I am pleased to announce it is now one year since NSCASE began its work in April 2022. Over the past year, our Committee has worked diligently to assess a range of current economic statistics and standards and identify areas for improvement.
Before presenting ONS research to the Committee, we consulted with a diverse group of stakeholders, including government agencies and academic experts. Our goal was to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the economic statistics in question and identify best practice for the UK, bearing in mind international comparability and practice elsewhere.
I have gladly received recommendations from NSCASE on a range of topics including industrial classifications, conceptual methods in prices and volume, treatment of package holidays, and quality adjustment of public sector output data. Some topics will require further discussion before signing off such as the treatment of non-monetary gold and the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt (MGDD), 2022 Edition.
A paper summarising the decisions made will be submitted to the Committee in July and, as with all the Committee’s discussions and papers presented, published on the UKSA website.
Based on our research, we have identified several key areas on which we shall seek the Committee’s advice during the current financial year. These will include, but are not limited to, a look at environmental assets, globalisation and special purpose entities. In offering its advice, the Committee will be concerned about what, all things considered, is most appropriate for the United Kingdom.
I believe that our Committee’s work over the past year represents a significant step forward in the field of economic statistics and standards and I look forward to seeing how these continued efforts progress in the years to come.
Sir Ian Diamond