Accountability report

Statement of Accounting Officer’s responsibilities

Under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, HM Treasury has directed the Authority to prepare for each financial year resource accounts detailing the resources acquired, held or disposed of during the year and the use of resources by the Authority during the year.

The accounts are prepared on an accruals basis and must give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Authority and of its income and expenditure, Statement of Financial Position and cash flows for the financial year.

In preparing the accounts, the Accounting Officer is required to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual and in particular to:

• observe the Accounts Direction issued by HM Treasury, including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements, and apply suitable accounting policies on a consistent basis;
• make judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis;
• state whether applicable accounting standards as set out in the Government Financial Reporting Manual have been followed, and disclose and explain any material departures in the accounts;
• prepare the accounts on a going concern basis;
• confirm that the Annual Report and Accounts as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable and take personal responsibility for the Annual Report and Accounts and the judgements required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable.

HM Treasury has appointed the Permanent Secretary of the Authority as Accounting Officer of the Authority.

The responsibilities of an Accounting Officer, including responsibility for the propriety and regularity of the public finances for which the Accounting Officer is answerable, for keeping proper records and for safeguarding the Authority’s assets, are set out in Managing Public Money published by the HM Treasury.

As the Accounting Officer, I have taken all the steps that I ought to have taken to make myself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Authority’s auditors are aware of that information. So far as I am aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware.

Governance statement

Responsibilities

As Accounting Officer, I have responsibility for maintaining effective governance and a sound system of internal control to support the achievement of the Authority’s policies, aims and objectives. As part of this role I safeguard the public funds and assets for which I am personally responsible, in accordance with the responsibilities assigned to me. I confirm that the Annual Report and Accounts as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable and I take personal responsibility for the Annual Report and Accounts and the judgments required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable. This statement sets out the key challenges faced by the UK Statistics Authority (the Authority), the issues which have arisen, the remaining risks, and the system of control to manage these risks. Our Governance Statement supports the description of our performance provided in the Annual Report (Chapter 2) which sets out our strategy and the progress we have made towards delivery.

In line with commitments made by the Authority to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, I delegated accounting officer responsibilities to Mr Ed Humpherson for the OSR budget, from 1 June 2020. The appointment was made at my discretion under the terms of Managing Public Money policy, whereby accounting officer responsibilities for defined parts of the department’s business can be delegated by the principal Accounting Officer. The position carries with it the responsibility for ensuring that resources approved by the UK Statistics Authority Board for the Office for Statistics Regulation are used for the purposes intended.

Compliance with the Corporate Governance Code

I have assessed the Authority’s compliance with the Corporate Governance in the Central Government Departments’ Code of Good Practice 2017. The code focuses on governance arrangements for ministerial departments and there are elements, such as ministerial chairmanship of the Board (Section 1.1), which are not directly relevant to the Authority due to our statutory framework and status as a non-ministerial department. However, in all other areas we comply with the principles of the code. There are no other instances of non-compliance.

Role of the Authority Board during 2023/24

The UK Statistics Authority Board (Authority Board) has the statutory objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that ‘serve the public good’. In accordance with the 2007 Act, the Authority Board is comprised of a majority of non-executive directors (including a Chair) appointed through open competition, and three executive members, as set out in the 2023/24 Governance and Committees of the Board table.

The post of Chair of the UK Statistics Authority is a Crown appointment. Sir Robert Chote was appointed by the late Queen Elizabeth following an open competition and subject to a pre-appointment hearing by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and a formal debate on the floor of the House of Commons. Sir Robert took up his post on 1 June 2022 and his term of appointment is for a five-year term.

Governance and Committees of the Authority Board during 2023/24

During 2023/24 sub-committees, which supported the Authority Board in its work and reported to it met as follows.

Topics covered by each committee

Authority Board

Strategy and Business planning; Strategic Risk Profile and Risk Appetite, Integrated Data Service Programme, Economic Statistics transformation (including the Labour Force Survey, Transformation of the Labour Force Survey and legacy transformation) , Consultation on the Future of Population and Migration Statistics, Gender Identity, Scotland Census 2022. National Statistics Designation Review, People, Retail Prices Index, Excess Mortality methodology. Independent Review of the Authority by Professor Denise Lievesley, Government Statistical Service Vision and Strategic Delivery Plan, Annual Review of Effectiveness.

Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

Annual Report and Accounts; Business planning; Risk and Assurance (including risk management and assurance mapping); Internal Audit Programme 2023/24, Internal Audit Action Tracking 2023/24, Internal Audit Draft Plan 2024/25, Corporate Governance Assurance; External Audit; Finances; Fraud; Whistleblowing; Data Protection Annual Update; Office for Statistics Regulation annual update; Risk Deep Dives for Legacy transformation and Statistical Quality, Annual Review of Committee Effectiveness.

Regulation Committee

Annual Business Plan and Regulatory Programme; State of the Statistical System Report, Annual Review of Casework; National Statistics Designation Review; OSR Maturity Model; Risk Management; Horizon Scanning; National Statistics Designation of Scotland’s Census, Data Linkage, Sex and Gender Identity Guidance, Programme of work on Economic Statistics including Producer Price Indices and Profitability of UK Companies, ONS Transformation of the Labour Force Survey and the Future of Population and Migration Statistics, Annual Review of Committee Effectiveness.

Remuneration Committee

Senior Civil Service performance moderation (base pay and non-consolidated performance related award).

Attendance at the Authority Board and its sub-committees

Board Effectiveness Review

This year’s board effectiveness review was overseen by the Chair of the Authority Board. A survey was undertaken that sought members’ views on:

• processes for agreeing business plans
• adequacy of information provided to the Board, to allow it to monitor performance and progress
• board composition and culture
• support for members
• areas of focus for the coming year

The outcome of the survey was discussed at the board meeting in July 2023.

The responses indicated sustained improvement in the operation of the Board over the last year. The Chair continued to provide an open and supportive culture to allow an inclusive open and challenging environment for discussion. The Board considered strategic issues focusing on the delivery of the Strategy, Statistics for the Public Good, including progress of delivery of the Integrated Data Service Programme, the transformation of economic statistics and the Future of Population and Migration Statistics.

Members indicated that in the coming year, areas of focus would include the Integrated Data Service, transformation of economic statistics through the ARIES Programme, Strategic Risks, delivery of the ONS and OSR Business Plans and effective management of the Authority’s budget.

Assurance over the quality of information

The Authority Board recognised the need to ensure it receives sound advice and information to enable informed decisions to be made.

The Secretariat works with teams to ensure the information provided is of a good quality, with a template used for committee papers, structured to ensure risks and resource implications are highlighted and to ensure sufficient engagement and challenge during discussions.

The structure and information contained in regular agenda items are reviewed annually as part of the board effectiveness review.

An Integrated Performance and Finance Report is provided to the Authority Board in each meeting to aid decision making and the Strategic Risk framework has been discussed throughout 2023/24. Overall, the Authority Board has been content with the quality of the data it has been provided with during the year.

Executive Committees during 2023/24

The National Statistician, Professor Sir Ian Diamond, chairs the National Statistics Executive Group (NSEG) and the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee was set up as part of the executive governance framework following a review in March 2023 by the Director of Finance Planning and Performance. The first meeting was held in May 2023.

The role of the Executive Committee is to support the National Statistician in the exercise of my functions and as Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of the Office for National Statistics to set the strategic direction and achieve the collective mission and objectives of ONS.

The role of NSEG is to support the National Statistician in the exercise of their function as the Head of the Government Statistics Service (GSS) and Analysis Function, so as to achieve the collective mission and strategic objectives of the official statistics system.

NSEG met on four occasions and the Executive Committee met on twenty-one occasions during 2023/24.

The role of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee is to support the Authority Board and Authority’s Accounting Officer in my responsibilities for risk management, control and governance. The Committee concentrates its assurance role on the extent of the risks to which the realisation of the Authority’s strategic aims and objectives is exposed. Regular reports are provided to the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee at each meeting in key areas including Finance, Risk and Assurance, Internal Audit and External Audit.

Management of risk

Financial year 2023/24 saw continued maturity in relation to the oversight, challenge and accountability of the Authority’s risk and assurance approach. Colleagues took an active role in relation to risk management and assurance, and of the organisation’s appetite for risk, leading to more challenging and mature leadership conversations both within and beyond the Governance Framework leading to better informed decision making. The ONS (Office for National Statistics) Risk Management and Assurance framework has been established with the Orange Book five key principles at its core.

