1. Introduction
From 2023 to 2024 Professor Denise Lievesley led a review of the UK Statistics Authority (the Authority) within the framework provided by the Cabinet Office Public Bodies Review Programme. The central conclusion of that review was:
“It is time for the Board to move into a more visible, ambitious space, primarily through establishing a Triennial Statistical Assembly which will consult widely with statistics users and producers to understand the range of views regarding the priorities and data needs for the UK.”
The intention was that:
“This will lead to a more transparent and robust setting of the statistical agenda with a greater emphasis on user needs.”
The first of these Statistical Assemblies (henceforth ‘Assembly’), jointly organised by the Authority and the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) and chaired by Professor Cathie Sudlow, took place on 22 January 2025. It sought to bring together the widest possible range of users and producers of official statistics to discuss the priorities, opportunities and challenges facing the statistical system in the short to medium term. That system encompasses the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the wider Government Statistical Service (GSS), other UK-wide and devolved public bodies that produce official statistics, and indeed other sources which feed, or could feed, into official statistics.
The aim of this report is to present the points made during the Assembly, including to:
- highlight user needs and priorities, as well as opportunities and trade-offs, flag important data gaps, and where series are not needed
- recommend how system priorities could align with these needs
- inform delivery planning for the ONS, Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), GSS, and other statistical producers
- advise on where and how those outside government could best align
- encourage cross-sector discussion
- contribute to the Authority’s next five-year strategy
Of course, the extent to which users’ wishes and needs can be met is dependent on resources, and, although that is a matter beyond the remit of this report and of the Assembly, it is necessary to be mindful of the constraints on public finances and the need for the statistical system to prioritise and make trade-offs.
The report is structured as follows.
- Section 2 describes the format of the Assembly.
- Section 3 describes priorities which emerged from the meeting. In particular, Subsection 3.1 presents the main priorities at the highest level, while Subsection 3.2 presents suggestions which could lead to improvement on a short time scale.
- Section 4 describes issues which emerged with some consistency across the separate sessions.
- Section 5 presents summaries of the conclusions and recommendations of each of the fifteen breakout sessions. Within each of these a handful of points have been emboldened as being of particular importance.
- Section 6 describes the key points made in a plenary session on the UK statistical system as seen from an international perspective.
- Section 7 describes some recommendations for future assemblies based on what was learned from conducting this one.