On Tuesday 24 February, Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation, gave evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s inquiry on propriety, ethics and the wider standards landscape in the UK.
A transcript of which has been published on the UK Parliament website.
Dear Simon,
I wanted to provide an update on our progress and plans, which I committed to in my first letter to the Committee of 17 September 2025.
Upon joining the organisation, I set out my four key priorities for the Office for National Statistics (ONS):
Since I last updated you on our progress, I have continued to take the difficult decisions needed to ensure we can deliver these priorities and reestablish the ONS as the proud, trusted institution it should be. This includes an overhaul of the leadership and structure of the organisation, reducing or stopping lower priority activity, and building a People Plan that can deliver a transformed organisational culture. I have taken many of these decisions to put in place an environment that enhances delivery and performance, and I am confident that we’re now seeing green shoots of recovery in our day-to-day statistical production.
As explained in my letter of 11 November, we are renewing our focus on priority economic and population statistics. We are also prioritising resourcing our recovery plans, with a focus on attracting those with the skills needed, including increasing people working on the ESP and SIEP. As such, as an Executive Committee (ExCo), we have made the difficult but necessary decisions to prioritise our resource and funding, and will be reducing our suite of activity across our health, international, subnational and local portfolio, in addition to some lower priority economic statistics outputs. This includes working with key stakeholders to review the status and funding of these statistics, and pivoting activity to focus on work that contributes to our organisational priorities.
Improvements to our economic statistics
In 2025, we started to make real progress with regards to improving some of our economic statistics, including house price statistics now being less prone to revision, restoring our producer price index statistics, reframing our monthly GDP statistics to remove the focus from the volatile monthly change, and restoring the achieved sample sizes for the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to levels similar to those seen pre-pandemic. On the latter, I am pleased that the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility have publicly recognised these increased LFS sample sizes and are regaining confidence in these estimates.
Across 2026, I am confident we can continue this momentum:
Enhancing our population and migration statistics
Last year, we reached some crucial milestones in improving our suite of population, migration and social statistics:
In 2026, a key priority will be the continued preparations for the 2031 Census, which will be a ‘digital first’ census, and build on the success of 2021. The 2031 Census will introduce targeted improvements that make the best use of administrative data and modern technology, including the potential (and appropriate) use of AI, delivering operational efficiency and better meeting user needs, whilst enabling participation for those who are digitally excluded.
I look forward to delivering against our priorities and continuing to improve the quality of our core economic and population statistics in 2026 and warmly welcome your engagement as the ONS continues along its recovery.
Best regards,
Darren Tierney
Dear Simon,
In my letter to the Committee of 21 August, I committed to sharing a copy of the external Review of Board Effectiveness with the Committee once complete. I am pleased to append to this letter the completed Review, which took place over November and December 2025, and highlight key findings below.
I am grateful to Mo Baines, Interim Lead Non-Executive Director in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Chief Executive of the Association for Public Service Excellence, who led the Review. The UK Statistics Authority Board discussed the findings with Mo at our meeting in December and the Board’s action plan in response at our January meeting.
I would draw your attention to key themes in the Review, which were summarised as follows:
“The scale of the ongoing challenges was well understood, and many examples given on positive changes throughout this transition period. The Board has navigated a number of personnel changes; is implementing the separation of roles; has challenged the Executive to act on issues of trust and culture within ONS and to complete the prioritisation work; and to be open in its reporting to the Board and the wider stakeholders. The Executive has got down to work on the recovery plan with energy and commitment, and the tide is beginning to turn in terms of external perceptions. Much has already changed for the better; and there was a clear appetite to continue improving on the outcomes for the Authority and its related bodies by both the Board and the Executive.”
Culture and behaviours
The Review notes that in the past, papers were heavily managed before being shared with the Board. This has changed, with the Executive being open about issues and information; and the Board demonstrating curiosity and commitment to provide scrutiny and oversight. The Review commented that openness and understanding is encouraged by the Interim Chair and the wider Board, and similarly reflected in the approaches and attitudes of the senior executive leaders and the wider team. The Executive is increasing its transparency and welcomes this increased level of scrutiny.
Non-Executive Director (NED) skills
There was a delay to NED recruitment in 2024, which the Review found had a tangible impact on Board expertise, particularly in areas of communications and audit. With new NEDs in place since February 2025, the Review notes this has had a positive and growing impact since then. The Review highlights the Board would benefit from increased capacity, as well as enhanced, specific experience of large-scale transformation and change in the private sector, and macroeconomics.
NED engagement
The review identified the importance of involvement of NEDs outside of the formal meetings. NEDs have already been providing high-level support to the Executive, including on development of approaches to risk and assurance, communicating openly and transparently, and the development of the economic statistics and survey improvement plans. A new sub-committee on population statistics system has also been set up. The Review encourages us to go further, subject to NED capacity.
Governance
The Review found that Board agendas had been understandably but disproportionately focused on Office for National Statistics (ONS) major programme delivery. It highlights that improvements are already being made to tighten focus on business as usual. For example, the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair has instituted deep dives across the work of the ONS. This, together with strengthened ARAC membership, has led to a strong focus on audit and realistic assessment of risk.
For Regulation Committee, the involvement of NEDs has led to successful encouragement of the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) to be clearer and more direct in their assessment recommendations.
The Review discussed possible formal governance structures to strengthen the oversight of the ONS further. The Board are open to what the right governance structure looks like in the long-term, but with recovery underway believe that it should reflect on this once it receives your report, and to await the arrival of the permanent Chair.