Risk management approach and strategic risk framework

The Risk and Assurance Framework provides our mechanism for the identification, analysis, and management of risk across the ONS and is aligned to the Orange Book, drawing on Risk Management best practice and tailored to ways of working within the ONS.  It also ensures we can provide assurance that risks to the delivery of the Authority’s Strategy are being managed within risk appetite.

The Authority Board has ultimate accountability for risk management, with responsibility for agreeing our Strategic Risk profile and the associated risk appetite.  Updates on the Strategic Risk profile are provided to the Board on a bi-annual basis.

The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee has responsibility for advising the Board on the effectiveness of governance, risk management and the system of internal control.  Updates are provided to each ARAC (Audit, Risk & Assurance Committee) on the evolving Strategic Risk profile, as well as other relevant risk and assurance activities.  ARAC provides scrutiny over the management of the strategic risks to satisfy itself that major risks are identified that mitigation strategies and appropriate levels of assurance are in place, and regularly challenge and hold the Risk and Assurance team and Strategic Risk Owners to account.

Executive accountability for risk management resides with the National Statistician (the Accounting Officer), with executive oversight residing with the Executive Committee (ExCo) and its sub-committees.  Each strategic risk is owned by a member of the senior leadership team and is overseen by a relevant ExCo sub-committee where in-depth analysis of each risk is scrutinised to assure their management. There is a clear escalation route from the sub-committees to ExCo to provide additional challenge and assurance. ExCo receives regular updates on the Strategic Risk profile to ensure visibility and scrutiny of the full strategic risk profile and the interlinkages between the risks, as well as more in-depth analysis of the emerging risk environment, enabling ExCo to embed risk at the heart of decision making. Risk owners are accountable for providing their updates to the relevant sub committees with the Risk and Assurance team providing independent assessment of progress.

The Authority operates a ‘Three Lines of Defence’ model to distinguish the different executive responsibilities for risk and assurance:

1. First line: Owns and manages risk including implementation of controls and have primary responsibility for establishing effective governance and control frameworks. Undertaken by our senior leaders and Directors.
2. Second Line: Functions that set risk and assurance policy and frameworks to enable risk and compliance to be managed in the first line. They provide independent (of management chain) oversight and constructive challenge, advice, and review of the first line to support the management of risks and achievement of objectives.
3. Third line: Provides assurance to the Accounting Officer, ARAC and the Authority Board that risk management and controls are appropriate and effective through independently and objectively evaluating internal controls, risk management and governance processes. This is undertaken by Internal Audit.  For programmes on the Government Major Projects Portfolio, third line assurance is also provided by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Additional independent assurance is provided by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), the independent regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Authority’s risk and assurance team have undertaken a review of the organisations risk management practices against the requirements of the Orange Book’s five principles which noted compliance with four of the five key principles (Governance and leadership; Integration; Collaboration and Best Information; and Risk Management Process). The Continual Improvement principle is partially met.

New ways of working, tools and governance have been introduced in the last few years and are therefore in their infancy so this result was anticipated and some of the actions  identified to move to a fully ‘met’ position are; utilising assurance outputs more explicitly to inform potential changes to controls; a more formalised approach to continuous improvement for example by gaining feedback from a wider audience on the maturity of risk management, an action plan of improvements which will be implemented over the coming 12-18 months and gaining a more informed view of what good looks via continued engagement with the Risk Centre of Excellence.

UK Statistics Authority strategic risks

The Strategic Risk profile demonstrates the most significant risks to the successful delivery of the UKSA (UK Statistics Authority) Strategy and its statutory objectives, owned by the UKSA senior leadership. The profile is agreed by the Authority Board on an annual basis, with reference to the UKSA Strategy, the ONS Business Plan and the external environment. There have been no newly identified risks during 2023/24; however there have been adjustments to the current risk profile to reflect the changing risk environment. All strategic risks are overseen by, and their management assured by ExCo Sub-Committees.

UK Statistics Authority strategic risks summary

Data and security management

The overall security of our systems, in particular our key data management environment, the Data Access Platform (DAP), remains vitally important. Throughout 2023/24 we focused on supporting the future resilience and security of DAP, looking towards a major platform update. During this period we have continued to support the security and data assurance of the Integrated Data Service (IDS) during beta development phases and supported plans for integration of new data and users as part of service consolidation with legacy services. .  Transforming the security of DAP and IDS using modern techniques and technology supports the Authority and wider Government transformation of statistics, and our ongoing success in operating these.

Over the past three years the Security and Information Strategy – Evolving A Resilient ONS 2021 – 2023 has delivered its key objectives of developing an effective Security and Information Security Framework. The new strategy People, Partnership and Innovation focuses on the coming years where ONS will do more with data, we will develop new systems and adopt new technology in pursuit of cutting-edge analytics and innovative statistical outputs. Our security and information management capabilities must evolve in response.

As our digital presence grows and data partnerships diversify, a more federated ecosystem emerges. Protecting data, regardless of location, is crucial. In this decentralized setting, our people are our strongest asset. We will cultivate a culture based on empowered people equipping colleagues with the knowledge and threat awareness to keep safe. We will embed a mindset where secure decisions making is instinctive.

More data sharing and more collaboration depends on building more trust with our partners and the public. By showcasing our professionalism, sharing our expertise, and demonstrating value in everything we do, we will build trusted partnerships across ONS, government and beyond.

Our ambition drives our appetite for innovation. As an organisation we value experimentation. We will enable innovation. Through our advice and assurance, we will guide people to exploit technology and experiment securely. We will expand our security operations capability to provide a safety net in case something goes wrong. We will work with data and technology teams across ONS to embed secure by design and secure digital development practices.

Over the last year we have built resilient behaviours through new and improved security training. We updated our security policy to highlight behavioural expectations. We established a new business partnering service to support and guide colleagues in implementing policy and managing risks.

Organisational supply chains have been identified as a significant channel to exploit vulnerabilities, we have strengthened the ONS supply chain management framework and security assurance, working in partnership with commercial teams.

We have made significant enhancements to the security risk management plan, which has educated stakeholders in security risks and early opportunities to mitigate risks to within appetite. The level of Management Information to empower risk owners has really shone through.  Risk management information is seen as a exemplar across ONS.

We are heavily focused on driving migrations of data holdings from legacy IT systems to ONS enterprise solutions that offer much greater security and data governance.

Cyber, policy, people, process testing has been the order of the year through a significant number of channels such as Cyber and physical site penetration testing, incident management plan testing and business continuity testing across ONS. Additional to this has been the external assurance auditing through specialist bodies such as the Information Security Forum (ISF) and the Government Assurance independent audit held in January 2024 that identified that ‘ONS has demonstrated a commendable level of maturity in the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF), for the Data Access Platform system’.

Our support to the Digital Economy Act continues through the security assessment of potential data processors under Act and Code of Practice. Maintaining high levels of security protection for public data used in research is a key requirement for the Authority. Our experts have assessed organisations for accreditation this year to ensure strong security controls are in place to host and process data, with the Research Accreditation Panel making a determination on the formal accreditation. In addition, several annual assessments have been performed on accredited organisations to ensure that their security environment remains strong, with appropriate improvements being implemented.

Public confidence and support for the provision of data is critical, including the acceptability of legislation such as the Digital Economy Act. We recognise that a data or cyber breach in the management of data could impact this significantly. To support our approach to managing these areas, we have made significant investment in protective technology, monitoring services and vulnerability testing together with staff training and development. This has included extensive engagement with the National Cyber Security Centre and with key Government department security teams. Enhanced security training is now a mandatory requirement for all staff, with substantial effort being put into behavioural security to provide staff with the awareness needed so they play a stronger part in the defence of the Authority.

Information management

Significant levels of confidential data are collected and acquired in the use of official statistics, and staff in some parts of the Authority have access to a range of business and personal data to produce high quality, accurate statistics. Information management and confidentiality therefore remain critical considerations for the Authority, and the recognised, strong cultural understanding that information must be handled lawfully, accurately and securely, supported by strong legal, technological, and business processes persists.

