Ethics in statistics and research
The UK Statistics Authority aims to mobilise the power of data to meet the greater demand from policy makers and users for more timely, frequent, accurate and relevant statistics for the public good to help Britain make better decisions. This involves making better use of pre-existing administrative, real time and big data using innovative methods, to produce more frequent, timely and accurate statistics for the public good accounting for a wide variety of user needs. To ensure that this work is completed to the highest ethical standards the UK Statistics Authority has established a robust ethical governance structure to provide transparent and timely ethical advice to the National Statistician that the access, use and sharing of public data for research and statistical purposes is ethical and for the public good. This work has included developing ethical principles and establishing a variety of transparent processes to assess proposed research against these principles.
The National Statistician’s Data Ethics Advisory Committee (NSDEC) has been established to advise the National Statistician that the access, use and sharing of public data, for research and statistical purposes, is ethical and for the public good. NSDEC will consider project and policy proposals, which make use of innovative and novel data, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS),the Government Statistical Service (GSS) and beyond, and advise the National Statistician on the ethical appropriateness of these.
NSDEC are scheduled to meet quarterly and will have a key role in ensuring transparency around the access, use and sharing of data for statistical purposes. All minutes will be published on the UK Statistics Authority website.
December 2025
Introduction
At the UK Statistics Authority Board meeting on 6 November 2014, the Authority Board agreed to establish the National Statistician’s Data Ethics Advisory Committee (NSDEC), which would be advisory to the National Statistician.
NSDEC was established to provide researchers and statisticians with independent and expert ethics advice and guidance at the design phase of a research project enables researchers to confidently move forward with important analysis, with the knowledge that such research meets the UK Statistics Authority’s ethical principles, and that any ethical risks have been appropriately thought through and mitigated against.
The ethical principles upon which the Committee provide their advice are:
- The Public Good
- Confidentiality and Data Security
- Methods and Quality
- Legal Compliance
- Public Views and Engagement
- Transparency
Role and responsibilities
The role of the NSDEC is to advise the National Statistician on the ethical considerations concerning the accessing, sharing and use of public data for research and statistical purposes.
Specific responsibilities of the NSDEC include to:
- provide ethical consideration of proposals to access, share and use data;
- advise on individual policies and research projects against NSDEC’s ethical principles;
- develop a consistent ethical framework for relevant projects related to official statistics;
- advise the National Statistician on the use of NSDEC’s ethical principles by researchers and statisticians;
- promote transparency around the use of public data;
- provide ethical approval for government, and third sector researchers who wish to use government data for research and statistics that serves the public good; and,
- provide ethical advice on other data issues within the National Statistician’s remit, which includes their role as head of the Government Statistical Service.
In reviewing proposals, NSDEC will provide advice by consensus.
To facilitate timely access to data, NSDEC can consider proposals via correspondence. Advice on these projects will be provided by consensus. Each proposal sent via correspondence will be reviewed by a minimum of 4 members. When assigning proposals via correspondence to members, NSDEC Secretariat will consider the number of proposals previously considered by a member, as well as their current availability.
Upon joining the Committee, members will sign a Confidentiality Undertaking.
Meetings
NSDEC will meet on a quarterly basis. The Chair of NSDEC may convene additional meetings as deemed necessary and NSDEC may transact business via correspondence as necessary.
Reporting
The NSDEC Secretariat will provide reports following each of its meetings to the National Statistician.
At least seven days prior to its meetings, NSDEC will receive:
- papers relating to projects and programmes for review in the meeting;
- reports from any sub-committees; and
- other relevant information about the upcoming meeting.
NSDEC will operate transparently. NSDEC’s discussions during meetings will be minuted and made publicly available on the UK Statistics Authority’s website.
Where expedited review is sought and NSDEC approve the proposal by correspondence, a minute of the discussion via correspondence will be presented at NSDEC’s next meeting and published on the UK Statistics Authority website.
