ADR Scotland receives £25 million funding boost to enhance data-driven research

ADR Scotland

The ADR Scotland partnership is between The Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (SCADR) based at the University of Edinburgh and the Scottish Government, with delivery partners including Research Data Scotland (RDS), National Records of Scotland (NRS), EPCC and Public Health Scotland (PHS).

This reinvestment in the ADR Scotland programme aims to further transform data linkage infrastructure in Scotland to enable quicker, secure access to de-identified data from Scottish Government and public sector organisations. In doing so, this enables accredited researchers to conduct essential administrative data research to inform policy and practice, driving significant progress toward Scotland's National Outcomes. These research outputs will benefit the public and have a positive impact on society.​ 

Championing this initiative is Professor Chris Dibben, ADR Scotland's Co-Director, who will lead both SCADR and the University of Edinburgh’s efforts within the partnership. He remarked:

We are delighted to have secured a new phase of investment, building on our Government and research collaboration to deliver benefits to the people of Scotland and the UK. This funding will allow us to expand into new policy areas such as housing and the environment and improve our infrastructure for future research users.

Our future goals

Research from ADR Scotland has and will continue to provide insights into ongoing research areas including: 

• educational exclusion and absences 
• health and the environment with a focus on active travel
• the social and health outcomes of veterans.

The new investment from Spring 2026, will allow ADR Scotland to expand its data and research, strengthen collaborations between Government and academia, as well as the public sector, third sector and the public, and enable us to: 

• Support high-quality, policy-relevant research contributing to both academic and public good.
• Enhance researcher skills and capabilities for ethical data linkage research.
• Foster diverse funding opportunities for research.
• Streamline data processes, ensuring better quality and ensure that insights from data are translated into real-world impact and policy developments
• Elevate awareness and integration of administrative data for policy-making.
• Improve researcher access
• Build public trust

Speaking of the investment, ADR Scotland Co-Director and Chief Statistician for Scotland, Alastair McAlpine, said

The work of ADR Scotland is vital to provide high quality evidence in policy-making using our wealth of data. The work of ADR Scotland improves specialist researcher access to this data and ensures that secure and ethical standards are upheld and public confidence is maintained. This significant investment opens up exciting opportunities for Scotland and the wider UK. It strengthens our ability to collaborate across governments, sectors, and disciplines, unlocking the full potential of administrative data to deliver real public benefit.

National partnerships across the UK 

This funding is part of a major investment from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) awarded to ADR UK, thus ensuring the ADR UK programme continues its ground-breaking, UK-wide data linking and research projects.

Being part of the ADR UK programme, allows ADR Scotland to be part of a growing network of accredited researchers to generate unique insights that inform policy change for public good.

We also benefit from sharing best practices across the nations, and from ADR UK's provision of trusted research environments (TRE) in every nation, as well as the national network of SafePods for secure data access. 

ADR Scotland is thrilled to be part of the exciting future of the ADR UK programme, and its commitment to ensuring the expertise, infrastructure and momentum we have all developed since ADR UK formed in 2018, will continue to expand for the benefit of all UK nations.