Compliance with information legislation continues to be a core priority, and activities that support the management of documents and records throughout their lifecycle have been developed and matured. There has been a focus on moving off legacy storage systems and onto a more modern platforms and associated policies and guidance have been revised to support compliance and accountability.

Technical enhancements have been made to the Information Asset Register, to further improve metadata collection, accuracy, and transparency to support the Authority’s use of data and the production of statistics and research.

I am required to report any significant breaches relating to personal data to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). There have been no such incidents during 2023/2024.

Developments in the control environment

Maintaining and improving an effective system of internal controls and governance within the Authority remains a key priority. The system of internal control is designed to manage risk to an acceptable level and within our agreed risk appetite, rather than to eliminate all risk. A strong internal control environment facilitates the Authority’s effective and efficient operation. Additionally, an effective system of internal control helps us to ensure the quality of both internal and external reporting. It also serves to ensure compliance with applicable law and regulations, as well as our internal policies.

During 2023/24 there were significant improvements to the internal control environment. These include:

• An improvement in maturity and accountability of strategic risk owners with regular updates provided to key governance forums in relation to their risks, driving increased ownership and enabling the Risk and Assurance team to take a more independent second line role.
• An improved risk management tool, supporting the move from multiple sources of risk data to one system of risk control, with enhanced and insightful reporting.
• Enhancements in controls following the delivery of additional targeted second line assurance reviews undertaken by the Risk and Assurance team to respond to assurance gaps. This led to five in depth reviews in the following areas: Efficiencies; Quality; Line Manager Capability; Risk Management and Expenses.
• A particular focus on the overarching UKSA Risk ‘Independence, trustworthiness and Impact’ to make certain that the risk encapsulated an accurate view of the risk faced and suitable controls in place which reflect the extensive activities in place to manage this risk.
• The formation of the Executive Committee (ExCo) which places the Strategic Objectives and Strategic Risks at the core of their Terms of Reference to provide robust oversight and challenge. ExCo has placed risk at the heart of its decision making, ensuring visibility of the wider strategic risk profile of and the interlinkages with clear escalation routes from its sub-committees.
• The continued maturity of the governance framework with risk underpinning conversations across our committees. This alongside the consideration of horizon scanning and proximity of risks have supported our business planning processes, driving informed decision making, and ensuring continuous improvements across the organisation and more horizontal working.
• A particular focus on risks related to statistical quality, communications, and legacy technology. In all cases to identify the controls required, ensure they are operating effectively, monitoring key metrics to identify areas where additional mitigations are required to manage risks within appetite and avoid issues.
• Significant improvements in our business planning process, placing risk at its core to support the Authority in balancing ambition and resource management with the funding available, whilst ensuring the Authority continues to be a trusted provider of quality statistics.

These developments have provided organisational stability to manage the ongoing and changing demands placed upon us and ensure we continue to understand risks to delivery of our strategy and objectives. We will continue to focus in this area to maintain the confidence and integrity of our internal control framework.

The Risk and Assurance Team undertook the annual corporate governance assurance statement (CGAS) against core areas of internal control, including people; risk; governance; security; statistical quality; portfolio management; commercial and finance management. The process continues to mature with improvements this year such as providing management information (MI) to inform responses upfront in order to assist Directors in providing fair and validated self assessments. Responses were reviewed for adequacy by subject matter experts and the outcomes of the exercise broadly confirmed a positive position of the control environment. Directors have received a summary for their area detailing their positive outcomes and areas for improvement with suggested actions for the next 12 months where applicable.

Cabinet Office controls

The Authority is required to comply with the Cabinet Office spend controls process, which is designed to help organisations reduce unnecessary spend and encourage cross-government collaboration. Central government organisations, including departments and the bodies they sponsor must obtain Cabinet Office approval when they want to spend money on specified activities. Cabinet Office spend controls are part of the wider government financial delegations and approvals process and are an important part of the mandate of the government functions. The Cabinet Office operates the spend controls on behalf of HM Treasury.

The spend controls apply to commercial contracts, general grants, and individually specified types of transactions. The spend categories and associated control thresholds which are most applicable to the Authority are:

• Commercial: All future commercial spend activity, framework agreements or material changes to services worth £20 million or more.
• Digital and Technology: Digital and technology spend over £1 million, or any spend on cases involving Crypt-Key.
• Facilities Management: All contracts over £500,000.
• Contingent Labour: All Contingent Labour contracts with day rates of £1,000 or more, excluding agency fees and recoverable VAT.

The Authority’s outsourced contract for the Crime Survey for England and Wales was due to expire in March 2024 and the process of reviewing arrangements to outsource the service from April 2024 onwards commenced in June 2022. During this period, market engagement took place and the feedback received led to the service specification being developed and an Invitation to Tender (ITT) being issued in June 2023. Prior to the ITT being issued, Cabinet Office approved the Outline Business Case in May 2023 as part of the prescribed Commercial spend control process for agreements valued at £20 million or more.

Only one bid was received in response to the ITT being issued. Consequently, two actions were taken forward by the Authority in September 2023: a feasibility review into bringing the service “in-house”; and post-tender clarification discussions with the sole bidder. These actions concluded in October 2023 with the recommendation to continue the outsourcing arrangement under improved terms obtained through the post-tender clarification process. Preparation of the Full Business Case (FBC) could now proceed, and the Authority’s Portfolio and Investment Committee approved the FBC which was then submitted to Cabinet Office in January 2024.

However, to ensure uninterrupted provision of data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales from April 2024 onwards, preparatory work lasting six months had to be commissioned in October 2023. The supplier agreed to commence this work “at risk” based on a Letter of Intent issued to them, limited to the costs of the preparatory work not exceeding £0.5m and subject to agreement to award the full contract.

In February 2024, the Cabinet Office rejected the FBC (with conditions which have subsequently been met) but stated that the Authority was not precluded from awarding the contract. The FBC was rejected for not following due process on the grounds of two definitions of retrospective action being breached – where the results of the evaluation have been communicated to bidders and where spend has been incurred or committed. This was on the basis that engagement with the sole bidder through the Letter of Intent issued in October 2023 effectively notified the sole bidder of the outcome of the evaluation before a decision from the Cabinet Office on the FBC and therefore rendered the approval request retrospective.

Whilst the Authority acknowledges this decision and accepts that due process was not followed in this situation, it should be noted that the Cabinet Office deemed the FBC a good commercial case which would have been approved if not submitted retrospectively. All other aspects of the prescribed procurement process were adhered to. Cabinet Office also recognised that the breach is not a common occurrence for the Authority, and there were no sanctions imposed that would impact spend control thresholds for the Authority’s future business cases.

The Authority, despite significant market engagement, received only one bid for this contract which presented a unique set of circumstances and issues. The post-tender clarifications with the sole bidder achieved significantly improved commercial terms and greater value for money through cost reductions for the Exchequer. The impact of not issuing the Letter of Intent in October 2023 presented an intolerable risk in terms of interruption to survey operations from April 2024 and the consequential impact that would have on the production of national crime statistics.

Following the Cabinet Office decision on the FBC in February 2024, the Authority faced a choice of whether to award the significantly improved contract despite the relatively minor procedural irregularity, or to run a fresh procurement exercise that would likely to lead to a two-year gap in national crime statistics. The Authority considered the balance between meeting value for money requirements and ensuring continuity of service for national crime statistics, with technical regularity requirements. As the Cabinet Office had confirmed that the Authority was not precluded from awarding the contract, despite its judgement of procedural irregularity, the Authority decided to favour value for money and continuity of national crime statistics by awarding the contract (valued at £42.8m over 5 years) in April 2024.

In response to the spend controls breach and to mitigate against recurrence, the Authority’s Commercial Services Division engaged with Cabinet Office, who provided spend control refresher training, and the introduction of monthly engagement sessions to discuss the Authority’s procurement pipeline. The timeline for commencing complex procurements has also been amended and brought forward to ensure contingency exists within future schedules to mitigate against unforeseen delays.

Assurances from Internal Audit

The Internal Audit function provides the National Statistician and the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee with a clearer view on any emerging risks. The internal audit programme is closely linked to the key risks of the Authority. Arrangements are in place to ensure that the National Statistician is made aware of any significant issues which indicate that key risks are not being effectively managed. The Internal Audit service complies with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards.