Prioritisation of Board Agendas
The Review found that Board agendas were also disproportionately focused on the ONS rather than system-wide issues. Recognising this, we have engaged much more strongly with the Government Statistical System (GSS) and Chief Statisticians in the Devolved Governments to ensure the statistical system is reflected in its entirety in Board agendas.
Quality of papers and management information
The Review highlights that previously information to the Board was not openly shared. Now, new senior leaders within the ONS are keen to ensure transparency; although this has led to a potential overcorrection with longer papers. We are working towards shorter papers with clear options.
Next steps and conclusions
In conclusion, we are already in a much stronger position than a year ago. The Board is strengthened with its newest members; we are strongly scrutinising and supporting the work of the ONS Executive, supported by our sub-committees, including the newest focusing on the Census and wider population statistics system. We are engaging strongly with the wider GSS. And while not the focus of as much external comment, OSR’s updated strategy sets out how, encouraged by the Board, it will be more direct in its assessments, and thorough in its follow ups.
Transformation of the ONS itself is well underway under the strong leadership of Darren Tierney. There have been excellent senior appointments, clear prioritisation, and a welcome transparent approach to working, both internally and externally.
While recovery of economic statistics and survey performance is in progress, it is at an early stage, and inevitably fragile. Much of the work to be done is complex, and requires testing things out, which will not always be successful first time. Success depends on everybody, and we are also conscious how important senior leaders are, and the pressure on them.
So, while things are calmer than a year ago, we are under no illusions about the scale of the task ahead, and the Board will work hard to implement the recommendations of the Review. This will include:
We will also continue to support and scrutinise the work of ONS recovery plans, as well as culture and people, technology and census preparations.
The appointment of a permanent National Statistician is well underway, with final interviews to be completed in mid-March. We have arrangements in place for the work of the National Statistician’s Office and the responsibilities of the National Statistician in the meantime. Once the permanent appointment is made, we look forward to the timely restarting of the Chair recruitment.
I am also aware that you are expecting a copy of the updated framework agreement between the Cabinet Office and the UK Statistics Authority; the Authority’s comments on which have been returned to the Cabinet Office. I hope that a copy can be shared with you very soon.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Young
Interim Chair
Dear Mr Hoare,
As Director General of Regulation at the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), I am writing to submit evidence as part of the current inquiry into Propriety, ethics and the wider standards landscape in the UK.
We welcome the work of the Committee in exploring how the current, and future, system of ethical standards can best support trust in government. We would like to bring to the attention of the Committee how our work, experiences and ambitions play an important role in helping to secure public trust.
As you are aware, OSR is the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority (the Authority). The Authority was established under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (‘the Act’). The Act gave the Authority the statutory objective of ‘promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good’; with OSR playing the central role in protecting public confidence in statistics produced and used by government.
OSR considers statistics to be the lifeblood of democratic debate and that the misuse of statistics results in an erosion of trust in government. We are an independent statutory body separate from producers of statistics; a position which allows us to undertake our responsibilities in upholding the public value of statistics with impartiality and with the requisite credibility and rigour.
We are responsible for setting the standards that official statistics must meet in the Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code). The Code is based on the core principles of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. Taken together, these principles provide an ethical framework that can support the publication of all statistics, analysis and evidence.
The Code aligns with the Civil Service and Northern Ireland Civil Service core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. It is consistent with the Nolan principles, the Ministerial Code, and the Northern Ireland Guidance for Ministers, as well as the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.
We use our voice to stand up for statistics and represent the interests of the public by investigating concerns raised with us about the dissemination of statistics and their onward use. Often, this will include the use of data, statistics, and wider analysis by Ministers, Members of Parliament, and government officials.
OSR’s aim is to enhance public confidence in the trustworthiness, quality and value of statistics produced by government. We primarily do this through our core regulatory reviews on individual sets of statistics and broader systemic work programmes. When it comes to our impacts on levels of trust in government however there are two main considerations that I wish to bring to your attention.
Following an extensive public consultation, we are refreshing the Code. One core aspect of the refresh, based on strong support from our stakeholders, is incorporating the principles of intelligent transparency within the Code. These principles set out our expectations for the transparent and clear communication of statistics and form the basis for our regulatory judgements on such matters.
We are therefore adding a new set of standards to the Code – The Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis. These new standards reflect our current business practices and regulatory activity, and we consider incorporating them into the Code will bring greater awareness and ultimately adherence to our expectations when using and communicating statistics in the public domain.
The Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis support the goal that statistics and data are used in a way that serves the public good. They apply to the public use of analysis beyond the publication of official statistics including, for example, in press releases, blogs, social media posts, policy documents, speeches and interviews. These standards are relevant to a wide range of professions and roles across public bodies including communication professionals, policy professionals, analysts, Senior Civil Servants, Ministers and Special Advisors.
The Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis are as follows:
The refreshed Code, which will be launched in November this year, includes the Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis. We will share this with the Committee when published.
Intelligent transparency – which forms the basis of our new Code standards – and use of data and statistics in government should go hand in hand. Intelligent transparency is an OSR campaign, that emerged during the time of the pandemic, aiming to bring greater transparency, clarity and ultimately public confidence to the communication of data and statistics.
When we publish blogs or articles on government use of analysis to support claims or for policy evaluation, these are grounded in intelligent transparency principles. For example, our recent blog on the Governments’ Plan for Change missions, highlighting the importance that such commitments are underpinned by reliable and accessible data, and our blog on embedding intelligent transparency, which reflected on conference speeches and a claim made by the Prime Minister at the Labour Party Conference based on unpublished data.
