UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration (UK LLC) is a UK based research infrastructure designed to facilitate large-scale, linked longitudinal research data analyses. It links data from multiple Longitudinal Population Studies (LPS) with routine administrative, health, place-based, and socio‐economic records. By doing so, UK LLC aims to support research into long-term determinants of health, wellbeing, inequality, and societal outcomes.
UK LLC is funded by UK Research and Innovation’s Economic and Social Research Council and Medical Research Council.
A core enabling technology in UK LLC’s infrastructure is the Secure eResearch Platform (SeRP UK), hosted by Swansea University. SeRP provides the technological underpinnings for UK LLC’s Trusted Research Environment (TRE) and plays a critical role in helping UK LLC meet its objectives.
UK LLC collates and integrates longitudinal study data from many UK studies, bringing together thousands of participants across different cohorts, powering research into life events, subgroup differences, and longitudinal trajectories. Study data is linked with routine administrative, health, place-based and socio‐economic data, to create richer, multi‐dimensional datasets that drive analyses of life course, policy impacts, and geographic variation.
UK LLC provides efficient access to a secure analytical environment for researchers, controlled by a robust governance framework for ethical data use.
Secure eResearch Platform (SeRP) is the complete customisable solution for Trusted Research Environments or TREs. SeRP provides solutions for data sharing, linkage and analysis in a safe, secure and controlled environment that’s accredited to the highest international standard (ISO 27001). It supports a controlled environment where data owners retain control; usage is auditable, access is tightly regulated, and outputs can be carefully reviewed before release. Researchers use remote desktop sessions within the TRE, using a customisable suite of software tools without direct download of raw data.
Key features of the UK LLC SeRP
- Enabling secure data linkage and integration. Administrative data collected by public service bodies contains sensitive, personal information. To link this data to LPS study data, SeRP supports a trusted third-party linkage processor to separate identifiable information from its associated event data, protecting privacy and enabling its secure use for meaningful research. UK LLC contracts with organisations like NHS England to perform anonymisation and linkage services, before the deidentified linked data enters the SeRP environment for analysis.
- Technology solutions for governance, privacy and trust. SeRP provides built in systems for strong 2-factor authentication and authorisation of users. The SeRP platform adheres to the “Five Safes” framework (safe people, safe projects, safe data, safe setting, safe outputs) to ensure an ethical and effective use of data. SeRP supports robust auditing and reviewing of all analyses performed in the TRE and can control what outputs leave the system. This ensures that small or rare cell counts etc. don’t risk reidentification. These features enable UK LLC to meet its legal obligations and, crucially, participant expectations to maintain trust.
- Broadening the analytic possibilities. SeRP supports multiple analytic software tools presented in a familiar standardised desktop environment. SeRP supports consistent refreshes of datasets used across UK LLC studies to allow comparisons across studies, examine heterogeneous effects, rare exposures/outcomes and subgroup analyses. The High Performance Computing (HPC)-enabled environment means that methods like AI, machine learning or geospatial analyses, which require more computational power or specialised tools, can be accommodated.
- Streamlining access for researchers. A single application provides streamlined access to the SeRP-powered UK LLC TRE. Once approved, researchers can access the TRE remotely, avoiding complicated local installations, transferring large datasets, or worrying about inconsistent data formats or security setups. The login process uses a secure protocol for usability combined with ISO 27001 certified security.
- Scalability and sustainability. SeRP is designed for multitenant use, accommodating many different studies, cohorts, datasets, with flexible permissions and governance. For UK LLC, this means the infrastructure can be expanded: more LPS, more administrative data sources, more frequent updates and more users, without needing wholly custom infrastructure for each expansion.
The Impact of UK LLC
UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration is an ambitious infrastructure project that aims to unlock the potential of linked longitudinal and administrative data for public good research. The UK LLC TRE now holds 400,000 participant records across more than 20 LPS. By providing a standardised platform for multiple LPS, as opposed to bespoke platforms for each, UK LLC can reliably offer researchers a streamlined and swift data access process, with a decision in as little as 8-12 weeks.
Initially a COVID-19 only resource, UK LLC has now achieved ethical approval to transition to a generic research databank to support research in the public good. UK LLC is expanding administrative data linkages and research opportunities with ongoing plans to include more administrative data (health, employment, welfare, place-based, education etc.). The technical ability of SeRP to host data regardless of geographic location supports this expansion.
“SeRP provides the technological, governance, and security foundation that makes this possible: enabling secure data linkage, enforcing privacy and ethical norms, providing powerful and flexible analytic environments, and allowing efficient researcher access. Its accreditation, design, remote analytic setting, and multi‑tenant capacity all align closely with UK LLC’s objectives. SeRP significantly lowers the barriers to achieving UK LLC’s goals, and gives confidence to participants, data custodians, and users that the infrastructure is trustworthy, robust, and fit for purpose.” – Andy Boyd, Director, UK LLC
Visit https://ukllc.ac.uk/ to find out more about UK LLC and discover how the data is being used for public good.