Opinion of the Head of Internal Audit

The role of internal audit is to provide management and ARAC members with an objective assessment of the adequacy and effectiveness of the Authority’s internal control, risk management and governance arrangements.  Internal Audit is an integral component of the Authority’s assurance cycle and can help to inform and update the organisation’s risk profile.

My annual opinion recognises the wider control and operating environment within the Authority, the level and extent of change, and the way in which the organisation is managing and responding to its key risks. The opinion I provide reflects the status of the risk, control and governance environment at the date of this report and reflects the evidence available.

I conclude that overall, the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) has maintained sound systems of governance, internal control and risk management. But there is scope for improvement, and this is reflected in my overall level of assurance which is Moderate.

When formulating my opinion, I have reflected upon results of the Internal Audit programme of reviews, progress by management in implementing agreed actions to address controls gaps, the status of strategic risks, and the outputs of first and second- line assurance providers.

Risk management

Following a trajectory of continuous improvement in recent years, two strategic risks are currently operating out of appetite, SR3 on Quality Statistics and SR6 on Our Communications. We may take comfort from strong focus both at Executive and Non-Executive level on remediations throughout the year, alongside steady progress tracked across the agreed paths to green.

Risk Champions are being upskilled to continuously improve operational risk management within both Programmes and Directorates, while the cross-functional Assurance Group has proven a useful vehicle for discussion, cross fertilisation of ideas, and coordination of assurance activities across the Office.

Corporate assurance and governance

We are pleased to note that no major control weaknesses have been identified via the revised Corporate Governance Assurance Statements or via fraud risk assessments.

We are satisfied that revisions to committee structures and management arrangements have been beneficial, particularly the introduction of an Executive Forum (Exco) as a vehicle for timely operational decisions.

Internal audit assurance programme results

Turning to our own programme of work, we highlight good practice across UKSA from our work on financial controls, and in meeting efficiency targets on expenditure and headcount, evidencing sound controls both strategic and operational levels, albeit we note aspects of commercial management require improvement.

On technology and security controls, our reviews of Cloud Technology, Data Governance, the Integrated Data System (IDS), and the Transformation Prices Programme all exhibited moderate controls assurance.

Reflecting upon progress made in-year, we are pleased to note that longstanding issues related to use of shared drives have largely been addressed. We also note that while issues pertaining to Legacy systems persist, this remains a key area of focus for management who continue to refine and implement remediation plans, which have to date prevented risks moving beyond agreed tolerances.

Areas for improvement

Notwithstanding this good practice, there are two areas where our work highlighted the need for improvements:

Firstly, looking at Operations, we raised issues with Quality Statistics, focussing on opportunities to improve Errors management, and in how the Data Science Campus articulates and gauges the impact of its deliverables against targets.

Secondly, under Project & Programme (PPM), we raised issues on the PPM function’s assurance and oversight over the programme as a whole, and, in the Transformation of Business Surveys Programme, in programme planning, and in progress. We also noted challenges in acquiring key data sets from other Government Departments to facilitate progress in implementing the Integrated Data System (IDS) Programme.

Trend / Direction of travel

The Authority, alongside the rest of government, continues to operate in a tight fiscal environment while moving through a transformative change programme. Looking ahead, aligning resources and skills to revised business priorities will be a key focus for FY 23/24. We shall plan our assignments through a lens of quality and efficiency to provide timely assurance that this focus on priorities is embedded throughout UKSA activities in FY 24-25.

When formulating my Opinion, I have recognised that Management have already taken steps to address many of the issues raised to bring the control framework back in line with good practice, with steady progress in addressing agreed management actions.

Resourcing and performance

During FY 23/24, following initiatives to rebuild the Audit Team and bring skills inhouse, while maintaining strength and depth via our co sourced Partner EY, I am pleased to report 100% completion of planned assignments, while our customer satisfaction scores remain steady throughout. I consulted and informed the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee about all proposed changes to the audit plan, taking account of changes in the risk landscape arising in year.

Scope and limitations of the annual audit opinion

There are no limitations on the scope of my opinion.

Opinion of the Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

Based on the work of the Committee during the year and the assurance work carried out by the External and Internal Auditors, it is my opinion that the Authority’s governance and control framework is generally effective.

The Committee accepts the overall moderate opinion from the Head of Internal Audit. The effective management of the year-end position was achieved as a result of the commitment by the Accounting Officer alongside the Finance and Senior Leadership Teams to mitigate the financial risk of over expenditure at year end.

The developments in risk and assurance were underpinned by the executive governance framework, which has a critical role in the oversight, challenge and cross-organisational management of risk. The introduction of an Executive Committee this year has further strengthened the governance framework.

This is the fourth year of a moderate opinion from the Head of Internal Audit, which builds upon the successes achieved over the last three years in the areas below. This year has seen sustained improvements with continued development this year in the following areas:

• Strengthening Risk and Oversight Functions
• Developing the culture of ownership and accountability
• Strengthening Governance

The Committee will want assurance in the coming year that delivery of the plans mitigate legacy and website risks within the timeframe to avoid any further delays or intolerable risk exposure.

The Committee will also want to see a strengthening in the first line of defence with improvement needed in such areas as quality, risk and contract management.

Overall conclusion

In conclusion, the UK Statistics Authority’s approach to governance, risk management and control is generally effective (with systems in place for 2023/24 and up to the point of approval). We have developed our approach across each of these areas during the year and I am pleased that this progress has been reflected in the assurance work that has been delivered through the year.

During 2024/25 we will continue to embed the improvements in our approach and focus on further developing our assurance activities to match the ambitions we have for the organisation and ensure that we keep pace with these activities.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Accounting Officer
12 July 2024

Summary financial information

Key financial outturns

The key financial outturns for 2023/24 are shown below:

The Authority has utilised 96% of its Resource funds throughout the year in progressing its strategic and operational objectives. The above figures include both ring-fenced and non-ring-fenced resources. Within this, the Authority utilised

• 99% of its non-ring-fenced Resource funding; and
• 74% of its ring-fenced funding (Depreciation and Amortisation).

Departmental expenditure limit – Capital

The Authority has been able to utilise 98% of its Capital funds throughout the year using this funding to continue to transform our IT systems, capitalise research where appropriate in the context of ESA10, and to ensure our estate reflects our hybrid working requirements.

Depreciation and amortisation

The Authority has robust financial controls in place for asset management and we have been able to plan effectively for the utilisation of our assets. During the year we have continued to review our assets which verified the continued useful economic life.

Annually managed expenditure

The Annually Managed Expenditure saving is attributed to a reduction in the level of provisions created during the period compared to that anticipated during the Estimate process.

The Authority had planned to create provisions which did not materialise at year end. These included a potential voluntary exit scheme which was not needed due to a successful redeployment policy and levels of resource staff attrition and also contractual disputes not concluded within the year end period. Further details on the movements within Provisions can be found in note 11 of the Accounts chapter.

Included within the resource expenditure are staff costs which are analysed in the staff report. This shows the number of full-time equivalent staff (FTEs) and their costs, which include wages, social security and pension costs. Employees are Civil Servants to whom the conditions of the Superannuation Acts of 1965 and 1972 and subsequent amendments apply.

The Remuneration Report provides further information on the relevant schemes.

To support compliance with IAS24 Related Party Disclosures, all executive directors, non–executive directors and deputy directors are required to complete declarations that they have not entered into agreements or undertaken any material transactions with a related party during the year. Further information is in Note 16 of the accounts.

The accounts of the Authority are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and his Certificate and Report to the House of Commons is presented in the Annual Accounts at pages 114 to 121 (of the pdf).

The financial statements are audited in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) issued by the Accounting Practices Board, and in accordance with the Government Resource and Accounts Act 2000.

Notional Audit fees charged in the accounts amount to £137,000 (2022/23 £129,000).

Core tables

The Statistics Board Total departmental spending, 2019/20 to 2023/24

Prompt payment target

The Authority is committed to both the Chartered Institute of Credit Management and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s prompt payment code. The policy sets out that all invoices should be paid in accordance with contractual conditions.

Where no conditions exist, payment will be made within 30 working days of the receipt of goods or services, or the presentation of a valid invoice, whichever is the later. We made payments in accordance with this policy in 96% of transactions for the year ended 31 March 2024 (92 % in 2022/23). The performance is measured in accordance with HM Treasury guidelines.

In addition to the 30 days target we endeavour to pay small and medium sized enterprises within five days. We achieved payment in accordance with this policy in 88 % of transactions for the year, (82 % in 2022/23) compared to a target of 80%.