Often, OSR is able to secure impact and improvements in the communication of statistics by working with government departments to offer advice and support. We have also written publicly on several cases relating to intelligent transparency in order to increase awareness and push for change. Key examples include:
The current version of the Ministerial Code states that ‘Ministers need to be mindful of the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice which defines good practice in relation to official statistics, observance of which is a statutory requirement on all organisations that produce National Statistics in accordance with the provisions of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007’.
In October 2024, Sir Robert Chote, Chair of the Authority, wrote privately to Secretaries of State, asking that ‘[Secretaries of State] consider going beyond the letter of the Ministerial Code, from merely being mindful to complying with the Code of Practice for Statistics’.
Over the past few years, there have been several calls in favour of strengthening the Ministerial Code including:
We consider the Ministerial Code is a fundamental route to help underpin the ethical use of statistics however, as currently set out, it could go further to realise that outcome.
OSR’s primary role and remit relates to official statistics and their production – that is, statistics produced by the Authority, government departments, the devolved administrations and organisations listed within an Official Statistics Order, as defined within section 6 of the Act.
OSR is part of the Authority and our influence on the statistical and analytical landscape is heavily determined by our central positioning within the statistical system and strong partnerships with professional bodies such as the Government Statistical Service.
The Authority, and therefore OSR, is currently represented in meetings of the chairs of independent standards offices held by the Committee on Standards in Public Life. As we seek to strengthen our voice and seek improvements in how data and statistics are communicated and used, we see the benefits of maintaining this relationship and working with the new Commission where we have common goals.
Through our work, we consider that effective monitoring of the appropriate use and communication of data and statistics can improve trust in government and support the integrity of evidence in public debate.
We propose this could be strengthened in future by the following measures.
Endorsement and support of the Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis by the new Ethics and Integrity Commission
Over recent years, we have worked closely with the Heads of Profession for Statistics network across government departments to deliver training and raise awareness of the principles of intelligent transparency. We have had considerable success engaging with civil servants including statisticians, analysts, communication professions, policy teams and Permanent Secretaries. However, to date, we have had limited direct contact with MPs and Ministers.
As these principles will now be embedded within the Code and are relevant to all across government and parliament, we would encourage parliamentary committees and individual MPs to be aware of these standards in their work.
The Ethics and Integrity Commission could play a key role in ensuring that the standards are fully embraced and embedded across Government as the default approach for communicating statistics.
Strengthening the Ministerial Code
If the opportunity arose through any future revision of the Ministerial Code, we would strongly recommend that additional weight be given to Minister’s responsibilities with regard the Code. We would like to see Sir Robert Chote’s ask of Secretaries of State to be formalised and that the Ministerial Code requires Ministers to comply with, not just be mindful of, the Code and in particular, the Standards of Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis.
Greater partnership between OSR and the new Ethics and Integrity Commission
Standards and ethics governing Ministerial conduct and practices are varied and wide ranging with different propriety and ethic bodies in play. Recognising the alignment of interests, we are in regular contact with the Committee on Standards in Public Life, focussed on strengthening and aligning the Code and the Nolan Principles.
We strongly believe in the importance of our voice in relation to the use of statistics, as well as the place transparent, clear and accurate communication of statistics hold in helping to improve trust in government. Indeed, this was recognised in a PACAC report from May 2024 on ‘Transforming the UK’s Evidence Base’ which stated that: ‘Too frequently, Government communications exhibit a disregard for evidence. This is helpful neither to the Government, in building trust in our democracy and support for policies of the day, nor to citizens who rightly expect to be able to scrutinise the work of Ministers and officials. Since its launch in 2022, the Office for Statistics Regulation’s Intelligent Transparency guidance has helped to unlock important evidence for Parliament, business, researchers and citizens, but there remains more to do.’
The Ethics and Integrity Commission will have responsibility for convening ethics bodies. We envisage our relationship with the Commission to be the same as is currently the case with the Committee on Standards in Public Life: managed by the Authority, with engagement from OSR. Once the Commission is established, we are open to exploring other opportunities for engagement.
I hope this evidence is useful to the Committee’s inquiry. I would welcome the opportunity to further discuss and explore any of the points I have raised.
I am copying this letter to Doug Chalmers CB DSO OBE, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
Yours sincerely,
Ed Humpherson
Director General for OSR
Dear Mr Hoare,
Following evidence I gave to your Committee in July, and a subsequent request for supplementary evidence, please find additional information on the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS), Planning & Portfolio management, and the Integrated Data Service (IDS) enclosed.
Please do let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Rourke
Can you please provide the initial project documentation for TLFS?
The TLFS was created from a series of legacy research and delivery projects over many years. The complexity of this evolution underpins some of the challenges the project has faced. The timeline of the TLFS is enclosed at Annex A. The first prototype of this survey was called the Labour Market Survey (LMS), which was later renamed the TLFS.
The high-level design for the TLFS was originally based on design concepts developed within the Data Collection Transformation Programme, which were presented to and endorsed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) National Statistics Executive Group (NSEG) in May 2017 as part of the solution to falling Labour Force Survey (LFS) response rates. This paper and its annexes are enclosed at Annex B.
This design was taken forward for development within the Integrated Population and Characteristics Survey (IPACS) project in June 2019 under the Census and Data Collection Transformation Programme (CDCTP). A paper on the development of the IPACS was presented to the Methodological Assurance Review Panel in June 2019 and is enclosed at Annex C.
