodes face the same structural challenges. Delivering tailored, place-based policy requires moving beyond broad national averages to understand how local economic, social, and health factors intersect.
Publicly available metrics, such as the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), Census data, and health releases, are critical to building these local profiles. When brought together, they reveal nuanced realities that high-level data hides. The latest Polimapper analysis on the intersections of NEET, deprivation and health shows exactly this:
- Blackpool vs. Barnet: While Blackpool experiences high youth NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) rates alongside severe health and education deprivation, Barnet sits at the opposite end of the spectrum, with low deprivation overall but localised pressure points in Universal Credit claims.
- The nuances of local profiles (Derby): Derby shares Blackpool’s high youth NEET rate, yet its underlying deprivation profile is vastly different, showing moderate IMD rankings and lower rates of youth mental health interventions.
Treating Blackpool and Derby with a single, blanket initiative to counter NEET based on headline numbers alone would likely not suffice. Only by intersecting localised datasets can policymakers bridge the gap between separate issues and design interventions tailored to each community.
If the Burnham administration truly intends to shift power and prosperity to every postcode, it must start by equipping decision-makers with the granular data required to see those postcodes clearly.
