Published by Child of the North and partners, the new ‘Connecting data: Intelligent and informed delivery to support every child to succeed’ report provides a clear case for a national devolved approach to connected data. 

The report reflects consensus across researchers, policymakers, public service leaders and practitioners and warns that children are being left unsupported, unseen and exposed to avoidable harm because services do not safely and lawfully share and link the information they already hold. It argues that effective data sharing, enabled by connected data infrastructure, is “literally a matter of life and death”. The report identifies a major national opportunity to strengthen public services, accelerate research and drive economic growth whilst retaining data sovereignty.

The report builds on a Manchester workshop held earlier this year, which brought researchers from across the North of England together with policy teams and scientists from across Whitehall to discuss connected data practices and opportunities, with a particular focus on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Challenges in children’s lives span health, education, social care and wider family circumstances, but services and systems continue to operate in silos. The report highlights how the disconnect makes it harder to identify vulnerability early, coordinate support, and prevent escalation.

The report highlights the urgent need for a new approach to connecting data, drawing on previous analyses conducted by Child of the North and the Children’s Commissioner: 

●      More than 2 million children in England live in families facing complex needs

●      760,000 vulnerable children were seen by children’s services but received no formal support, while another 830,000 were not even on the radar of services.

●      In 81% of serious incidents where a child died or suffered serious harm, lack of coordination between services was driven by poor information sharing, delayed responses and fragmentation.

The report highlights that poor connection between public services remains a persistent challenge. It argues that the challenge is not a lack of data, but a lack of a firm political commitment until now to use the infrastructure, mandates, governance, and delivery models that would allow data to be used safely and meaningfully across organisational boundaries.

The report sets out a clear solution and calls on the government to adopt a national “Connected ICB (Integrated Care Board)” model, using NHS infrastructure to link data across health, education, social care and other services. Crucially, this is not a single central database, but a devolved model where local systems (and communities) retain control of their data while contributing to a connected national ecosystem that enables shared learning, improved services, and stronger evidence for improving the health of children.

The report concludes that:

“The goal is not a single central database, but an interconnected ecosystem in which trusted local systems generate insight, improve services, and support research and innovation at national scale.”

The report draws on real-world examples, including Connected Bradford, which has demonstrated how linked data across health, education, social care and policing can reveal patterns of need across populations, support earlier intervention, improve coordination between services, and enable research and evaluation at scale. These examples show that connected data can be delivered safely, lawfully and with public trust when a devolved model is adopted.

The report highlights a significant opportunity for the UK. Connected data infrastructure is described as “an asset for science, innovation, and economic growth.” A national model could strengthen the UK’s position as a leader in data-driven research and public service innovation, while improving outcomes for children and families.

The report stresses the current costs of treating symptoms late rather than addressing causes early and argues that connected data for connected services safeguards the sustainability of the state, the cohesion of communities, and the path to enduring national prosperity while retaining data sovereignty.

Its ten recommendations include a national mandate for lawful data linkage, a Connected ICB programme, long-term investment, trusted governance, practical frontline information sharing, education as a full partner, and stronger accountability for shared outcomes.

The authors urge the government to move from isolated local innovation to a nationally backed, regionally delivered model for connected data. This should begin with children and families, given the cross-cutting nature of their needs. The evidence, expertise and practical examples already exist; what is now needed is the leadership, investment and mandate to scale what works. 

The report makes clear that connected data is not a technical upgrade but a foundational shift in how public services operate.

The report states:

“Connected data must be seen as core public-service infrastructure: essential if we are serious about prevention, earlier intervention, public trust and better outcomes.”

Without it, the report warns, the government will continue to respond to problems too late and with only partial visibility.

Haroon Chowdry, Chief Executive of the Centre for Young Lives, said:

“Children’s lives don’t fit neatly into the silos that services are built around. Whether it's education, healthcare or child protection, if services can’t see the full picture then children fall through the gaps, and opportunities to help them are missed. This means worse outcomes, wasted potential and sometimes devastating harm.

This report shows that the solutions already exist. Connected data can transform how we identify the needs of children and families, enabling better and earlier support - not just keeping children safe, but also delivering a better deal for children, public services and the economy.

If the next Prime Minister wants to ensure all young people can do well, they must seize this moment to break up the silos holding back public services. Now is the time to be much more ambitious about using connected data to boost life chances for all children, wherever they are growing up.”

Professor Steve Turner, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said:

“The shift from analogue to digital is key to helping the Westminster government achieve their ambition to raise the healthiest generation ever. By connecting data safely across health, education and other children's services, we can identify need earlier, intervene sooner and help ensure every child, regardless of where they grow up, has the opportunity to thrive.”

Dr Mike McKean, Vice President for Policy, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said:

“Far too many children growing up in our most deprived communities experience worse health and poorer life chances simply because of where they live. Whether through an increased risk of obesity, tooth decay, respiratory conditions caused by poor housing and air pollution, or delayed access to the care and support they need, these stark health inequalities are unacceptable.”