The fundamental features of the IPACS design were:
In developing and implementing this original survey design, the TLFS lessons learnt review, published in December 2024, outlines key issues that were encountered: “The original IPACS design was for a modular system with a combination of surveys and administrative data to meet the wide range of user requirements. With the lack of available administrative data, organisational priorities in delivering Census and the impact of the pandemic, TLFS subsequently became the de facto solution for meeting all user needs rather than just the core labour market.”
This led to the loss of the integrated design approach and the loss of administrative data to shorten the survey. Without administrative data to replace survey questions, the LMS was longer than originally intended in the concept but still aimed to be substantially shorter than the LFS (200 to 300 variables on the LMS vs 604 variables on the LFS).
However, we received demand from stakeholders to continue to collect variables to meet their needs. This feedback meant that options to reduce the length of the survey were minimal given the limited time remaining before the CDCTP programme and funding ended and the lack of alternative online surveys to house the questions. The fallback position was to transition remaining question blocks on the LFS relatively rapidly onto the TLFS. This became the final design of the first iteration of the TLFS which went live in October 2023.
In 2024, with an unacceptable level of missingness and drop-out on the survey evident in six months of testing, the UK Statistics Authority Board formally endorsed the development and testing of a significantly shorter TLFS labour market “Core” survey. The revised survey design was approved by the Board in March 2025, and the shortened TLFS survey went live on 7 July 2025 (with other design improvements due to be implemented over the next 6 months).
To what extent were stakeholders engaged at the start of the process?
During 2016-18, as the earliest design research was completed, existing LFS stakeholders across government were kept up to date with regular meetings. This included detailed justifications for conducting the research and implications for the overall design of the new survey. This early engagement highlighted that this was a new transformed survey rather than an updated version of the current LFS for online use. Findings from the research were also shared widely via social research industry seminars and conferences and formally published at a later date.
In 2018-19, as part of the initial IPACS design and development, an extensive stakeholder engagement exercise took place with LFS users across central government department, including the Bank of England, HM Treasury and local government interest groups. Requirements for a transformed survey were gathered via a template which was completed by all major LFS stakeholders across government. They were asked which specific LFS variables they currently used, (and hence needed to be included in the transformed survey) what outputs these fed into, and what other survey design requirements they had (e.g. longitudinal data).
This user engagement at the start of the process was maintained at a working level throughout the life of the project. This included continued regular briefings, published guides and information. For example, in December 2023 and January 2024, as the TLFS parallel run was initiated in full, briefings and updates took place with over a hundred users of the LFS across government.
In light of the substantial challenges that labour market statistics faced, and the considerable impact that this was having on key users, the overall approach to stakeholder and user engagement with labour market statistics was significantly improved in 2024. The new approach also looked to address identified limitations with how critical users had been engaged with the TLFS to date.
The key elements of the new approach included:
This engagement approach was integral to informing, assuring and endorsing the improved TLFS design approved by the Board in March 2025, and will continue to be critical as we move towards transition from the LFS to TLFS.
Who was the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for the TLFS?
As detailed in Annex A, the TLFS as a programme is a relatively recent creation. The relevant SROs who have contributed to the history of the TLFS across the accompanying survey development and statistical output development projects are as follows.
| Year | Survey and Processing Development | Statistical Output Development |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Data Collection Transformation Programme (DCTP) – Pete Benton, Director of Data Collection | |
| 2017 | ||
| 2018 | ||
| 2019 | Census and Data Collection Transformation Programme (CDCTP) – Iain Bell, Director General and Deputy National Statistician (Population and Public Policy) | |
| 2020 | ||
| 2021 | Donna Leong, Director of Economic Statistics Change and SRO of the Ambitious, Radical, Inclusive Economic Statistics (ARIES) Programme | |
| 2022 | Census and Data Collection Transformation Programme (CDCTP) – After Iain Bell’s departure, Pete Benton briefly stepped in to the SRO role before Ruth Studley was recruited as Director of Population Transformation. | Jason Zawadzki, Director of Economic Statistics Change and SRO of the ARIES Programme |
| 2023 - April 2024 | Ruth delegated to Alex Lambert, Director of Survey Operations. | |
| April 2024 - April 2025 | Survey Enabling Programme – Philippa Bonay, Director of Operations - | |
| April 2025 - onwards | Philippa delegated to Alex Lambert, Director of Social Surveys | |
Can you set out in writing what the responsibilities of the programme and portfolio office are (and, if relevant, whether the role of the office has changed over time)?
Can you clarify who has filled this post since 2020?
The roles and responsibilities outlined should be seen in the context of the hierarchy of roles in Annex D. The Portfolio Management team in the ONS supports the portfolio on behalf of the ONS Executive Committee [ExCo]. Prior to a streamlining of governance structures in May 2025, the roles and responsibilities ascribed to ExCo were carried out by a sub-committee named the Portfolio Investment Committee [PIC] which reported to ExCo. These responsibilities have now been absorbed into ExCo.
The ONS portfolio includes significant change programmes required to deliver the UKSA Strategy and ONS Priority Outcomes. The team is part of the Planning and Portfolio Management Division within the Finance, Planning and Performance Directorate. From 2020 – April 2025 Megan Cooper was the Deputy Director for this division; at present James O’Brien occupies the post.