Directors’ report

The requirements of the Directors’ report are covered by the following:

The Statistics Board, operating as The UK Statistics Authority is a non-ministerial department, operating at arm’s length from Government and reporting directly to Parliament and the devolved legislatures. The Cabinet Office retains residual ministerial responsibilities for the UK Statistics Authority.

The composition of the Authority Board and its sub-committees is set out in the Governance Statement.

The Executive Directors of the UK Statistics Authority are set out in the Remuneration Report.

The Authority maintains a Register of Interests of its Board members. The Register of Interests is maintained on the UK Statistics Authority website.

It is updated at least annually. The onus is on individual members of the Authority to determine other interests that should be disclosed and to make known to the Chair and Secretariat any subsequent changes in those interests. At the start of every meeting of the Authority Board, members will be asked to declare any interests in the business on the agenda. Members should similarly make an interest know should it arise during the business of the meeting.

Personal data related incidents are described in the Governance Statement.

Other disclosures are promulgated by HM Treasury through Public Expenditure System papers.

Financial reporting to Parliament

This report forms part of the annual reporting process to Parliament. Further, and as part of the reporting process the Authority also prepares estimates of its expenditure with the Main Estimate in the early part of the financial year, and the Supplementary Estimate normally published in February.

Engagement and transparency

The Authority believes that transparency is a key condition and driver for the delivery of our services. As a publicly funded organisation, we have a duty to our stakeholders to be transparent about our business operations and outcome.

To provide transparency across its operations the Authority published information which is regularly updated on its own website and /or the UKSA website.

This includes:

• expenses and hospitality received by board members and senior directors
• organisation charts
• details of senior and junior posts and senior staff salaries
• details of payments to suppliers each month over £25,000
• monthly prompt payment information
• exception reporting

The Authority has a central email enquiry point, authority.enquiries@statistics.gov.uk. Enquiry handling is managed by the Secretariat. There is also a central telephone enquiry line 0845 604 1857.

The Authority operates transparently and openly. It publishes the minutes and papers of its meetings, and correspondence regarding issues of public concern and information about other aspects of its work on its website.

Contractual arrangements

The Authority works across circa 250 3rd party agreements to deliver its business. All contracts are tiered using a segregation tool that follows Government Commercial Operating Standards (GCOS) best practice and this allows the Authority to determine the level of engagement to successfully deliver the required contractual outcomes.

It categorises contracts into 3 tiers: Gold; Silver; and Bronze, where Gold receives the highest level of input and scrutiny from commercial contract managers, as they are considered key to delivering our operational goals. It also maps to a risk vs complexity matrix so that contract management techniques are applied most effectively.

Supplier performance is reviewed in accordance with Government Procurement Guidelines including monthly reviews to strategically monitor the financial stability of the business, Key Performance Indicators, and to share lessons learned to improve delivery across the whole portfolio. Social value continues to be key in evaluating 3rd parties and our focus on social value produces contracts that have additional benefits for the local communities they serve. For example, producing a more inclusive and accessible recruitment procedure to improve opportunities for groups in under-represented areas.

Commercial Services has recently resized and re-structured to deliver value and efficiency through a dedicated Sourcing team and separate Category teams.  The role of Contract Management is carried out by the Category teams who also act in a partnering capacity to the business to capture the future contract requirements, as they become due for renewal/ re-tender.

Remuneration report

The remuneration report is presented in accordance with Civil Service Employer Pension Notice guidance.

Service contracts

The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 requires Civil Service appointments to be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. The Recruitment Principles published by the Civil Service Commission specify the circumstances when appointments may be made otherwise.

Unless otherwise stated below, the officials covered by this report hold appointments which are open-ended. Early termination, other than for misconduct, would result in the individual receiving compensation as set out in the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

Further information about the work of the Civil Service Commission can be found on the Civil Service Commission website.

Remuneration policy

The Remuneration Committee concluded the pay arrangements for the UK Statistics Authority’s Senior Civil Servants. The committee’s membership is set out in the Governance Statement.

The UK Statistics Authority Senior Civil Service (SCS) salary arrangements follow the guidance set out by the Cabinet Office in response to the Senior Salaries Review Body. SCS pay consists of two elements: a consolidated increase to base pay and a non-consolidated bonus payment. Both elements are performance-related and determined by an individual’s performance in the previous appraisal year.

The remuneration for the National Statistician is not agreed by the Authority’s Remuneration Committee but is determined independently.

Remuneration (including salary) and pension entitlements

The following sections provide details of the remuneration and pension interests of the Executive and Non-Executive Directors of the UK Statistics Authority and the Office for National Statistics.

Remuneration of Executive Directors for the UK Statistics Authority and the Office for National Statistics, 2023/24 and 2022/23 (audited)

Salary

Non-Executive Directors are paid a fee, plus expenses, and have no pension entitlement.

‘Salary’ includes gross salary; overtime; reserved rights to London weighting or London allowances; recruitment and retention allowances; private office allowances and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation. This report is based on accrued payments made by the Department and thus recorded in these accounts.  

Benefits in kind

None of the above received benefits in kind.

Bonus payments

Bonuses are based on performance levels attained and are made as part of the appraisal process. Bonus payments are reported in the financial year that payments are made, but can fall within one of two categories. In-year bonuses recognising performance in the financial year they were paid and annual bonuses, which recognise performance in the previous financial year.

Remuneration of Non-Executive Directors of the UK Statistics Authority 2023/24 and 2022/23 (audited)

Fair pay

Reporting bodies are required to disclose the relationship between the remuneration of the highest-paid director in their organisation and the lower quartile, median and upper quartile remuneration of the organisation’s workforce.

The mid-point banded remuneration of the highest-paid director in the Authority in the financial year 2023/24 was £177,500 (2022/23: £167,500). This was 5.33 times (2022/23: 5.27 times) the median remuneration of the workforce, which was £33,275 (2022/23: £31,811). There were no significant changes in pay ratios between 2022/23 and 2023/24, due to the remuneration of the highest-paid director and the Authority’s workforce increasing at a similar rate during 2023/24.

No employees received remuneration in excess of the highest-paid director in either 2023/24 or 2022/23. The lowest staff remuneration in 2023/24 was £22,082 (2022/23: £20,148).

Percentage change in total salary and bonuses for the highest paid director and the staff average

The percentage change from previous financial year in respect of the highest paid director is based on the mid-point of their banded total salary and bonus payments. The percentage change in the staff average figures, is calculated as total salary and bonus payments in the period, divided by the FTE number of employees (excluding the highest paid director).

Total remuneration includes salary, non-consolidated performance-related pay and benefits-in-kind. It does not include severance payments, employer pension contributions and the cash equivalent transfer value of pensions.

The Authority implemented the August 2023 pay award in 2023/24 which increased the average staff remuneration.

Pension benefits (audited)

The following table identifies pension benefits for Executive Directors of the UK Statistics Authority and the Office for National Statistics.

Civil Service pensions

Pension benefits are provided through the Civil Service pension arrangements. Before 1 April 2015, the only scheme was the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is divided into a few different sections – classic, premium, and classic plus provide benefits on a final salary basis, whilst nuvos provides benefits on a career average basis. From 1 April 2015 a new pension scheme for civil servants was introduced – the Civil Servants and Others Pension Scheme or alpha, which provides benefits on a career average basis. All newly appointed civil servants, and the majority of those already in service, joined the new scheme.

The PCSPS and alpha are unfunded statutory schemes. Employees and employers make contributions (employee contributions range between 4.6% and 8.05%, depending on salary). The balance of the cost of benefits in payment is met by monies voted by Parliament each year. Pensions in payment are increased annually in line with the Pensions Increase legislation. Instead of the defined benefit arrangements, employees may opt for a defined contribution pension with an employer contribution, the partnership pension account.

In alpha, pension builds up at a rate of 2.32% of pensionable earnings each year, and the total amount accrued is adjusted annually in line with a rate set by HM Treasury. Members may opt to give up (commute) pension for a lump sum up to the limits set by the Finance Act 2004. All members who switched to alpha from the PCSPS had their PCSPS benefits ‘banked’, with those with earlier benefits in one of the final salary sections of the PCSPS having those benefits based on their final salary when they leave alpha.

