Vacancy: National Statistician’s Expert User Advisory Committee Chair

The closing date for applications is 21 April 2025 at 23:55pm

To support him in his role, the National Statistician has created a set of advisory committees and panels to provide advice on a range of topics. In March 2022, the National Statistician’s Expert User Advisory Committee (NSEUAC) was established to provide the National Statistician with advice on a range of cross-cutting issues that extend beyond the remit of any single one of the existing user or advisory groups. As the existing membership is approaching its two-year tenure, we are seeking members for the next term of the committee.

Role and responsibilities

NSEUAC will provide strategic advice and insights to the National Statistician in line with the Government Statistical Service (GSS) user engagement strategy and Code of Practice for Statistics, about how the UK statistical system can best maximise effective engagement with all users to enable the UK Statistics Authority and the wider system to use data in radical, ambitious, inclusive and sustainable ways as set out in the UK Statistics Authority strategy, Statistics for the Public Good.

The Committee will define its own agenda on subjects of interest that will include, but not be limited to, the following:

1. helping UKSA, ONS and the UK statistical system to improve user engagement; discussing strategic priorities and statistical activities;
2. promoting the value of official statistics to society; and
3. identifying areas not being addressed by the statistical system.

Reporting and Governance

NSEUAC advises the National Statistician who is a member of the UK Statistics Authority Board.

Membership

Committee members have a mixture of interests and expertise including economics, data ethics, social research, data science and methodology.

Secretariat

Staff from the UK Statistics Authority’s Policy and Strategy Division provide dedicated Secretariat support to the Committee.

Role specification

The Chair of NSEUAC will have the following key responsibilities:

• to provide strategic leadership of the Committee in order that it may effectively discharge its duties; and
• shaping committee discussions to encourage open debate, effective decision-making, and ensuring that all members have the opportunity to contribute their views.

Essential criteria

• has a strong background as producers or users of official statistics;
• strategic skills, including the ability to analyse complex issues and to think clearly, strategically and laterally, extracting the essence of an argument from papers or presented evidence; and
• have a good working knowledge of the use of official statistics and their uses and the UK statistical system.

The successful applicant will contribute sufficiently to Committee discussions such that it may effectively discharge its duties as set out in the terms of reference.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

Time commitment

NSEUAC meets quarterly, at least four times each year.

Timing of the appointments

The successful candidates will be appointed by the end of May, with their first meeting scheduled on 5 June. The other meeting dates for 2025 are:

• Wednesday 3 September 2025
• Wednesday 3 December 2025

Location

NSEUAC meetings are usually virtual meetings, although the committee may, on occasion, meet in person with a venue provided in London for those attending.

Remuneration

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

Period of appointment

The Chair will be appointed for a term of 3 years and may serve up to two consecutive terms (6 years), after which they must ordinarily step down for a specified period before being eligible to reapply.

Conflicts of interest

Candidates should not have interests that would be likely to conflict with their responsibilities as a member of NSEUAC. 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.