Cassie Barton
@cassierbarton.bsky.social
480 followers 200 following 96 posts
Statistician at the House of Commons Library. Housing, demography and the census. I also make a lot of dashboards but they're the good kind, I swear.
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cassierbarton.bsky.social
Excited to be starting a secondment at the Greater London Authority next week, covering as best I can for @geographyjim.bsky.social in the realm of housing data and analysis!
Reposted by Cassie Barton
georginasturge.bsky.social
Most of us are in a wobbly position when it comes to our understanding of immigration numbers.

How would things go if we didn’t make these half-remembered statistics so central to how we form and articulate opinions?

georginasturge.substack.com/p/how-to-mak...
How to make conversations about immigration less painful
Let's get one thing straight at the very least
georginasturge.substack.com
Reposted by Cassie Barton
Reposted by Cassie Barton
oddthisday.bsky.social
Oh, bugger. I mean, 97 is a bloody good innings, but the world is a sadder place with no Tom Lehrer in it. What a brilliant man
Tom Lehrer - We Will All Go Together When We Go
YouTube video by The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel
youtu.be
cassierbarton.bsky.social
I first did the constituency analysis quite a few years ago, but it's been good to bring it up to date. Some interesting patterns.
How do leasehold transactions vary by constituency? An annotated map of the percentage of sales that were leasehold by constituency in 2024 in England and Wales. Annotations explain: 23% of residential property sales were leasehold in England and Wales in 2024. 98% of flats were sold leasehold, compared with only 6% of houses. There was also a lot of variation between constituencies. There were some leasehold 'hotspots' in areas where it's more common for houses to be sold leasehold, including parts of the North West and Yorkshire. Other hotspots are areas where flats make up a large proportion of overall sales, like central London.
cassierbarton.bsky.social
I've published a new briefing bringing together the stats on leasehold housing in England (and a bit in Wales). Featuring:
- MHCLG data on leasehold stock
- Trends in transactions over time and for constituencies
- Experiences of leaseholders

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
Leasehold housing in England: Statistics
This briefing explores statistics on leasehold housing stock and transactions, in the context of ongoing reforms to the leasehold system.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
cassierbarton.bsky.social
2031 census confirmed! 🎉

"Today HM Government has commissioned the Office for National Statistics to conduct a mandatory, questionnaire-based, whole-population census of England and Wales in 2031."

www.ons.gov.uk/news/news/hm...
HM Government commissions the Office for National Statistics to deliver a whole-population census of England and Wales in 2031 - Office for National Statistics
www.ons.gov.uk
Reposted by Cassie Barton
jonnelledge.bsky.social
okay but be fair the British meaning of "billion" has changed within living memory, books I had as a kid in the 80s sometimes still used the word "milliard" for 10^6 and saved "billion" for 10^9
samfr.bsky.social
Fewer than half of adults know how many millions there are in a billion.

(Polling for Tax Policy Associates)

taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/10/26/t...
cassierbarton.bsky.social
Heading home after a trip to Edinburgh for IPVIS, a tiny conference for data nerds working in parliaments. It's great to have a space to talk to people with the same weirdly specific job as me. Everyone had lots to say about the nuts and bolts of what we do, and how we try to do things better.
cassierbarton.bsky.social
That's my mildly self-indulgent look back at the 2021 census as it played out in my own work. We will wait to see what the next decade brings, starting with the government's decision on the recommendation from the acting National Statistician.
cassierbarton.bsky.social
A change in constituency boundaries not long after the first census releases could have put a spanner in the works, but ONS, NISRA and NRS have all published data for the new boundaries as well - making post-election analysis like this tool possible:

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/census-data-...
Census data: How do constituencies with different demographics vote?
Explore 2024 general election results and census data for constituencies using our data tool.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
cassierbarton.bsky.social
The census is behind a lot of our constituency data dashboards like this one - it's a rich source of local-level data and me and my colleagues do our best to help MPs make the most of it to understand their areas.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency...
Constituency data: Home ownership and renting
Find out how many households are homeowners, private renters, and social renters in your constituency, based on census data
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
cassierbarton.bsky.social
It feels like a very long time since I wrote the first edition of this, our briefing on preparations for the 2021 census in England and Wales.

Planning for a census starts years in advance, usually featuring a consultation on topics.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
Preparing for the 2021 census (England and Wales)
A population census takes place in the UK every ten years. This briefing paper explains the plans for the 2021 census in England and Wales.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
cassierbarton.bsky.social
Now that the 2031 census recommendation is here, it feels like I've done a full "census cycle" as a professional census nerd.

It's a brilliant part of my job, being paid to pay attention to something that's ever-changing and the setting for so many interesting debates about identity and society.
a man and a woman are standing next to each other and the man is saying it 's all the drama
Alt: A GIF from the TV series Gavin and Stacey. Pam, a middle-aged woman, announces excitedly to her husband: "It's all the drama, Mick. I just love it!"
media.tenor.com
cassierbarton.bsky.social
A cool resource, literally❄️
mikebrondbjerg.bsky.social
🥵 Hot in #London? Find cool spaces 🥶 and water fountains 💧near you, with our interactive map: apps.london.gov.uk/cool-spaces/ 👍
A screenshot of an interactive map of London, show cool areas and locations of various cool spaces and drinking fountains.
cassierbarton.bsky.social
And now I get an afternoon to explore Manchester 🐝
cassierbarton.bsky.social
Just had a v interesting couple of days at the @ukdataservice.bsky.social UK Census User Conference - hearing from ONS and others about future plans, and from researchers about how they're using 2021/2 census data.

Official recommendation on the 2031 census due next week, apparently 👀
cassierbarton.bsky.social
A bit of census news from the Spending Review:
carlbaker.bsky.social
"Additional funding has been provided primarily to allow UKSA to start preparatory work for Census 2031, subject to the government’s decision on the census, expected this summer."
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Cassie Barton
georginasturge.bsky.social
Sum of US is out now!! Find it at all good bookshops and online 🙌