The Portfolio Management team monitors and analyses the portfolio and its constituent programmes on behalf of ExCo, providing regular updates and insights with respect to six key performance indicators: milestones, resource, finance, risks and issues, dependencies, and benefits. As well as regular reporting on the health of the portfolio, the Portfolio Management team offers the following services to Programmes, Projects and Project Management Offices across the ONS:
The ONS implements a tiered approach to the portfolio based on complexity and strategic value that determines the optimum governance and controls for delivering change successfully, consistent with HM Government’s Teal Book guidance. To be on-boarded onto the ONS portfolio, change activities must have an approved business case that sets out the strategic value and alignment to the ONS Priority Outcomes. Business cases are expected to include a Risk Potential Assessment setting out the level of risk associated with the change which contributes to the decision to on-board the programme to the ONS portfolio. As part of the ONS portfolio, programmes/projects are made more visible to executive governance committees and the Authority Board via monthly reporting of key management information and insights. They are also provided with additional support from the portfolio team when it comes to assurance.
Aside from its primary focus supporting the ONS portfolio, the portfolio management team also provides some support to projects and programmes outside of the portfolio, providing tools and templates to support the complete programme/project lifecycle, signposting directorates to support available from start to finish of their programme journey. The function also undertakes an annual maturity assessment to support continuous improvement in line with the Project Delivery Functional Standard and Teal Book. This assessment is the basis for an action plan that forms the team’s continuous improvement goals for the year.
Can you set out costs of the IDS since 2020 in writing?
The Integrated Data Service (IDS) was being delivered by the Integrated Data Programme (IDP), a cross-government programme funded by HM Treasury through a ring-fenced budget. For the financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25 inclusive, the total expenditure recorded against this ring-fenced budget was approximately £223.7million. (This figure was rounded to £224 million and summarised as ‘expenditure to date’ when provided to the Committee as oral evidence on 8 July 2025.) The annual breakdown is as follows
For the financial year 2020/21, the total expenditure of the IDS/IDP ring-fence was approximately £15.5 million.
For the financial year 2021/22, the total expenditure of the IDS/IDP ring-fence was approximately £38.8 million.
For the financial year 2022/23, the total expenditure of the IDS/IDP ring-fence was approximately £56 million.
For the financial year 2023/24, the total expenditure of the IDS/IDP ring-fence was approximately £59.1 million.
For the financial year 2024/25, the total expenditure of the IDS/IDP ring-fence was approximately £54.3 million.
Pete Benton was appointed SRO of this programme by ONS and the (then) IPA in 2024, but a separate DG for the IDS was also appointed. Can you please clarify who is responsible for what?
The decisions for these appointments were made by the former National Statistician, Sir Ian Diamond.
Nigel Green was appointed to undertake a specific IDP role on a two day a week contract, adding programme delivery leadership. Nigel has a track record of successful major programme delivery from elsewhere in government with a digital background. Pete Benton’s background as a statistician allowed him to lead on developing the service in a way that could meet the analytical demands of users.
Pete and Nigel’s collaboration is best described as a shared leadership model, with Pete focusing on strategy and stakeholder engagement, and Nigel driving delivery and programme execution.
Nigel Green could not be SRO for the programme as Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA)/National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) require that this role only be undertaken by an appointed Civil Servant, and not by those in a contractor role. In addition, the role that Pete Benton was asked to undertake (to cover for a Director General’s sick leave) was broader than just the IDP, with leadership responsibilities across the Data Capability Group. The Data Capability Group includes the IDP and IDS as well as the Digital Services, and the Data Growth & Operations directorates.
Can you confirm if there were any major data programs which now will not be able to proceed because of the closure of the IDS program?
While the ONS does not use the term ‘major data programme’ in relation to the IDS analytical project pipeline, the pipeline of projects has been assessed on their alignment to ONS priorities and their potential impact to Government Missions. This has resulted in a number of IDS project applications that do not align to ONS priorities being declined, including seven project applications that could support government missions on employment, health, crime and economy. Where we deem a project to have high potential impact to Government Missions these will be considered on a case-by-case basis by ExCo as part of our exemption process, which is currently in development.
Linked data represents a highly valuable and underutilised asset to government. Secure access to safely linked data, as enabled by the IDS, creates new opportunities for highly impactful analysis, unlocking the insights needed to shape policy and lead to better outcomes for citizens.
The IDS has responded to government demand and focussed on linkages that unlock important policy questions, such as the linkages between health and labour market data; the linkage between properties (including energy usage) and individuals; and the linkage of business data, including links to employees. The IDS was previously focused on supporting analytic projects that align to the government’s central missions, such as analysis of healthcare interventions and labour market activity, and research into attributes and geographic distributions of people and households living in poverty.
Restricting access to the linked data / data linkage assets will limit the potential of this valuable government resource. The decision to focus the assets on ONS priorities, where they can contribute to our core statistics, means that the IDS is only accepting new applications for external use by strict exception.
