About the Authority

The UK Statistics Authority is an independent body at arm’s length from government. The Authority has a statutory objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that ‘serve the public good’. The public good includes:

• informing the public about social and economic matters;
• assisting in the development and evaluation of public policy; and
• regulating quality and publicly challenging the misuse of statistics

The collective mission of the official statistics system is to provide high quality data and analysis to inform the UK, improve lives and build the future.

Our remit covers the three principal elements of the UK official statistics system:

• the Government Statistical Service (GSS), which is the cross-government community of all those involved in the production of official statistics in the UK;
• the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority and the largest producer of official statistics in the UK;
• the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) which is the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority. It assesses official statistics for compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, reports on system-wide issues and on how statistics are used, celebrating when the standards are upheld and challenging publicly when they are not.

About the Regulation Committee

The purpose of the Regulation Committee is to help shape the regulation strategy and to oversee the programme of assessment of sets of official statistics against the Code of Practice, plus other work related to assessment and regulation, thereby contributing to achievement of the Authority’s strategic objectives.

More specifically the Committee:

• oversees the assessment of whether sets of official statistics are compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics;
• determines whether sets of official statistics may be designated National Statistics or not, approves assessment reports for publication, and monitors progress by statistical producers in meeting the requirements for designation as National Statistics;
• oversees the regulatory function’s programme of monitoring and reviews, making recommendations to the Authority Board as appropriate;
• maintains oversight of the Code of Practice for Statistics, and makes proposals to the Authority Board in respect of any revisions;
• monitors progress against the Office for Statistics Regulation work programme and business plan, and provides scrutiny of its budget; and
• reviews other work produced by the Director General for Regulation and Office for Statistics Regulation, making recommendations to the Authority Chair on these matters.

The Committee meets five times a year with meetings usually in February, April, July, October and December. Committee meetings usually last three hours and members can expect to spend at least the equivalent time in preparation for each meeting; follow up actions may be required. Committee members may be asked to draw upon their expertise and provide advice and guidance on regulatory matters outside of meetings. The remuneration for this post is £3,000 per annum.

Person Specification

We are seeking a candidate with an enthusiasm for good governance and an interest in statistics, combined with proven expertise and senior level experience in the following fields:

• Experience of operating at Board and/or Committee level in the public or private sector (or both), preferably with knowledge of the operation of arm’s length bodies.
• Ability to analyse complex issues and think independently, strategically and laterally, in order to identify key issues/implications, make balanced judgments and effective decisions, scan the horizon for future issues, and offer constructive challenge
• Able to work well as part of a diverse team and to take collective responsibility for decisions.

Experience of working in independent regulation is desirable, but not essential.

How to Apply

To apply for this post, you must provide:

• a covering letter of no more than two pages of A4 setting out why you are interested in the role and clearly setting out how you meet the criteria above; and
• an up-to-date curriculum vitae.

You should send the above by email to: Secretariat@Statistics.gov.uk