Overview and aims of the day

The UK Statistics Authority, in partnership with the Royal Statistical Society, is delighted to host users, producers and stakeholders at the first UK Statistics Assembly. The event will be chaired by Professor Cathie Sudlow OBE of the University of Edinburgh. 

The formation of the Statistics Assembly is in response to a recommendation in the Independent Review of the UK Statistics Authority by Professor Denise Lievesley CBE.  

The Assembly’s goal is to discuss user needs and gaps and the challenges and opportunities confronting the system. It will provide advice on the future priorities for the UK statistical system. It will also identify opportunities for those outside the official system to align for common benefit. 

The Assembly marks an exciting and unique opportunity for diverse voices and views to be heard, including from central, local and devolved governments, business and industry, academia, civil society and charities. Establishing a regular Assembly is one part of our work to strengthen inclusive and sustained user engagement across the system. 

This Assembly is the first of its kind; there is no off-the-shelf template for an event of this sort, and we are pleased to be pioneering this new approach for engaging with our statistical community. To ensure that the Assembly design and planning reflected a range of external views and the UK Statistics Authority benefited from the advice, experience and independence of others, an Assembly Delivery Group was established. Organisations represented on the group are: 

• Academy of Social Sciences   
• British Chambers of Commerce   
• Government Statistical Service   
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation   
• National Statistician’s Expert User Advisory Committee representatives  
• Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency  
• Office for Statistics Regulation   
• Royal Statistical Society   
• Scottish Government  
• UK Research and Innovation  
• UK Statistics Authority  
• Welsh Government  
• Westmorland and Furness Council 

Ahead of the event, a call for contributions ran for eight weeks between September and November 2024. This took the form of a short questionnaire. It asked for: 

• topic and cross-cutting theme discussion preferences   
• suggestions for agenda discussion items and presenters  
• examples of statistical and data priorities, gaps, and public and user needs 

In collaboration with the Assembly Delivery Group, the call for contribution submissions were used to develop a comprehensive agenda that facilitates participation and enables the range of views to be captured at the event. It is designed based on the indicated preferences, as well as the detailed qualitative evidence, from the call for contributions and further feedback. 

See further information about the call for contributions on the UK Statistics Authority consultation and engagement platform.