The ONS is working closely, and on a case-by-case basis with its partners in academia and across government to fully understand and mitigate the impact of restricted access. In particular, the ONS is:
Office for National Statistics
August 2025
| Year | Survey and Processing Development | Statistical Output Development |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Original design, stakeholder engagement and research work under the Data Collection Transformation Programme (DCTP) | |
| 2017 | ||
| 2018 | ||
| 2019 | Initial Integrated Population and Characteristics Survey (IPACS) design and development within the Census and Data Collection Transformation Programme (CDCTP). Renaming of IPACS into the Labour Market Survey (LMS). | |
| 2020 | Launch of the partially completed LMS survey during the pandemic as the Labour Force Survey (LFS) response rates dropped significantly due to lockdown. While the LMS was launched in its half-finished state, further development was deprioritised due to Census 2021 and the Covid Infection Survey. | |
| 2021 | Re-start and development of the LMS post Census 2021. Remaining survey questions were added to the online version and telephone and ‘knock-to-nudge’ modes added. Parallel run against LFS starts October 2023. | Creation of the accompanying Labour Market Transformation project within the Ambitious, Radical, Inclusive Economic Statistics (ARIES) Programme within ESEG to manage the transition of labour market outputs from LFS to LMS. |
| 2022 | LFS and TLFS quality compared in April 2024 – further work required due to quality issues. | |
| 2023 | ||
| 2024 | End of CDCTP programme, TLFS project moved to a new Survey Enabling Programme. | |
| 2025 | Development of shorter TLFS completed and formal decision in March 2025 to create a single TLFS programme to implement the improved TLFS design. The new programme encompasses previous work on TLFS survey and processing design and Labour Market Transformation. | |
Dear Simon,
Following the recent appearances before your Committee on 1 and 8 July, we subsequently received requests for further information. To that end, I hope this letter is helpful.
When did the Board agree to recommend Penny Young for appointment as Deputy Chair? Has it (and if so when) made a submission to Cabinet Office Ministers on the appointment?
In June 2024, the UK Statistics Authority notified the Cabinet Office sponsor team of its intention to recommend me as Deputy Chair of the Board following Sian Jones’ departure at the end of her term. As this was during the pre-election period, colleagues were notified that this could not receive formal Ministerial approval (as required under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007) until after the 2024 general election. As noted in the June 2024 Board minutes, Board members agreed to appoint me the ‘acting’ Deputy Chair, pending Ministerial approval.
The Cabinet Office sponsor team had advised that they should prepare submissions for Ministers relating to the work of the Authority. The Authority was not privy to the content of these submissions, nor of their timing. Authority colleagues reminded the sponsor team of the pending Ministerial approval in regular working level meetings. We received formal confirmation of Ministerial approval for the Deputy Chair appointment in July 2025.
It has recently been agreed that the Authority will be able to write submissions to Ministers, in communication with the sponsor team.
Has UKSA raised concerns about delays in appointment with Cabinet Office, at any point?
The Authority had an open recruitment campaign for three non-executive directors (NEDs) to replace outgoing NEDs that was paused during the general election. Restarting the campaign after the election was a priority for the Board to remain quorate and it was discussed during regular working level meetings with the Cabinet Office sponsor team, alongside the matter of formally appointing the Deputy Chair. I understand that Sir Robert also raised the NED recruitment campaign with Minister Gould at his introductory meeting with her in October 2024. We received permission to restart the campaign shortly after and appointments were made in January 2025.
Sir Robert mentioned a review will shortly take place on Board effectiveness; could you please share a copy of results with us?
We would be happy to share a copy of the results following the completion of the Board effectiveness review later this year.
Sir Charles Bean recommended that UKSA establish a high-level group comprising representatives of HM Treasury, the Bank of England and other key stakeholders (of econ stats) to facilitate frank and open discussion with the UKSA Board; did this take place, and is the group still in place?
In response to the recommendation from the Bean Review, the Economic Experts Advisory Group (EEAG) was convened in August 2016 comprising of key users of Office for National Statistics (ONS) economic statistics. The role of the group was to act as a sounding board and source of advice.
At the October 2016 Authority Board meeting, the then Chair, Sir Andrew Dilnot, reported on the first meeting of the EEAG. The second meeting of the EEAG took place on 2 March 2017 and was a joint meeting with the Authority Board. Sir Andrew Dilnot provided a summary of the meeting.
Sir David Norgrove chaired further meetings of the EEAG on 1 November 2017, 15 November 2018, 18 July 2019, 5 December 2019, and 13 October 2021.
The group did not meet in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it was not reconvened following the October 2021 meeting. There are a number of advisory committees and panels convened by the National Statistician to provide external independent advice on specific topic areas, such as on Consumer Price statistics, labour market statistics and data ethics. The Economic Experts Working Group also meets four times a year. Its membership comprises external experts who help to provide user feedback on some of the key work programmes carried out on economic statistics as part of improving ONS economic capability.
How are requests for statistical information from the ONS within PQs generally handled?
Have you raised concerns with CO colleagues about the handling of recent PQs? Can you please provide a summary?
The MoU between the Authority and the Cabinet Office sets out the agreed working arrangement relating to PQs. Cabinet Office Ministers account for business on behalf of the Authority where this can only be conducted by a Minister. The MoU says: “Where appropriate Cabinet Office will refer Parliamentary Questions to the Authority to respond directly to the Member of Parliament. This will generally be appropriate where the Questions relate wholly to the Authority’s own activities. The answer will be facilitated by the Cabinet Office Parliamentary Branch.”
Accordingly, the Authority’s Parliamentary Unit receive all PQs via the Cabinet Office Parliamentary Branch. Roughly half of the PQs the Authority answer are originally tabled to the Cabinet Office (usually where the question directly mentions the ONS), and the other half are originally tabled to other Government Departments (for example, on crime or business statistics that the ONS holds) and are transferred.
