The economy was seen by 51 percent of people in the UK as one of the top three issues facing the country in March 2025. The ongoing cost of living crisis afflicting the UK, driven by high inflation, is still one of the main concerns of Britons. Health has generally been the second most important issue since early 2022, possibly due to NHS staffing problems, and increasing demand for health services, which have plunged the National Health Service into a deep crisis. From late 2022 onwards, immigration emerged as the third main concern for British people, just ahead of the environment for much of 2023 and as of the most recent month, the second most important issue for voters. Labour's popularity continues to sink in 2025 Despite winning the 2024 general election with a strong majority, the new Labour government has had its share of struggles since coming to power. Shortly after taking office, the approval rating for Labour stood at -2 percent, but this fell throughout the second half of 2024, and by January 2025 had sunk to a new low of -47 percent. Although this was still higher than the previous government's last approval rating of -56 percent, it is nevertheless a severe review from the electorate. Among several decisions from the government, arguably the least popular was the government withdrawing winter fuel payments. This state benefit, previously paid to all pensioners, is now only paid to those on low incomes, with millions of pensioners not receiving this payment in winter 2024. Sunak's pledges fail to prevent defeat in 2024 With an election on the horizon, and the Labour Party consistently ahead in the polls, addressing voter concerns directly was one of the best chances the Conservatives had of staying in power in 2023. At the start of that year, Rishi Sunak attempted to do this by setting out his five pledges for the next twelve months; halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce national debt, cut NHS waiting times, and stop small boats. A year later, Sunak had at best only partial success in these aims. Although the inflation rate fell, economic growth was weak and even declined in the last two quarters of 2023, although it did return to growth in early 2024. National debt was only expected to fall in the mid to late 2020s, while the trend of increasing NHS waiting times did not reverse. Small boat crossings were down from 2022, but still higher than in 2021 or 2020. .

As of January 2025, the economy was seen as the most important issue facing the UK according to young voters (aged between 18 and 24). Compared with the overall population, housing and the environment are seen as more important issues than immigration, which was the joint-second most important issue for the general population.

Indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) of what people report are the most important issues facing the UK. Uses longer data collection periods to allow estimates from various personal characteristics.

This statistic shows the share of respondents stating 'immigration and asylum' as one of the most important issues facing Great Britain as of April 2015, by voting intention. Perhaps unsurprisingly, UKIP had the greatest share of supporters who thought immigration and asylum was one of the most important issues facing Great Britain.

This dataset arises from the survey work undertaken by four closely co-ordinated projects, which were part of the Devolution and Constitutional Change research programme of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The principal aim of the projects was to establish whether initial reactions to the introduction of devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland enhanced (or otherwise) the legitimacy of the United Kingdom and the new institutions themselves.

More specifically the projects aimed to find answers to the following questions:

• Did the introduction of devolution change the distribution of national identity?
• Did support for the UK political system rise or fall?
• Were patterns similar or different across the four territories?
• Can any changes that have occurred in national identity and so on be attributed to devolution or to other processes such as generational change?

There were in addition a number of country-specific issues, for example, support for regional government in England. The objective of the survey research was to provide a firm empirical basis on which to study these questions.

This dataset is derived from several existing sources:

• British Social Attitudes Surveys, 2001 and 2003, produced by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)
• Scottish Social Attitudes Surveys, 2001 and 2003, produced by NatCen and the Scottish Centre for Social Research
• Wales Life and Times Study (Welsh Election Study), 2001 (held at the UK Data Archive (UKDA) under SN 4546), and Wales Life and Times Study (Welsh Assembly Election Study), 2003, (SN 5052), which were produced by the universities of Wales (Aberystwyth) and Oxford, and NatCen
• Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 2001 and 2003, produced by the Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive (ARK)

The copyright of the data taken from these surveys rests with the original producers (see copyright statement below).

