Government announces new £7.9m data fund to boost connectivity

The government has today announced that it is investing £7.9m into a new data fund to enable better connectivity.

The Data Accelerator Fund will be allocated across ten councils, which will share information across schools, housing, police, health and social care to protect vulnerable families.

The ten areas in England supported by the fund are: Nottingham, Leicestershire and Doncaster; Avon and Somerset; Reading, Portsmouth, Wokingham and West Berkshire; Sunderland; Leeds and Bradford; Doncaster and Wakefield; London; East Sussex; Greater Manchester; and Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk.

This forms part of the Data Improvement Across Government programme, which is funded by the £200m Shared Outcomes Fund.

Eddie Hughes MP, minister for rough sleeping and housing, said: “By local services sharing data, expertise and knowledge we can build a more complete picture of what is going on in a family’s life and use this to put in place tailored, wraparound support at an early stage.

“This fund will give local areas the tools to identify and support vulnerable children and families as early as possible and help them to live more positive, fulfilling lives.”

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