The PQ answer is drafted and quality assured within the relevant statistical team. It is always signed off by the relevant Deputy National Statistician on the National Statistician’s behalf, although the National Statistician may also review a PQ depending on the topic. The answers are prepared as a direct letter to the Parliamentarian, and this is sent as a PDF to Cabinet Office Parliamentary branch to facilitate publishing. The Minister responding (whether Commons or Lords) says (a variation on the following): The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman/lady’s Parliamentary Question of XX is attached. Ministers may, if they wish, add further remarks in their covering response (separate to the letter), for example to add political commentary.
Ahead of publication, we understand that our PQ responses may be reviewed by Cabinet Office Special Advisers before the Minister is sighted. There is a longstanding convention that the Cabinet Office would not request amendments to the content of our PQ response, unless it is incorrect or, there is concern that it could be misinterpreted and required additional context.
Mindful of this convention and the MoU between the Authority and Cabinet Office, I understand that the Authority has in the past year sought clarification at a working level regarding two PQs requesting statistical information where the National Statistician had been asked to answer but the letter provided did not end up being used, with the Minister answering instead. If this occurs in future I have asked for the Chair to be alerted so that it can be raised with the Cabinet Office Minister, recognising the importance of the professional independence for official statistics.
The Authority also regularly engages with Parliamentarians directly with regards to matters relating to both the regulation and production of official statistics, such as through casework and official correspondence.
How does the UKSA’s accountability to the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Parliament, and the Northern Ireland Assembly work in practice?
Unlike the current arrangements in the UK Parliament where PACAC holds the Authority to account, there is not the same formalised arrangement with a particular Select Committee in any of the devolved parliaments.
The Authority engages with Committees across the devolved parliaments either when requested, or following proactive engagement with relevant inquiries, and as with all our formal parliamentary engagement, a record of our written and oral evidence is published on the Authority website. We have previously written to Committees in the devolved parliaments to ascertain if they might wish to fulfil a similar role to PACAC.
We lay our Annual Report and Accounts in the devolved Parliaments. We also undertake proactive engagement directly with members, for example holding events on the Census for England and Wales in the Senedd.
The Board meets in either Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland periodically (often for the September meeting) and next month will meet in Belfast. The Authority has also committed to explore opportunities to combine Board meetings with engagement with devolved Parliamentarians.
More broadly, the Authority’s engagement with the devolved governments is guided by the Concordat on Statistics, an agreed framework for co-operation on professional matters such as coherency, international operations, data sharing, consultations, and staffing[2]. The Concordat on Statistics is overseen by the Authority’s Inter-Administration Committee (IAC), which meets quarterly and is chaired by the National Statistician with membership including the Chief Statisticians of the devolved governments and the Registrar General for Scotland. Through the IAC we have developed programmes of work to promote coherent statistics on priority topics, better understand user needs for comparable data, and cooperate on efficient ways of working.
During the hearing on 8 July, Sir Robert and Yuan Yang MP discussed the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS). The original intent to transform the LFS was to have a shorter online survey. Stakeholder feedback during the creation of the TLFS meant that options to reduce the length of the survey, at that time, were minimal. Further detail regarding the development of the TLFS has been provided in a separate letter from the Acting National Statistician to the Committee today.
Deputy Chair
Dear Dame Meg Hillier,
The previous National Statistician made a commitment to your Committee to provide regularupdates on labour market statistics and other economic statistics as necessary. I am writing in my capacity as Acting National Statistician to continue this commitment and enclose the latest update.
On 21 July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published an update on labour market transformation progress and plans. Our recently published plans for Economic Statistics and Survey Improvement and Enhancement underline the importance of the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) for delivering high-quality labour market statistics.
The short Core survey – a streamlined, longitudinal, labour market-focused questionnaire that takes 15 minutes per household to complete on average (compared with an average of around 30 minutes for the longer version of the TLFS) – launched in early July 2025 with a Wave 1 sample size of 90,000 households per quarter across Great Britain.
Combined with the introduction of face-to-face supported completion in October 2025 and data rotation (not re-asking the full questionnaire for each wave) for Waves 2-5 in January 2026, this is expected to reduce respondent burden, improve completion rates and representativeness, and enhance the overall data quality for the headline labour market indicators.
The Core survey is complemented by a cross-sectional “Plus” survey with a separate sample of 90,000 households per quarter. We are collaborating with users to assess how the Plus survey is meeting their needs for additional labour market, and wider household, socioeconomic and local data.
The timing of transition to the TLFS remains an evidence-led decision. We will carry out a readiness assessment in collaboration with our main users in July 2026. We aim to transition our published headline labour market statistics in November 2026, although this may extend into 2027 if our (or users’) assessment of quality requires more data to be collected and assessed.
Therefore, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) remains the lead measure for data on the supply of labour while further development of the TLFS takes place. Following discussion with our main users, we published our LFS quality update alongside our labour market statistics release on 13 May. The interventions made so far to address quality concerns with the LFS – such as reinstating the sample boost, returning to face-to-face interviewing, increasing incentives and the ongoing recruitment of additional interviewers – have now fed through all five waves of the survey and improvements can broadly be seen in response levels and rates, as well as the composition of respondents according to different characteristics. These improvements are important as they increase confidence that the LFS can be fit for purpose until the transition to TLFS takes place.
The TLFS was established as a formal programme in June 2025, having previously been managed as distinct projects within two separate programmes. This change brings together the full end-to-end scope of delivery, with a designated Senior Responsible Owner, clear accountability, governance and measurable objectives. The Programme Board includes external representatives from the devolved governments and HM Treasury.