Membership
In response to the Lievesley Review in 2024, guidance was published to enhance the transparency of the appointment process for National Statistician’s Advisory Committees. The guidance provides a framework for a structured, equitable, and transparent process when appointment members to Advisory Committees.
In line with the guidance the standard term of membership on appointment is three years. Members may serve up to two consecutive terms (six years), after which members must ordinarily step down. By exception, the National Statistician may wish to appoint members for a third and final term.
The members of NSDEC will include:
- an independent Chair (appointed by the National Statistician)
- at least five members, including both expert and lay members; and
- no more than four members from government.
The Chair may invite other relevant experts as appropriate to advise the Committee.
Quorum
NSDEC meetings will be considered quorate when four or more members are present including the Chair or the Chair’s delegated nominee.
In the absence of the Chair, any existing NSDEC member can volunteer to chair the meeting.
Substitutes will not be permitted to attend meetings, unless with approval of the Chair in writing, and a completed Confidentiality Undertaking.
When conducting business via correspondence, NSDEC’s discussion and decisions will be considered quorate when at least four or more member’s provide written response.
Secretariat
The UK Statistics Authority’s Legal & Data Services team will be responsible for NSDEC’s secretariat, overseeing the appointment of members alongside the NSDEC Chair, organising meetings and ensuring that NSDEC operates transparently.
Review
NSDEC will review its terms of reference annually.
NSDEC members will participate in a self-effectiveness review annually.
Membership as of 2 December 2025
The membership of NSDEC is currently:
- Chair: Helen Boaden
- Expert members:Vanessa Cuthill (Cardiff University); Rochelle Tractenberg (Georgetown University); Ray Harris (non-affiliated); Stephen John (University of Cambridge); Orla McBride (Ulster University); Sarah Markham (King’s College London).
NSDEC is also supported by:
- Secretariat: Wilfred Thorne, Eloise Ball and Heather Bryant (Legal & Data Services, UKSA)
- Advisors: Nicola Shearman (Head of Legal & Data Services, UKSA)
2025
- 23 January
- 23 April
- 11 September
- 2 December
2026
- 3 March
- 2 June
- 1 September
- 19 November
We recommend that some projects be reviewed by NSDEC, who are able to offer independent guidance and expert advice.
If you would like some guidance on whether this route is appropriate for your research, or if you are preparing an application to NSDEC, please contact the Data Ethics team at Data.Ethics@statistics.gov.uk.
The NSDEC application form and guidance can be found in the Downloads section.
Downloads
NSDEC application form v3.1 [docx 140 KB]
NSDEC application form guidance v3.0 [pdf 98 KB]
Contact us
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Panel membership
In its majority the National Statistician’s Data Ethics Advisory Committee (NSDEC) consists of independent members. The relevant expertise of members allows for independent challenge and scrutiny ensuring advice is impartial and credible.
Helen started her journalistic career in local radio in Leeds and went onto become the first female Director of BBC News. For eight years from 2004, she led 8000 staff at home and abroad and the team which created the biggest multi media newsroom in the democratic world.
She is an award winning journalist who became Editor of Radio 4’s investigative programme, File on 4 and then Head of BBC Current Affairs before becoming Controller of Radio 4. Under her stewardship, Radio 4 won Sony Station of the Year twice.
Her final BBC role was Director of BBC Radio, with a seat on the Executive Board. She was responsible for 10 network radio stations, three orchestras, two choirs and the BBC Proms.
She left the BBC in 2017 and took up a Fellowship at the Shorenstein Centre on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Kennedy School at Harvard University. She recently completed a full term on the Center’s Advisory Board.
In 2018 she produced The Boaden Review for the Irish public service broadcaster, RTE, on the sustainability of its orchestras.
She chaired the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough for ten years. She now chairs York Theatre Royal supporting its CEO and team as it implements a successful new vision for its creative programme and building.
Helen sat on the Council for the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly, London for six years and chaired the Audio Content Fund set up by the DCMS for three years.