The accrued pensions shown in this report are the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach normal pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over normal pension age. Normal pension age is 60 for members of classic, premium, and classic plus, 65 for members of nuvos, and the higher of 65 or State Pension Age for members of alpha. The pension figures in this report show pension earned in PCSPS or alpha – as appropriate. Where a member has benefits in both the PCSPS and alpha, the figures show the combined value of their benefits in the two schemes but note that the constituent parts of that pension may be payable from different ages.

When the Government introduced new public service pension schemes in 2015, there were transitional arrangements which treated existing scheme members differently based on their age. Older members of the PCSPS remained in that scheme, rather than moving to alpha. In 2018, the Court of Appeal found that the transitional arrangements in the public service pension schemes unlawfully discriminated against younger members.

As a result, steps are being taken to remedy those 2015 reforms, making the pension scheme provisions fair to all members. The public service pensions remedy is made up of two parts. The first part closed the PCSPS on 31 March 2022, with all active members becoming members of alpha from 1 April 2022. The second part removes the age discrimination for the remedy period, between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, by moving the membership of eligible members during this period back into the PCSPS on 1 October 2023. This is known as “rollback”.

The partnership pension account is an occupational defined contribution pension arrangement which is part of the Legal & General Mastertrust. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 8% and 14.75% (depending on the age of the member). The employee does not have to contribute but, where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer’s basic contribution). Employers also contribute a further 0.5% of pensionable salary to cover the cost of centrally provided risk benefit cover (death in service and ill health retirement).

Further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements can be found at the Civil Service Pensions website.

Cash equivalent transfer values

A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent spouse’s pension payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves a scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the pension scheme, not just their service in a senior capacity to which disclosure applies.

The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the member has transferred to the Civil Service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their buying additional pension benefits at their own cost.

CETVs are worked out in accordance with The Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.

Real increase in CETV

This reflects the increase in CETV that is funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.

Board member and senior official off-payroll engagements

The following table identifies off-payroll engagements of board members, and/or, Senior officials with significant financial responsibility, between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.

Other information

Compensation for loss of office (audited)

No Director received compensation for loss of office during 2023/24.

Payments to past directors (audited)

No payments were made to past directors other than in respect of employment or other contractual service for the company other than as a director.

Staff report

Staffing structure

Staff numbers (audited)

Staff costs (audited)

Capitalised staff costs (audited)

Staff numbers as at 31 March 2024 (audited)

Staff loaned as at 31 March 2024

Staff hosted as at 31 March 2024

Staff turnover

Contingent workers as at 31 March 2024

Staff composition as at 31 March 2024

Number of Senior Civil Service staff by SCS pay band (average for the year)

Off payroll engagements

The following table identifies all off-payroll engagements as at 31 March 2024 for more than £245 per day for a period longer than six months.

The following table details the total number of off-payroll engagements in excess of £245 per day for a period longer than six months (between the 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024).

Sickness absence

Average working days lost during 2023/24, for our workforce excluding Interviewers, was 6.9 (was 6.9 in 2022/23), and for the workforce as a whole, was 8.2 (was 8.4 in 2022/23).

Note:
The methodology used for our external reporting of sickness absence has excluded our Interviewer workforce because of differing terms and conditions of employment.  The figure of 6.9 is in line with our external reporting, and the figure of 8.2 reflects the whole workforce.

Reporting compensations for employee departures (audited)

During the financial year 2023/24 we released one individual through Voluntary Exit. The offer of exit, and last day of service took place in 2023/24 therefore costs are attributed to financial year 2023/24. We also had 3 efficiency departures where there is a cost to the Authority of £14.5k.

Redundancy and other departure costs have been paid in accordance with the provision of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, a statutory scheme under the Superannuation Act 1972. Exit costs are accounted for in full for the year of departure. Where the department has agreed early retirements, the additional costs are met by the department and not the Civil Service pension scheme.

Ill-health retirement costs are met by the Pension Scheme and are not included in the table.

Employee matters

Employment, training and support for people with disabilities

The Authority is committed to being an equal opportunities employer. As part of this commitment, the Authority gives full and fair consideration to the employment, training, support and progression of colleagues with a disability/long-term health condition.

The Authority applies the Recruitment Principles of the Civil Service Commission, appointing candidates on merit through fair and open competition.

Recruitment and selection training is provided to all interviewers. In 2023, The Authority retained its Level 3 Disability Confident Leader status, the highest-level of accreditation, demonstrating its commitment to offer interview those who declare a disability/long-term health condition and meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Authority’s policies require that managers must consider and, where reasonable, implement workplace adjustments to enable a colleague with a disability/long-term health condition to attend work and carry out their role effectively. Such adjustments are recorded on a Workplace Adjustments Passport and are kept under regular review. There is an active disABILITY Diversity Network, supported by senior champions, focused on removing any barriers within the workplace, and celebrating key disability awareness days throughout the year across the organisation.

The Authority promotes several cross-government talent schemes that seek to attract colleagues with disabilities, as well as those from other underrepresented groups. These include the Future Leaders Scheme (FLS) and Senior Leaders Scheme (SLS). The bespoke Disability Empowers Leadership Talent scheme, also known as DELTA, is available to anyone with a disability/long-term health condition who gains a place on the cross-government FLS. Internally we also offer a specific development route called disABILITY into Leadership, focused on supporting the career development of colleagues with disabilities.   In addition, our learning offer supports working with those who are neurodivergent.  Our learning interventions meet all legal requirement accessibility requirements.

Monitoring spending on consultancy and temporary staff

Professional services external resources can generally be split into two broad categories. Temporary staff includes temporary workers and specialist contractors who are used to cover business-as-usual or service delivery activities within the Authority. Consultancy includes staff who provide objective advice relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of the Authority and may include the identification of options with recommendations.

Expenditure on consultancy decreased from £16.5m in 2022-23 to £10.3m in 2023-24 and expenditure on contractors decreased from £18.5m in 2022-23to £4.1m in 2023-24.

Spend on consultancy and the need for temporary staff is largely dependent on the nature of projects being undertaken and the expertise required. The lack of demand on this type of role (for example Covid Infection Survey and Census) was the primary contributor to a decrease in temporary staff costs this year.

Workplace health, safety and welfare

All activities required under the Health and Safety (H&S) framework of governance, risk management and control for the Authority were completed during this period. Our workplace H&S performance is audited and reviewed on an annual basis and reported to the Departmental H&S Committee and the People Committee. The Authority has published an up-to-date H&S Policy, which has been amended as necessary to ensure it remains current with legislation and takes account of organisational changes.  All necessary risk assessments, inspections, maintenance, cleaning and testing regimes were in place.

During this period, the Authority has further embedded new H&S management arrangements that directly support hybrid working. This includes the physical testing of a new emergency evacuation procedure which aligns with the Government Property Agency standard. To promote and support ergonomic working best practice, the Authority has published an updated workplace guide that informs colleagues how to work safely with display screen equipment and how they can take advantage of the different workspaces available to them at Authority offices.

We approach wellbeing as an underlying priority that wraps around our People Survey and engagement activity, and our wider management approach. The 2023 People Survey saw a range of responses in this area, with some areas maintaining positive responses and others reducing. Our overall Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning and Accomplishment (PERMA) score, a holistic measure of positive wellbeing, reduced by two percentage points, but remained high at 71%. Our Proxy Stress Index score saw a three percentage point increase to 31%.

Our wellbeing offer is wide-ranging and dynamic across the organisation, based on the principles of being proactive, empowering and flexible, with a focus on five wellbeing pillars: Workplace, Mental, Physical, Social, and Financial. During 2023 we enhanced our offer with further development of our Menopause Ambassadors, created a new cadre of Macmillan trained Cancer in the Workplace trainers, and offered a new suite of resources to support colleagues with change. 2024 will see work to improve accessibility and understanding of our current resources, as well as an ongoing focus on mental health and wellbeing.

Equality, diversity and inclusion overview

Our strategic purpose is to create ‘Statistics for the Public Good’. To do so, it is vital that we continue to build a working environment in which equality and inclusion are instinctive, with a workforce that reflects the public it serves.

Compliance with the Equality Act 2010 remains a core tenet, as we align policies, processes, and infrastructure to its principles. Our Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) play a key role in helping us ensure that inclusion is hardwired into all our practices. Further information on our commitment to the Public Sector Equality Duty is available on the Authority’s website.

