2023/24 Plan
The National Statistician’s Foreword sets out the key priorities that have been incorporated into the ONS Accountability Framework. This section details the key milestones – a subset of Accountability Framework Objectives – that will be delivered in 2023/24.
In summary, we will:
- Continue to develop, deliver and engage the rest of government in relation to the Integrated Data Service (IDS) including complex data acquisition and designing and delivering critical national integrated data assets for the most important public policy areas.
- Finalise the publication of our Census 21 outputs and publish a consultation to inform a recommendation on the future of population and migration statistics for England and Wales.
- Continue to deliver high-quality statistics and analytical insight on key topics, while using our strategic programmes to transform selected outputs including Labour Market Statistics, Prices and Crime.
- Retain a focus on securing and driving up the quality of our outputs, while creating capacity for insight and realising efficiencies through automation and changing the way we deliver against user needs.
- Finalise and roll out a data strategy and enterprise data model and transform our survey operations while continuing to improve our technology estate.
- Provide more granular data on key topics through our local ONS service (ONS Local) and improve data sharing via implementation of the IDS across the UK including the devolved administrations.
2023/24 Key Milestones
The table below shows a selection of our key milestones for this 2023/24 Strategic Business Plan. It is not an exhaustive list of deliverables over the year. The key milestones contribute to our highest priorities on the Prioritisation Framework.
| Quarter 1 (Apr-Jun) | Improve the measurement of inflation through using rail fares transaction data |
| Publish Census 2021 analysis on important equality topics including ethnicity, national identity, sexual orientation, and gender identity | |
| Publish the Annual Review of the Inclusive Data Taskforce Implementation Plan | |
| Achieve Digital Economy Act accreditation for Integrated Data Service as a Trusted Research Environment | |
| Publication on the knowledge and use of Artificial Intelligence | |
| Publish international migration estimates in May, which include improved methods, further breakdowns and the inclusion of asylum seekers. | |
| Quarter 2 (Jul-Sep) | Produce first analysis of Visa data on the geography and timing of spending trends |
| Publish findings of Wave 3 Ukraine Humanitarian Response Survey | |
| Publish Impact of increased Cost of Living on adults across Great Britain | |
| Launch of new National Wellbeing dashboard and recommendation report as part of ambition to move Beyond GDP (Gross Domestic Product) | |
| Publish first release of Birth Statistics and lay before Parliament | |
| Deliver mid-term review of UK Statistics Authority Strategy | |
| Quarter 3 (Oct-Dec) | Publish 23/24 quarterly England and Wales crime estimates, alongside focused analytical articles on topics including Domestic Abuse |
| Publish Annual 2021 Gross Value Added data at Lower layer Super Output Areas, Data Zone and Super Output Areas | |
| Measure and publish UK Economy through the Annual Blue Book and Pink Book | |
| Quarter 4 (Jan-Mar) | Use new data and data collection methods to improve Labour Market estimates |
| 1500 active users on the Integrated Data Service | |
| Develop and release of experimental data on distributional household income and consumption | |
| Develop survey on child abuse and safeguarding procedure | |
| Produce Retail Price Index statistics meeting legal obligations | |
| Improve the measurement of inflation through using rent and used cars data | |
| Publish 23/24 quarterly England and Wales crime estimates, alongside focused analytical articles on topics including Homicide | |
| The National Statistician makes his recommendation on future Population statistics to Parliament | |
| Deliver £3.9m savings and efficiencies across the ONS Survey Portfolio in 23/24 | |
| Deliver the Wellbeing Hub as part of the ONS Wellbeing Plan - focusing on workplace, mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing and providing clear and easy access to support for employees and line manager | |
| Deliver the GSS International Strategy, taking a leading role in key international statistical forums and multilateral organisations | |
| Increase the number of strategic country partnerships to eight through our world leading International Development Programme |
Strategic Risks
As we progress into 2023/24, there will be a continued focus on managing the strategic risks related to security, data, ethics and legal, data access and usability, as well as ensuring there is a resilient and sustainable model for funding and delivery within the current economic climate. Building on the foundations of the new framework, tools and training delivered during 2022/23, there will be a continued drive to build our risk and assurance capability, ownership and accountability across the ONS in order to ensure a consistent risk and assurance culture and application across all levels of the organisation.
The UKSA’s strategic risks, endorsed by the Authority Board are set out in Annex C and have informed the overall business plan. All have assigned risk owners at the senior leadership level and are overseen by the relevant executive governance forum.
Back to topStakeholders
We remain committed to putting users at the heart of our work. We are proud that our latest stakeholder insights indicate that we enhanced our reputation with our major stakeholders over the last two years. We are viewed as delivering to a high quality, and as a responsive, trusted and valued partner. Close relationships and collaboration with users help us identify opportunities to improve the quality and coverage of our statistics, and also help us be radical and ambitious in setting out to provide answers to society’s most pressing questions.
At a strategic level, the National Statistician’s Expert User Advisory Committee (NSEUAC) brings the needs of users into our approach. Our commitment to inclusivity transcends our statistics; we continually look to expand our engagement to reach as wide a set of users as possible to fully reflect diverse needs. As part of this we have created the ONS Assembly to support regular dialogue on delivering inclusive data with charities and bodies representing the interests of different groups of the population.
At a working level, we have established our Engagement Hub to enable us to work more closely with stakeholders and broaden our reach especially with local users and communities. This engagement helps ensure we bring the citizen voice into our decisions, that our statistics fully reflect society and that they inform all groups of the population.
Key stakeholders also play an integral role in the Analysis & Evaluation (A&E) Committee, whose membership comprises a range of Directors of Analysis (or deputies) from different departments such as Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Business and Trade and Ministry of Justice. They help the A&E Committee carry out its remit in providing strategic direction to areas of analysis that cut across social environmental and economic statistics, ensuring areas are providing analysis that links to wider government priorities and horizon scanning to determine future analytical needs.
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