Vacancy: Advisory Panel on Consumer Prices (Technical) members

The closing date for applications is 14 November 2025 at 23:55pm

The Technical Advisory Panel on Consumer Prices (APCP-Technical) provides independent advice to the National Statistician on technical aspects of consumer price indices. They have the opportunity to influence ONS workstreams and guide the development and implementation of innovative methods in government statistics.

The establishment of the APCP-Technical (APCP-T) was recommended by an independent review of the governance of price statistics. Chaired by the ONS Director of Macroeconomic and Environment Statistics and Analysis, APCP-T evaluates, and provides advice to the ONS on, existing methodology and potential methodology improvements relating to the production of consumer price statistics.

We are seeking new members to join the Panel.

About the Advisory Panel on Consumer Prices (Technical)

APCP-T provides technical advice to the National Statistician and ONS staff on the production and development of price statistics. Serving on the panel provides an opportunity to network with a range of other experts in the field and to influence the ONS’s approach to measurement of economic statistics, which are often related to current issues and priorities on the frontier of price statistics. Specifically, the Panel will:

• provide technical expertise on relevant aspects of the ONS consumer prices work programme;
• provide technical expertise on other relevant issues or topics raised by the APCP-Stakeholder or the National Statistician’s Committee for Advice on Standards for Economic statistics (NSCASE);
• identify emerging issues in the technical approaches to consumer price statistics;
• provide technical expertise on the calculation of price indices for a broader range of domains (such as producer prices and housing), should the need arise.

APCP-T meeting materials are published on the UK Statistics Authority website, including papers presented to APCP-T and meeting minutes. For example, areas where the Panel have recently provided valuable advice have included:

• The development of improved retailer stratification methods for consumer price statistics.
• The development of new methods (including multilateral index methods) to support the inclusion of grocery scanner data in consumer price statistics.
• The improvement to imputation methods in the UK House Price Index.
• Seasonal adjustment of the Consumer Price Index UK series.
• Improvements to the methods underlying the new Household Cost Indices.

Reporting and Governance

APCP-T advises the National Statistician, who is also a member of the UK Statistics Authority Board, in conjunction with the Director General for Surveys, Economic and Social Statistics (SESS). The APCP-T will also advise NSCASE should it prove necessary for the committee to consider subject matter related to technical aspects of the calculation of consumer prices statistics.

Secretariat

Staff from ONS Prices Division provide dedicated Secretariats to support the Panel.

Person specification

We are seeking candidates with established expertise, ideally through publications or through many years as a practitioner, in one or more of the following fields:

• Consumer price statistics
• House and rent price statistics
• Business price statistics
• Index methodology
• Statistical techniques commonly used in price statistics, such as regression, imputation, mix-adjustment or seasonal adjustment
• Use of big/administrative data in statistical production

Terms and Conditions of Employment

Time commitment

Members commit to attending a minimum of 3 APCP-T meetings per year. Panel members are also asked to review papers sent 1 week ahead of panel meetings.

Timing of the appointments

The successful candidates will be appointed in late 2025, with first meeting attendance expected for January 2026.

Location

APCP-T meetings are a mix of virtual and in-person meetings. In-person meetings are hosted in London and panel members are encouraged to attend in-person where possible, with hybrid facilities available for virtual attendance if needed.

Each autumn, an in-person joint meeting is held in London for the two Advisory Panels for Consumer Prices (Stakeholder and Technical Panels). Panel members are encouraged to attend the annual joint panel meeting in person.

Remuneration

These posts are non-remunerated. All reasonable travel and subsistence costs will be reimbursed.

Period of appointment

The appointment will be for an initial period of three years. The possibility of renewal for a further similar period will be available at the discretion of the Chair.

Conflicts of interest

Candidates should not have interests that would be likely to conflict with their responsibilities as a member of APCP-T. Please declare any potential conflict of interest as early as possible in the selection process and also disclose information or personal connections that might, if successful, be open to misperception.