‘Inclusion’ is also a central pillar of our People Plan, which is reflected in our Strategy and Strategic Business Plan. Our ambition is to drive an inclusive culture in which everyone feels valued, that they belong, and have an equal opportunity to contribute to the organisation’s purpose.

Our more detailed Inclusion Plan outlines our intention to:

• Build a coordinated approach to Inclusion and Diversity across the organisation.
• Hardwire Inclusion and Diversity into everything we do.
• Build representation of underrepresented groups and support their career progression.
• Continue to build the Authority’s reputation as an inclusive employer.
• Improve and develop our evidence base.

This plan was launched in November 2020, and we have made significant progress to date; notably in the development of our evidence base, strengthening our governance and coordination, and being recognised for our practices by external benchmarking experts.

More information about recognition in this space can be found within the benchmarking and collaborating section below.

Equality, diversity and inclusion infrastructure

Governance

Our Inclusion & Diversity Steering Group (IDSG) leads on evaluating new initiatives, and progress against existing commitments and issues. The Group consists of colleagues from across our employee diversity networks and other key stakeholders. IDSG reports to our People Committee (PC), the governance body responsible for people matters, and over the past year, the relationship between IDSG and PC has been further strengthened to ensure that governance scrutiny is focused on the most important issues. PC is attended by key senior leaders, chaired by one of our Deputy National Statisticians, and includes non-executive colleagues to represent diverse viewpoints from across the organisation.

Diversity networks

Our employee diversity networks continue to add essential value and insight to our inclusion agenda and play a key role in supporting the organisation to improve our processes and policies. Each recognised diversity network is led by a team of colleagues who volunteer their own time to undertake dedicated roles, and a sponsor from the senior leadership cadre.

The networks also play an active role in raising awareness and creating a learning environment around inclusion. This includes but is not limited to: arranging expert guest panels; sharing blogs on their experiences; identifying and sharing best practice; raising awareness around key events; and linking with other government departments’ networks.

Benchmarking and collaborating

In line with the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (2022-2025) guidance, the Authority continues to identify opportunities to engage with independent, external organisations. This helps us to ensure that our policies and practices are robust and in line with leading industry standards by participating in objective benchmarking exercises and benefitting from expert support and advice.

The Authority has been highly commended for innovation in recruitment by the Commissioners’ Mark of Excellence in 2023 for the second consecutive year. This award is given to those HR teams across Government who can demonstrate how they have introduced innovative and different ways to attract new pools of candidates for UK Civil Service roles.

The Authority also maintained its Disability Confident Leader status for further three years, with feedback celebrating and acknowledging efforts in continuing to challenge behaviours and attitudes, promote inclusion through our Networks, and report on disability, mental health, and wellbeing. CIPD Wales also presented the Authority with a Highly Commended Award for our work on inclusion.

The Authority was also awarded Highly Commended in the Analysis in Government Awards for its work on improving its inclusion and diversity evidence base through the development of the Inclusion, Culture, and Wellbeing dashboard, and for its revised process to underpinning Senior Civil Servants’ performance appraisal process with inclusion.

In addition, the Authority published a review on its Inclusive Data Taskforce that spotlights over 200 initiatives underway across the UK statistical system to support and embrace inclusivity, a core principle of our strategy.’

We continue to identify opportunities for more collaboration and shared initiatives with the Cabinet Office and other government departments, and to work with other expert organisations such as Business in the Community to improve our inclusive practices.

Measuring progress

Workforce diversity data is monitored at both business and organisational level, with progress measured on a regular basis via an interactive dashboard.  Declaration rates are steadily increasing, and colleagues are regularly encouraged to contribute the information to build a stronger evidence base from which to drive our interventions.

In addition to our workforce demographic data, progress is measured through a combination of sources including new people dashboards, insights from our employee diversity networks, listening groups, internal targeted pulse surveys and the annual Civil Service People Survey. The Inclusion, Culture, and Wellbeing dashboard remains a valuable tool through which the Authority can move beyond traditional methods of monitoring diversity to meaningfully measuring inclusion and hold senior leaders accountable for their progress.

The People Survey provides an overall score for Inclusion and Fair Treatment, for which the Authority has maintained a high score of 84% in 2023.

With the publication of the revised Civil Service Inclusion & Diversity strategy, we continue to closely align our approach to measuring and evaluating our success with the wider Civil Service set of standards.

Workforce diversity data and progress against targets as at 31 March 2024

Whilst all employees in the Authority are strongly encouraged to make a positive declaration within each of these diversity measures there is no obligation to do so. The percentage of employees who have declared is 88.9%. The following data is collated from those who have made a declaration.

The Authority has a long-term ambition to be representative of the society we serve. We benchmark our ethnic minority representation against the representation for the ‘travel to work’ area for our main locations. Our ethnic minority representation of 9.7% surpassing the benchmark which stands at 8.7%.

We are proud to have maintained Gender parity at Grade 6, with a 50% split with rounding (49.8% and 50.2%) across female and male.  This means we have maintained at least 50% female representation at our feeder grades to SCS as well as across our managerial and administrative grades.  We are pleased with our increased female representation at our SCS grades, which has risen from 41.9% to 44.9%, and the positive impact this has on our aspiration to achieve total Gender parity (although we are aware that changes to this smaller population can have a disproportionate impact on distribution).

Trade union facility time

Organisations are required to publish trade union facility time data. Trade union facility time is a legal entitlement and is allocated by the Authority. Total time spent on union activities should equate to no more than 0.1% of the total pay bill and no-one should spend more than 50% of their time on such activities.

The total number of employees who were trade union representatives during the year was 46.

The cost to the Authority of trade union facility time represents 0.04% of the pay bill of £291,955,000 (2022/23 0.04% of the pay bill £274,490,000).

Time spent on paid trade union activities as a percentage of total paid facility time hours is 0%.

Parliamentary accountability report

Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply

In addition to the primary statements prepared under IFRS, the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) requires the Authority to prepare a Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply (SOPS) and supporting notes.

The SOPS and related notes are subject to audit, as detailed in the Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of Commons.

The SOPS is a key accountability statement that shows, in detail, how an entity has spent against their Supply Estimate. Supply is the monetary provision (for resource and capital purposes) and cash (drawn primarily from the Consolidated fund), that Parliament gives statutory authority for entities to utilise. The Estimate details supply and is voted on by Parliament at the start of the financial year.

Should an entity exceed the limits set by their Supply Estimate, called control limits, their accounts will receive a qualified opinion.

The format of the SOPS mirrors the Supply Estimates, published on gov.uk, to enable comparability between what Parliament approves and the final outturn.

The SOPS contain a summary table, detailing performance against the control limits that Parliament have voted on, cash spent (budgets are compiled on an accruals basis and so outturn won’t exactly tie to cash spent) and administration.

The supporting notes detail the following: Outturn by Estimate line, providing a more detailed breakdown (note 1); a reconciliation of outturn to net operating expenditure in the SOCNE, to tie the SOPS to the financial statements (note 2); a reconciliation of outturn to net cash requirement (note 3); and, an analysis of income payable to the Consolidated Fund (note 4).

The SOPS and Estimates are compiled against the budgeting framework, which is similar to, but different to, IFRS. An understanding of the budgeting framework and an explanation of key terms is provided on page 41 (of the pdf), in the financial review section of the performance report. Further information on the Public Spending Framework and the 6 reasons why budgeting rules are different to IFRS can also be found in chapter 1 of the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, available on gov.uk.

The SOPS provides a detailed view of financial performance, in a form that is voted on and recognised by Parliament. The financial review, in the Performance Report, provides a summarised discussion of outturn against estimate and functions as an introduction to the SOPS disclosures.

Summary tables (audited)

Summary table 2023-24, all figures presented in £000’s.

Net Cash Requirement 2023/24 (audited)

All figures presented in £000’s.

Notes to the parliamentary supply, 2023/24
(£000’s)(audited)

SOPS 1 – Outturn detail by estimate Line

For the period ending 31 March 2024. All figures presented in £000’s.

SOPS 1.1 Analysis of resource outturn by estimate line.

SOPS 1.2 Analysis of capital outturn by estimate line.

All figures presented in £000’s.

SOPS 2 – Reconciliation of outturn to net operating expenditure.