This report presents findings from the third (wave 3) in a series of follow up reports to the 2017 Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) survey, conducted in 2022. The sample includes 2,866 of the children and young people who took part in the MHCYP 2017 survey. The mental health of children and young people aged 7 to 24 years living in England in 2022 is examined, as well as their household circumstances, and their experiences of education, employment and services and of life in their families and communities. Comparisons are made with 2017, 2020 (wave 1) and 2021 (wave 2), where possible, to monitor changes over time.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The NOP National Political Surveys were designed principally to ascertain public opinion on political parties, leaders and government, and to record voting intention. In addition, the majority of the surveys included data of topical interest and of social importance.

Main Topics:
The surveys vary, but topics covered over time include: voting intention; satisfaction with: the Government, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the political system and institutions; opinions on problems facing Government; the political parties; voting and electoral behaviour; foreign affairs and defence; economic and industrial affairs; social issues (e.g. welfare, education, health, housing, environment); law, crime and justice; religious beliefs; role of women; race relations; attitudes to pornography, birth control, family planning, marriage, abortion, drugs, gambling, leisure; special issues and events. Please note that not every topic is covered in all surveys.

Classification details include: constituency, age and sex, terminal education age, marital status, social class, trade union membership and employment status.

Deaths covering Smoking only to 2019.

This statistic shows the national political issues that young people who will be eligible to vote for the first time in the 2015 United Kingdom (UK) General Election felt would affect them personally in 2014.44 percent listed the state of the economy, followed by unemployment and education - all three of which mirror young people's personal political concerns.

A 2024 survey found that over half of individuals in Great Britain indicated that access to treatment and long waiting times were the biggest problem facing the national healthcare system. Access to treatment and/or long waiting times were also considered to be pressing issues. This statistic reveals the share of individuals who said select problems were the biggest facing the health care system in Great Britain in 2024.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is an omnibus survey that collects data on a range of subjects commissioned by both the ONS internally and external clients (limited to other government departments, charities, non-profit organisations and academia).

Data are collected from one individual aged 16 or over, selected from each sampled private household. Personal data include data on the individual, their family, address, household, income and education, plus responses and opinions on a variety of subjects within commissioned modules.

The questionnaire collects timely data for research and policy analysis evaluation on the social impacts of recent topics of national importance, such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the cost of living, on individuals and households in Great Britain.

From April 2018 to November 2019, the design of the OPN changed from face-to-face to a mixed-mode design (online first with telephone interviewing where necessary). Mixed-mode collection allows respondents to complete the survey more flexibly and provides a more cost-effective service for customers.

In March 2020, the OPN was adapted to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the lives of people of Great Britain. These data are held in the Secure Access study, SN 8635, ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 2019-2023: Secure Access. Other Secure Access OPN data cover modules run at various points from 1997-2019, on Census religion (SN 8078), cervical cancer screening (SN 8080), contact after separation (SN 8089), contraception (SN 8095), disability (SNs 8680 and 8096), general lifestyle (SN 8092), illness and activity (SN 8094), and non-resident parental contact (SN 8093).

From August 2021, as coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions were lifting across Great Britain, the OPN moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave to ensure the survey remains sustainable.

The OPN has since expanded to include questions on other topics of national importance, such as health and the cost of living. For more information about the survey and its methodology, see the ONS OPN Quality and Methodology Information webpage.

ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, 2019-2023: Secure Access

The aim of the COVID-19 Module within this study was to help understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people, households and communities in Great Britain. It was a weekly survey initiated in March 2020, and since August 2021, as COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the survey has moved to fortnightly data collection, sampling around 5,000 households in each survey wave. The study allows the breakdown of impacts by at-risk age, gender and underlying health condition. The samples are randomly selected from those that had previously completed other ONS surveys (e.g., Labour Market Survey, Annual Population Survey). From each household, one adult is randomly selected but with unequal probability: younger people are given a higher selection probability than older people because of under-estimation in the samples available for the survey.

The study also includes data for the Internet Access Module from 2019 onwards. Data from this module for previous years are available as End User Licence studies within GN 33441. Also included are data from the Winter Lifestyle Survey for January and February 2023.