We continue to engage with external stakeholders for assurance of our approach, including the Stakeholder Advisory Panel on Labour Market Statistics[2], the Labour Market Technical Group and the Household, Socioeconomic and Local Group. The programme remains focused on restoring user confidence in our labour market statistics and in our wider household, socioeconomic and local statistics.
Following publication of the April 2025 CPI figures on 21 May, an error was discovered in the licensed vehicles data provided by the Department for Transport which had been used to calculate the April Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) component.
The incorrect data overstated the number of vehicles subject to VED rates applicable in the first year of registration. This had the effect of overstating the headline Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH), CPI and Retail Prices Index (RPI) 12-month rates for April 2025 by 0.1 percentage points. The ONS has used the correctly weighted data from May 2025 figures onwards.
This error is isolated to one component dataset that is used to calculate the VED index. However, the ONS is reviewing its quality assurance processes for external data sources in light of this issue.
Producer Price Inflation (PPI) statistics
The then National Statistician wrote to you in April regarding the quality challenges facing PPI statistics. On 10 July 2025 we published an update on progress towards resuming publication of PPI and SPPI bulletins. We have published an indicative PPI/SPPI dataset and we intend to reinstate full publication of our monthly PPI and quarterly SPPI bulletins in October 2025. At this time, once assured of quality, we also intend to apply to the Office for Statistics Regulation to reinstate official statistics accreditation status of the data.
Please do let me know should you have any further questions.
I am copying this letter to Simon Hoare MP, Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Rourke
On Tuesday 8 July, Sir Robert Chote, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Emma Rourke, Acting National Statistician and Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation, gave evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s inquiry on the work of the UK Statistics Authority.
A transcript of which has been published on the UK Parliament website.
Dear Mr Hoare,
During the evidence session with your Committee on 1 July, I committed to follow-up in writing with further detail.
I mentioned action we had taken on culture prior to Sir Robert Devereux’s review at corporate level. This included an organisational review of psychological safety across the Senior Civil Service (SCS) cadre of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This was commissioned by PBS (People and Business Services) and undertaken by Labyrinth Coaching & Consulting (LCC) from January to March 2023 and explored concerns raised at an earlier SCS away-day. It offered an objective assessment of the current landscape in relation to psychological safety, to challenge where needed, and to work with the ONS executive to make recommendations to improve the experience of psychological safety for both senior leaders and for colleagues more broadly. The report is annexed to this letter. Actions taken as a result included:
Since late 2023, the ONS has offered a series of webinars, workshops and self-directed learning courses to Grade 6 and 7 colleagues to assist with leading and managing change. We also produced an internal ‘Your Experience’ report for 2024, which pulled together employee engagement insights, both qualitative and quantitative, from the People Survey and other employee surveys. This was shared internally across the ONS, and colleagues were encouraged to reflect on the themes (such as leadership and managing change, organisation objectives and purpose, wellbeing,
inclusion, and learning and development) and implement action to improve experiences both individually and as part of their teams.
This is not an exhaustive list but highlights corporate level work that was complemented by team level actions that drew upon People Survey results and other data relevant to individual ONS divisions and teams.
During the session, I also agreed to provide the number of SCS in the ONS who are badged statisticians. I can confirm that as of June 2025, there are 27 badged statisticians (30%) within the SCS, of these 22 are at SCS1, 4 at SCS2, and 1 at SCS3. There are a range of skills required throughout our senior leadership team, with many aligning to professions such as the Government Economic Service, Government Digital and Data, and Operational Delivery.
We also discussed several senior leadership appointments within the ONS that have taken place in the last few years, on which I said I would provide more information.
The Director for Operations role description is annexed for the Committee’s information. This role was created on the direction of the then National Statistician, in response to the departure of the Second Permanent Secretary and considering a tight financial operating environment. The Cabinet Office confirmed that as Accounting Officer, the National Statistician had the ability to do this. This was a broadening of an existing role at the same substantive level, which is common practice across the Civil Service. The Operations Group brings together enabling and delivery functions across the organisation.
We also spoke about the Second Permanent Secretary role. To my understanding, this role was introduced in September 2020, working with the Cabinet Office. The addition of a Second Permanent Secretary provided support to the leadership of the organisation during an extremely busy time for the ONS, including delivering the 2021 Census and the associated demands of the Covid-19 pandemic response, such as the running of the Covid-19 Infection Survey.
I also wanted to clarify detail on the leadership of the data capability group. Alison Pritchard, Director General for Data Capability went on sick leave in February 2024. Pete Benton, who was Director General of Special Projects at the time, was asked in February 2024 to cover this position, initially on an interim basis, supporting the leadership team in the business area. Given this timing I can confirm that there was not the gap in operational leadership, as I had said at the session. Pete was then formally made Senior Responsible Owner for the Integrated Data Programme (IDP) from mid-April 2024 which encapsulated the full strategic and leadership role.
To my understanding, in March 2024, Nigel Green was brought in by the then National Statistician, with the agreement of the Cabinet Office, to support the IDP. Nigel is a fixed-term contractor working two days a week at Director General level. He has operated as the delivery lead for the IDP, complementing Pete’s strategic oversight as SRO. He does not have any line management responsibilities.
I hope this is helpful. I look forward to our next discussion on 8 July.
I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Authority, Sir Robert Chote.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Rourke
On Tuesday 1 July, Sir Robert Chote, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Emma Rourke, Acting National Statistician and Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation, gave evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s inquiry on the work of the UK Statistics Authority.
A transcript of which has been published on the UK Parliament website.