All figures presented in £000’s

SOPS 3 – Reconciliation of net resource outturn to net cash requirement.

For the period ending 31 March 2024. All figures presented in £000’s.

SoPS 4 Amounts of income to the consolidated fund

SoPS 4.1 Analysis of income payable to the consolidated fund

There is no income payable to the consolidated fund.

SoPS 4.2 Consolidated fund income

The authority does not collect income as an agent of the consolidated fund.

Parliamentary Accountability Disclosure (audited)

Special payment and losses

For the period ending 31 March 2024

There are no individual cases of special payments or losses over £300,000 (2022/23: No cases) which need separate disclosure as required by Managing Public Money.

Fees and charges

The Authority is not subject to statutory fees and charges.

Regularity of Expenditure (audited)

The Authority incurred irregular expenditure of £481,000 during 2023/24, for further details please refer to the Cabinet Office Controls disclosure in the Governance Statement.

Remote contingent liabilities

None identified.

Disclosure of information to the auditors

The responsibilities of an Accounting Officer include confirming that as far as he is aware there is no relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware and that he has taken steps he ought to have taken to make himself aware of any relevant audit information, and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Accounting Officer
12 July 2023

The Certificate of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of Commons

Opinion on financial statements

I certify that I have audited the financial statements of the Statistics Board (operating as the UK Statistics Authority) for the year ended 31 March 2024 under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.

The financial statements comprise the UK Statistics Authority’s

• Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2024;
• Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure, Statement of Cash Flows and Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year then ended; and
• the related notes including the significant accounting policies.

The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the financial statements is applicable law and UK adopted international accounting standards.

In my opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the UK Statistics Authority’s affairs as at 31 March 2024 and its net expenditure for the year then ended; and
• have been properly prepared in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 and HM Treasury directions issued thereunder.

Opinion on regularity

In my opinion, in all material respects:

• the Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply properly presents the outturn against voted Parliamentary control totals for the year ended 31 March 2024 and shows that those totals have not been exceeded; and
• the income and expenditure recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

Basis for opinions

I conducted my audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs UK), applicable law and Practice Note 10 Audit of Financial Statements and Regularity of Public Sector Bodies in the United Kingdom (2022). My responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of my certificate.

Those standards require me and my staff to comply with the Financial Reporting Council’s Revised Ethical Standard 2019. I am independent of the UK Statistics Authority in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK. My staff and I have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, I have concluded that the UK Statistics Authority’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work I have performed, I have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the UK Statistics Authority’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

My responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Accounting Officer with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this certificate. The going concern basis of accounting for the UK Statistics Authority is adopted in consideration of the requirements set out in HM Treasury’s Government Financial Reporting Manual, which requires entities to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements where it is anticipated that the services which they provide will continue into the future.

Other information

The other information comprises information included in the Annual Report, but does not include the financial statements and my auditor’s certificate and report thereon. The Accounting Officer is responsible for the other information.

My opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in my certificate, I do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

My responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or my knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

If I identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, I am required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work I have performed, I conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, I am required to report that fact.

I have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other matters

In my opinion the part of the Remuneration and Staff Report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.

In my opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• the parts of the Accountability Report subject to audit have been properly prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000;
• the information given in the Performance and Accountability Reports for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and is in accordance with the applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which I report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the UK Statistics Authority and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, I have not identified material misstatements in the Performance and Accountability Reports.

I have nothing to report in respect of the following matters which I report to you if, in my opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the UK Statistics Authority or returns adequate

for my audit have not been received from branches not visited by my staff; or

• I have not received all of the information and explanations I require for my audit; or
• the financial statements and the parts of the Accountability Report subject to audit are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
• certain disclosures of remuneration specified by HM Treasury’s Government Financial Reporting Manual have not been made or parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report to be audited is not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
• the Governance Statement does not reflect compliance with HM Treasury’s guidance.

Responsibilities of the Accounting Officer for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the Statement of Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities, the Accounting Officer is responsible for:

• maintaining proper accounting records;
• providing the C&AG with access to all information of which management is aware that is relevant to the preparation of the financial statements such as records, documentation and other matters;
• providing the C&AG with additional information and explanations needed for his audit;
• providing the C&AG with unrestricted access to persons within the UK Statistics Authority from whom the auditor determines it necessary to obtain audit evidence;
• ensuring such internal controls are in place as deemed necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements to be free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error;
• preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view, in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000;
• preparing the annual report, which includes the Remuneration and Staff Report, in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000; and
• assessing the UK Statistics Authority’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Accounting Officer anticipates that the services provided by the UK Statistics Authority will not continue to be provided in the future.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statement

My responsibility is to audit, certify and report on the financial statements in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.

My objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a certificate that includes my opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud

I design procedures in line with my responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud. The extent to which my procedures are capable of detecting non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud is detailed below.

Identifying and assessing potential risks related to non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, I:

• considered the nature of the sector, control environment and operational performance including the design of the UK Statistics Authority’s accounting policies and performance incentives.
• inquired of management, the UK Statistics Authority’s head of internal audit and those charged with governance, including obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation relating to the UK Statistics Authority’s policies and procedures on:
  • identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations;
  • detecting and responding to the risks of fraud; and
  • the internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations including the UK Statistics Authority’s controls relating to the UK Statistics Authority’s compliance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, Managing Public Money and the Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) Act 2023;
• inquired of management, the UK Statistics Authority’s head of internal audit and those charged with governance whether:
  • they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations;
  • they had knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud,
• discussed with the engagement team regarding how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud.

As a result of these procedures, I considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the UK Statistics Authority for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas: revenue recognition, posting of unusual journals, complex transactions and bias in management estimates. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), I am required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override.

I obtained an understanding of the UK Statistics Authority’s framework of authority and other legal and regulatory frameworks in which the UK Statistics Authority operates. I focused on those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the UK Statistics Authority. The key laws and regulations I considered in this context included Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, Managing Public Money, Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) Act 2023 and employment law.

Audit response to identified risk

To respond to the identified risks resulting from the above procedures:

• I reviewed the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described above as having direct effect on the financial statements;
• I enquired of management and the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee concerning actual and potential litigation and claims;
• I reviewed minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and the Board; and internal audit reports; and
• I addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessing whether the judgements on estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

I communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential risks of fraud to all engagement team members and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

A further description of my responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website. This description forms part of my certificate.

Other auditor’s responsibilities

I am required to obtain appropriate evidence sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply properly presents the outturn against voted Parliamentary control totals and that those totals have not been exceeded. The voted Parliamentary control totals are Departmental Expenditure Limits (Resource and Capital), Annually Managed Expenditure (Resource and Capital), Non-Budget (Resource) and Net Cash Requirement.

I am required to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to give reasonable assurance that the expenditure and income recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

I communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control I identify during my audit.

Gareth Davies
Comptroller and Auditor General
17 July 2024
National Audit Office
157-197 Buckingham Palace Road
Victoria
London
SW1W 9SP

The Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of Commons

1. As a central government body, the UK Statistics Authority is required to comply with the Cabinet Office Spending Controls. These state that, ‘all central government organisations, including departments and the bodies they sponsor, must obtain approval from the Cabinet Office when they want to spend money on specified activities’. The specified activities include commercial spend on all contracts with a value greater than £20 million.
2. I draw attention to the disclosures that the UK Statistics Authority has made on page 73-75 (of the PDF) of the Annual Report. This explains the circumstances which led to the UK Statistics Authority entering into a contract to conduct the Crime Survey for England and Wales without receiving approval under the Cabinet Office Spending Controls. As disclosed on page 73-75 (of the PDF) The UK Statistics Authority has incurred expenditure of £0.5 million in preparation for this contract in 2023-24 and the total anticipated spend is £42.8 million excluding VAT over the period of the contract.
3. As approval of this contract has not been received under the Cabinet Office Spending Controls, I have concluded that any expenditure incurred on the contract would be irregular. However, given that the UK Statistics Authority has not incurred material expenditure under the contract in 2023-24, I have not modified my regularity opinion in this respect. There is a significant risk that I am required to modify my regularity opinion in a future year if a cumulatively material level of irregular expenditure is reflected in the financial statements

Gareth Davies
Comptroller and Auditor General
17 July 2024
National Audit Office
157-197 Buckingham Palace Road
Victoria
London
SW1W 9SP