Latest edition information

For the eleventh edition (March 2024), data and documentation for the main OPN survey for waves DN (June 2023) to EB (December 2023) have been added. Data and documentation for the Winter Lifestyle Survey for January-February 2023 have also been added.

Main Topics:
Each month's questionnaire consists of two elements: core questions, covering demographic information, are asked each month together with non-core questions that vary from month to month.

The questions and topics covered by the main OPN survey have changed over time. Topics covered have included:

• health conditions
• concerns about work
• working from home
  
• understanding information about COVID-19
• actions undertaken to prevent the spread of the virus
• coping whilst staying at home and community support networks
• indicators of well-being and loneliness
• ways pandemic has effected life, work and finances
  
• caring responsibilities
• returning to school or college
  
• leaving home
• modes of transport used
• cost of living
  
• problems with companies
• vaccinations
  
• individual characteristics (e.g., age, gender, health conditions, qualifications, ethnicity, employment,...

• to provide annual data about the nation’s health;
• to estimate the proportion of people in England with specified health conditions;
• to estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these conditions;
• to examine differences between population subgroups in their likelihood of having specific conditions or risk factors;
• to assess the frequency with which particular combinations of risk factors are found, and which groups these combinations most commonly occur;
• to monitor progress towards selected health targets
• since 1995, to measure the height of children at different ages, replacing the National Study of Health and Growth;
• since 1995, monitor the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children.

The survey includes a number of core questions every year but also focuses on different health issues at each wave. Topics are revisited at appropriate intervals in order to monitor change.

Further information about the series may be found on the NHS Digital Health Survey for England; health, social care and lifestyles webpage, the NatCen Social Research NatCen Health Survey for England webpage and the University College London Health and Social Surveys Research Group UCL Health Survey for England webpage.

Changes to the HSE from 2015:
Users should note that from 2015 survey onwards, only the individual data file is available under standard End User Licence (EUL). The household data file is now only included in the Special Licence (SL) version, released from 2015 onwards. In addition, the SL individual file contains all the variables included in the HSE EUL dataset, plus others, including variables removed from the EUL version after the NHS Digital disclosure review. The SL HSE is subject to more restrictive access conditions than the EUL version (see Access information). Users are advised to obtain the EUL version to see if it meets their needs before considering an application for the SL version.

COVID-19 and the HSE:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HSE 2020 survey was stopped in March 2020 and never re-started. There was no publication that year. The survey resumed in 2021, albeit with an amended methodology. The full HSE resumed in 2022, with an extended fieldwork period. Due to this, the decision was taken not to progress with the 2023 survey, to maximise the 2022 survey response and enable more robust reporting of data. See the NHS Digital Health Survey for England - Health, social care and lifestyles webpage for more details.

Latest edition information

For the second edition (August 2022), edits were made to the labels for national identity variables YNatSC1-6 and the documentation was updated accordingly.

This publication provides statistics on the number of unique NHS numbers with an associated national data opt-out. The national data opt-out was introduced on 25 May 2018. It was introduced following recommendations from the National Data Guardian. It indicates that a patient does not want their confidential patient information to be shared for purposes beyond their individual care across the health and care system in England. The service allows individuals to set a national data opt-out or reverse a previously set opt-out. It replaced the previous type 2 opt-outs which patients registered via their GP Practice. Previous type 2 opt-outs have been converted to national data opt-outs each month, until November 2018. This is why the monthly increase in opt-outs decreases from December 2018 onward. This publication includes the number of people who have a national data opt-out, broken down by age, gender and a variety of geographical breakdowns. From June 2020 the methodology for reporting NDOP changed, representing a break in time series. Therefore, caution should be used when comparing data to publications prior to June 2020. The number of deceased people with an active NDOP has been captured and reported for the first time in June 2020. Please note that this publication is no longer released monthly. It is released annually or when the national opt-out rate changes by more than 0.1 per cent. Prior to September 2020 there is a slight inflation of less than 0.05 percent in the number of National Data Opt-outs. This is due to an issue with the data processing, which has been resolved and does not affect data after September 2020. This issue does not disproportionately affect any single breakdown, including geographies. Please take this into consideration when using the data. As of January 2023, index of multiple deprivation (IMD) data has been added to the publication, allowing the total number of opt-outs to be grouped by IMD decile. This data has been included as a new CSV, and has also been added to a new table in the summary file. IMD measures relative deprivation in small areas in England, with decile 1 representing the most deprived areas, and decile 10 representing least deprived. Please note that the figures reported in IMD decile tables will not add up to the national totals. This is because the IMD-LSOA mapping reference data was created in 2019, and any geography codes added since then will not be mapped to an IMD decile. For more information about the reference data used, please view this report: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019 Management information describes aggregate information collated and used in the normal course of business to inform operational delivery, policy development or the management of organisational performance. It is usually based on administrative data but can also be a product of survey data. We publish these management information to ensure equality of access and provide wider public value.