Dr Camilla Kingdon, Paediatrician and former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said:

“As an NHS paediatrician I have learnt that so much of children’s health and wellbeing lies beyond our health services. If we genuinely want to improve the life chances of all children in this country and put their futures onto a secure footing, it is imperative that we are able to see the whole picture – not just through one narrow lens. All the services involved in supporting our children need to be linked and we know from groups like Born in Bradford how this can be done safely and put to critically important use to help children flourish. Now is the time for action.”

Professor Mark Mon Williams, Director of the Born in Bradford Centre for Applied Education Research said:

“The UK has a remarkable opportunity to harness its data assets in an ethical way that directly benefits all children and young people and places the UK at the vanguard of the data and AI revolution sweeping the world. The Child of the North model shows how the UK can control its destiny and grow its economy by leveraging our existing assets, including the NHS, by adopting a regionally devolved approach to connecting data.”

• Connecting data: Intelligent and informed delivery to support every child to succeed, is available here

Figures for 2025 show the Museum welcomed 648,595 visitors throughout the year, meaning it continues to buck the trend, in the face of an overall decline in visitor numbers since 2019.

Manchester Museum's visitor numbers are up 76% over that period, compared with a decline of 7% across all ALVA member sites.

The total number of visits to 409 ALVA sites in 2025 was 165 million. This did, however, represent a 2% increase on the previous year.

Since reopening in February 2023, following a £15 million redevelopment, has seen impressive growth in audiences, driven by exciting new gallery spaces, special exhibitions such as The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years, a rich and diverse events programme and engagement with schools across Greater Manchester.

Published this week by Manchester University Press, the volume investigates the lives and public work of Henry and Emily Simon, and Ernest and Shena Simon, a family shaped by their German ancestry and Manchester’s mercantile class.

The book is written by Dr Martin Dodge, Senior Lecture in Geography, John Ayshford, Doctoral Researcher in History, Dr Diana Leitch MBE, former Deputy University Librarian of the John Rylands Library, Stuart Jones, Professor of Intellectual History, and Janet Wolff, Professor Emerita in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.

Although many in Manchester are familiar with the Simon name – through the University’s Simon Building, Simonsway in Wythenshawe and the Manchester College’s Shena Simon Campus – the family themselves are often overlooked in favour of other prolific local individuals. This volume aims to boost their profile by illuminating their deep contributions to public life, both locally and nationally. 

The book aims to study the family collectively, by highlighting the marriages of Henry and Emily and of Ernest and Shena as strong partnerships in which the women played important roles not just as mothers and housewives but also as philanthropists, activists and public figures.

Dr Diana Leitch said: “Emily Simon was one of the first women to be awarded an OBE in 1920, shortly before she died aged 60, for her tireless work at the Red Cross Hospital she ran in her home in very tragic personal circumstances. It was a tribute to her courage and resilience through the First World War.”

The first section of the volume, ‘Cosmopolitan Manchester and the Simons’, focuses on the four Simons as individuals; the four biographical chapters are framed by a study of Manchester’s German community. The second part, ‘The Simons’ contribution to society’, emphasises the family as a unit and spotlights their economic, social and political endeavours in Manchester. 

In a later chapter, ‘Burghers and citizens: The Simons and the University of Manchester’ Professor Stuart Jones and Dr Professor Chris Godden examine the relationship between the University and the Simon family. Ernest and Shena were at the heart of the University for many decades, and the family have a long connection with the institution and its precursors. 

In 1898, as a leading benefactor, Henry Simon was asked to lay the foundation stone for the new Physics Laboratories for Owens College, later integrated in 1903 into The University of Manchester. It was in these same laboratories that Ernest Rutherford, Hans Geiger and their colleagues first split the atom. 

Ernest Simon’s substantial personal investment in social science research - notably through the Simon fellowship scheme - was conceived as a contribution to the cause of citizenship education, to which he devoted much of his public work from the 1930s onwards.

Professor Stuart Jones comments: “As a senior lay officer at the University for a quarter of a century, as a leading benefactor, and as a practically-minded thinker, Ernest Simon did more than anyone in his time to sustain a vision of what it meant to be a civic university: a university for the city.”

The family greatly enriched Manchester’s cultural and civic institutions, worked to improve the lives of its citizens and helped to spearhead profound national reforms in healthcare, women’s rights, housing, civic planning and education. 

• Read the full text of The Simons of Manchester here.

On Tuesday 23 April, President Higgins attended a conferral dinner at The Whitworth during which he was presented with his honorary degree. In 2011, Michael D. Higgins was inaugurated as the ninth President of Ireland and re-elected in November 2018 to serve a second term in office. The President undertook postgraduate studies at The University of Manchester from 1968 -1971.