She was on the board of the UK Statistics Authority during the Covid Pandemic and for the 2021 Census for which the Authority was ultimately responsible.
In July 2025, Helen was appointed as Chair of the Steering Group of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.
She also chairs the board of Windsor Leadership, a national leadership charity founded by the late Duke of Edinburgh thirty years ago.
She is Patron of the Books by the Beach festival in Scarborough in North Yorkshire and President of HF Holidays, a 100 year old cooperative society which encourages hiking and activity holidays in the UK and abroad.
Vanessa Cuthill is currently Director of Research Services at Cardiff University, having taken up this post in April 2024. Previously, Vanessa has been Director of Research at The British Academy, Director of Research and Enterprise at the University of Sussex and the University of Essex, and held various senior roles at the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).During her career Vanessa has commissioned and led projects establishing social sciences data resources in particular administrative data and longitudinal surveys; and advised on health and social data legislation developments and policy, working closely with a wide range of government departments and other research funders.
Dr Sarah Markham is an academic mathematician and long-term patient and patient advocate with a passion for promoting ethical and practicable uses of patient and other clinical health and population.
Stephen John is Hatton Professor of Public Health in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, and a fellow at Pembroke College. He has published widely on issues around the relationship between population-level data and individual-level decision-making, and the ethics of expertise, with a particular focus on screening policies and vaccination debates. He is the author of “Objectivity in Science” and co-editor of “The Limits of the Numerical”.
Ray Harris has worked in statistical roles throughout his career. He started working life in the NHS but then spent the rest of his career within the international pharmaceutical industry. He has worked across all phases of clinical development and in a very wide range of therapeutic areas, with statistical, management and consultancy responsibilities. He is a Chartered Statistician and an honorary member of Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry, where he has held a variety of roles on the Board and, most recently, was a member of the judging panel for the Statistical Excellence in the Pharmaceutical Industry award. He is a member of the Health Research Authority’s Sheffield Ethics Committee, Imperial College’s Science, Engineering and Technology Research Ethics Committee and Oxford Primary Care Hosted Research Datasets Independent Scientific Committee.
Orla McBride is Reader in Psychology, Ulster University. Orla is the Northern Ireland lead for the ESRC-funded Early Life Cohort Study. This role involves liaising with a wide range of stakeholders, including parents, researchers, government employees, and administrative data custodians to secure the necessary permissions for this study in Northern Ireland.
Orla was part of the Scientific Leadership team for the ‘Youth Wellbeing Prevalence Survey 2020’, Northern Ireland’s first prevalence study of common mental health problems in children and young people. This study was commissioned by Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care Board.
Orla has considerable experience of working with a wide range of social science data sets including cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys, health administrative and Census data, and linked administrative data.
Orla is a member of the Northern Ireland All Party Group on Policy and Public Data. This Group considers at government level how routinely collected data is used for public benefit.
Dr Rochelle Tractenberg is a US-based biostatistician and accredited Professional Statistician (PStat®) with the American Statistical Association. She is a professor at Georgetown University and internationally recognised for advancing ethical data science, statistics, artificial intelligence, and mathematics. Her work centres on fostering public trust through ethical data collection, use, and management; scientific integrity; and responsible governance. She has led the revisions of the ASA’s Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice, contributed to the ethical practice guidelines for mathematics, and serves on the Committee on Professional Ethics for the Association of Computing Machinery. She is a contributor to the forthcoming United Nations guide Ethics in Official Statistics, and supports the International Group on Indigenous Health Measurement with her expertise in ethically evaluating and measuring complex biomedical constructs. She is an elected Fellow of the ASA, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the International Statistics Institute.
Former members
- Stephen Balchin
- Colin Godbold
- Monica Magadi
- Isabel Nisbet
- Keith Dugmore
- Annie Hitchman
- Brent Mittelstadt
- Emma Uprichard
- Moira Gibb
- Marion Oswald
Related links
For any queries or advice, please contact the Data Ethics team at Data.Ethics@statistics.gov.uk