The British Social Attitudes survey (BSA) is the leading survey in Britain for assessing trends and changes in public opinions on social and political measures. Over the past four decades, the survey has become the main source of statistics on key national issues, which makes the survey valuable for policy making, researchers, charity and media.

The British Social Attitudes Open Teaching Dataset: Health Care and Equalities, 2021, is a subsample from the original British Social Attitudes Survey 2021 (available from the UK Data Archive under SN 9072). This open-access teaching dataset has been adapted for teaching and learning with a reduced number of variables, covering attitudes towards health care and equality.

Further information is available in the study documentation, which includes a dataset user guide.

This report shows monthly numbers of NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) staff working in NHS Trusts and CCGs in England (excluding primary care staff). Data are available as headcount and full-time equivalents and for all months from 30 September 2009 onwards. These data are an accurate summary of the validated data extracted from the NHS HR and Payroll system. Additional statistics on staff in NHS Trusts and CCGs and information for NHS Support Organisations and Central Bodies are published each: September (showing June statistics) December/January (showing September statistics) March (showing December statistics) June (showing March statistics) Quarterly NHS Staff Earnings, monthly NHS Staff Sickness Absence reports, and data relating to the General Practice workforce and the Independent Healthcare Provider workforce are also available via the Related Links below. Following feedback from data users, there is a change to the HCHS doctor grades of 'Associate Specialist' and 'Specialty Doctor' in relevant tables in this release. Two new specialty doctor and specialist grades were introduced in April 2021 and both were reported in NHS Digital tables within the 'Specialty Doctor' grade. However, the new specialist grade is more appropriately classified within the 'Associate Specialist' category. Therefore, from March 2022 these are included within the 'Associate Specialist' category and have been removed from the 'Specialty Doctor' category. The March 2022 data in this publication reflects this new approach, and the time series back to April 2021 has also been revised in relevant tables. An issue has been identified with the provisional data for April 2022, whereby records for a few thousand staff have not been joined correctly in the ESR database. This does not appear to be having a noticeable effect on the data presented in this publication. Further information will be included in the full April 2022 publication, if the issue is not resolved. We welcome feedback on the methodology and tables within this publication. Please email us with your comments and suggestions, clearly stating Monthly HCHS Workforce as the subject heading, via enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk or 0300 303 5678.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The National Travel Attitudes Study (NTAS) is an online and telephone survey that provides information on public attitudes to travel and transport. The NTAS covers responses from individuals aged 16 and over in England, drawn from people who have previously responded to the National Travel Survey (NTS). Responses are weighted to take account of the mode of delivery and to reflect the population. The NTAS is published by the Department for Transport, United Kingdom. Further information including published reports and tables are available on the GOV.UK Public Attitudes Towards Transport webpages.

Latest edition information

For the second edition (September 2024), Wave 1 data has been updated, and data and documentation for Waves 2-10 have been added to the study.

Main Topics:

Waves 1 to 10 of the NTAS covered a wide range of transport-related topics including cycling, climate change, disability and transport, aviation, road congestion, local transport and road safety. For more information on the topics included see: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-travel-attitudes-study-ntas