Speaking at the conferral ceremony, President Higgins said: “The conferral of a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) from this esteemed University is an honour I very much appreciate, receiving it as I do in what is a very special year for The University of Manchester as it celebrates its 200^th anniversary. This honour that you have bestowed on me has a particular personal resonance, given my family connections with Manchester. My two sisters came to Manchester in the late 1950s and married and reared their families here. This was followed by my own experience as a postgraduate student at this University in the late 1960s, times of hope and promise.

“This period and the work of scholars I met and worked with instilled in me a profound and lifelong interest in migration. This honour I accept today, not just for myself, but for all migrants and those who study and care for them.”

A passionate political voice, a poet and writer, academic and statesman, human rights advocate, promoter of inclusive citizenship and champion of creativity within Irish society, Michael D. Higgins has previously served at every level of public life in Ireland, including as Ireland's first Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

Speaking about the visit Professor Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University said: “In conferring an honorary degree upon President Higgins and looking forward to his lecture we celebrate power of sharing knowledge to unite us and inspire change. It is especially important during our bicentenary year in which we celebrate 200 years of our incredible people and community and look toward the future.”

On Wednesday 24 April, The President will deliver the first of a new annual series of lectures at The University of Manchester named the John Kennedy Lecture Series. The lecture series will run for five years as part of the University’s School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. The lectures will promote topics related to the island of Ireland. The lecture will be live streamed and available to watch online.

The title of the inaugural lecture, presented by President Higgins is: ‘Of the consciousness our times need in responding to interacting crises and the role of Universities as spaces of discourse in facilitating it.’

The President’s lecture will touch on themes including; Universities providing grounds for thinking freely and empowering students to think freely for the betterment of society and especially their own societies.

The new lecture series is so named in honour of Dr John Kennedy CBE. Dr Kennedy was brought up in a large family in Ireland, he came to Northwest England and founded John Kennedy Civil Engineering. Over the next three decades, turnover grew from £10,000 to £60 million, making it one of the UK’s most successful construction and engineering companies.

Commenting on the inaugural lecture of the John Kennedy Lecture Series at The University of Manchester, Dr John Kennedy, said: “It is an honour and tremendous pleasure to welcome the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins to the first in this new series of lectures. I am very proud to not only support education in the UK but in particular to be alongside The University of Manchester as it celebrates its 200^th anniversary and remains a pioneering centre of excellence and achievement. I know that tonight’s lecture will be inspiring and thought provoking at a time when the world is in need of peace and wisdom.”

This event, coinciding with Black History Month, provides a unique opportunity to directly engage with the insights of BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) scholars, advocates, and activists on the harms of colonialism and how to recognise and overcome them. 

The lecture will take place on Thursday 12 October from 6-8pm. Admission is free, but booking in advance is essential - to confirm your attendance, please book a ticket on Eventbrite.

 

The paper – “Political Astroturfing on Twitter: How to Coordinate a Disinformation Campaign” – was published in the journal Political Communication. ‘Astroturfing’ comes from the way in which agents appear to be part of a genuine grassroots movement, when in fact, they are part of an orchestrated and centrally managed campaign.

Using court records from a case in South Korea, where the National Information Service (NIS) was caught trying to influence the 2012 presidential election, the researchers were able to identify 1,008 Twitter accounts controlled by NIS agents. They then examined the patterns of interaction between these known ‘astroturfers’, discovering that they showed clear traces of coordination.

This coordination emerged from what University researcher Dr David Schoch calls “the principal agent problem”. He says; “The campaign organizer (or "principal") wants things done a certain way. For astroturfing campaigns, this means that the agents should try to appear as if they are part of a legitimate grassroots campaign. The "agents", however, may lack the motivation to do so and try to cut corners to please the organizers.”

Their desire to speed up the process leads to the agents copy and pasting messages across several accounts, which allowed the researchers to look for tweets with exactly the same content, which were posted in a short time window.

“In summary,” says Dr Schoch, “the coordination patterns we looked for are two accounts posting the same tweet within a short time window, and two accounts retweeting the same tweet within a short time window.”

A key point which makes this paper notable is that it focussed on networks of real, human agents, rather than the automated ‘bots’ which we usually think of when we talk about fake news on Twitter. In fact, the results of the study show that networks of human actors actually display more coordinated patterns than bots.

The authors also had the NIS data to use as a “ground truth” dataset, says Dr Schoch. Otherwise, they would “have to rely on detection algorithms being 100% accurate, which of course is wishful thinking!”

Applying this information to the Twitter data obtained from the court case, the researchers were able to detect a further 921 suspect accounts likely to be involved in the NIS campaign.

They are also investigating previous campaigns, Dr Schoch adds; “We are currently studying around 10 more recent campaigns around the globe to see whether these coordination patterns can also be observed. Preliminary results suggest that this is indeed the case.”