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 at www.civilservicecommission.org.uk

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. The Authority does not make payments-in-kind

Remuneration of Executive Directors for the UK Statistics Authority and the Office for National Statistics, 2020/21 and 2019/20 (audited)

Table 15

Notes to the remuneration tables (current and previous Board members)

Where a member of the Board served for only a part of a year, the full time equivalent (FTE) figure is also shown in brackets.

The value of pension benefits accrued during the year is calculated as (the real increase in pension multiplied by 20) plus (the real increase in any lump sum) less (the contributions made by the individual). The real increases exclude increases due to inflation or any increase or decreases due to a transfer of pension rights.

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. They are determined by an individual’s performance in the previous appraisal year, i.e. payments made in 2020/21 relate to performance outcomes in 2019/20 and the comparative bonuses reported for 2019/20 relate to performance in 2018/19.

Remuneration of Non-Executive Directors of the UK Statistics Authority 2020/21 and 2019/20 (audited)

Table 16

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

The banded remuneration of the highest paid director in UKSA in the financial year 2020-21 was £165,000 - £170,000 (2019/20: £160,000 - £165,000). This was 5.67 times (2019/20: 5.50 times) the median remuneration of the workforce, which was £29,540 (2019:20 £29,540).
The ratio has not changed significantly due to the August 2020 pay award not being implemented as at the time of reporting.

No employees received remuneration in excess of the highest-paid director in either 2020/21 or 2019/20. The lowest staff remuneration in 2020/21 was £18,041 (2019/20 £18,041). The mid-point of the banded remuneration of the highest paid director was £167,500 during 2020/21 (2019/20 £162,500).

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 median remuneration for 2020/21 is derived from the annualised remuneration of all staff as at 31 March 2021. Part time employees’ payments are adjusted on a full-time basis.

Pension benefits (audited)

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

Details of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme can be found on page 97.

Table 17

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 2020 and 31 March 2021.

Table 18

Other Information

Compensation for loss of office (audited)

• No Director received compensation for loss of office during 2020/21.

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)

Table 19

Staff costs (audited)

Table 20

Capitalised staff costs (audited)

Table 21

Staff numbers as at 31 March 2021 (audited)

Table 22

Staff loaned as at 31 March 2021

Table 23

Staff hosted as at 31 March 2021

Table 24

Those less than 12 months to projected end date are considered short term assignments. The average duration of staff redeployments is less than 12 months. The cost of staff on short term loan is included in the staff costs above and chapter four, note three. All staff costs are programme costs.

Staff turnover

Table 25

Civil Service turnover captures staff leaving the Civil Service as a whole and Departmental turnover captures staff leaving the Authority but remain in the Civil Service. Turnover percentages are calculated as the number of leavers within that period divided by the average number of staff in post over the period.

Contingent workers as at 31 March 2021

Table 26

Staff composition as at 31 March 2021

Table 27

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

Table 28

Off payroll engagements

The following table identifies all off-payroll engagements as at 31 March 2021 for more than £245 per day for a period longer than six months.

Table 29

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 2020 and 31 March 2021)

Table 30

Sickness absence

Average working days lost during 2020/21 is 4.3 (2019/20 was 7.7).

Sickness absence has reduced due to an increase in remote working
since March 2020.

Reporting compensations for employee Departures (audited)

Table 31

During the financial year 2020/21, there were no financial costs for voluntary exit schemes or redundancies (voluntary or compulsory). One voluntary redundancy case relating to the ESG Target Operating Mode, had a last day of service in June 2020, however the costs were attributed to financial year 2019/20 given acceptance of the offer was made in March of that financial year.

All exits within ONS that were not already agreed have been paused during the pandemic.

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.

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. The Authority has achieved the highest-level accreditation Level 3 Disability Confident Leader status and offers an interview to all those who declare a disability and meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Authority’s policies require that managers must consider and make workplace adjustments to enable an employee with a disability 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 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 a number of cross-government talent schemes that seek to attract staff 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 or long-term health condition who gains a place on the cross-government FLS.

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 £11.2m in 2019/20 to £6.0m
in 2020/21 and expenditure on contractors increased from £13.0m in 2019/20 to £28.4m in 2020/21. Further information can be found in note four to the accounts.

Spend on consultancy and the need for temporary staff is largely dependent on the nature of projects being undertake and the expertise required. During 2020-21 the Census took place which has contributed to an increase in temporary staff costs, increasing from £1.0m in 2019/20 to £27.6m in 2020/21, as disclosed in Note 3 to the accounts.

Workplace health, safety and welfare

The Health and Safety framework of governance, risk management and control for the Authority was subject to an internal audit during this period. The audit concluded with substantial assurance given that appropriate arrangements are in place. Workplace Health and Safety performance is reviewed on an annual basis by the Departmental Health and Safety Committee. The Authority has an up-to-date Health and Safety Policy, which has been amended to ensure that it remains aligned to legislation and takes account of organisational changes. All necessary risk assessments, inspections, maintenance, cleaning and testing regimes were in place.

The Authority is especially aware that it needs to ensure it protects our Field Force against the Health and Safety risks they encounter outside the office environment and often working alone. Work to develop suitable and sufficient Health and Safety management arrangements for Census 2021 continued and were tested during the 2019 Census Rehearsal.

In terms of staff wellbeing, 61% of staff gave a positive response to the question “How satisfied are you with your life nowadays?”. This is 9% lower than in 2019 but remains 2% higher than the score for the Civil Service as a whole. The four wellbeing questions from the Wellbeing Index in the People Survey ask about whole life experience, not just work (although work is a factor that contributes to whole life wellbeing). The downward trajectory of these wellbeing scores is unsurprising in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and is in line with national wellbeing data published by the Office for National Statistics (which covers the period April 2019 to March 2020). Conscious of this challenging backdrop, we have made wellbeing part of our People Survey themes of focus to ensure that the wellbeing of our employees is a top priority. The comparison to wider Civil Service suggests our support and interventions have gone some way in minimising the negative impacts.

Equality, diversity and inclusion overview

The Authority measures some of the most important issues that affect the public. To do this effectively it remains essential to embed inclusion and diversity in our organisation, making the most of our diverse talents to represent the communities we serve, and of which we are a part. As an employer and in our work, we ensure compliance with the Equality Act 2010 through the policies and infrastructure in place as set out below. Further information on our commitment to the Public Sector Equality Duty is available on the Authority’s website. Workforce diversity data and the Authority’s progress against targets can also be found on pages 95 to 96.

‘Inclusive’ is one of the four pillars of our Strategy. We aspire to be inclusive in both our approach to workforce and culture, and the design of data, statistics and analysis. This means ensuring our statistics and our workforce reflect the experiences of everyone in our society so that everyone counts and is counted, and no one is forgotten. Our strategy and business plan are supported by our people plan and inclusion and diversity plan. Our ambition is to build an inclusive culture in which everyone feels they belong, has a voice and can be themselves, and to build and sustain a diverse and representative workforce.

Our inclusion plan outlines our intentions 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.

Equality, diversity and inclusion infrastructure

Governance

The Governance for inclusion and diversity is through our People Committee, chaired by the Second Permanent Secretary. This is supported by an Inclusion and Diversity Steering Group that acts as a consultative forum on the Authority’s work in this area. Progress on inclusion and diversity commitments is reviewed regularly through these groups.

Networks

The Authority recognises the great value that employee diversity networks bring to improving our workplace and policies. There are nine recognised employee network groups in place, each with a senior leadership sponsor. Our champions, sponsors and network groups are active across the organisation and undertake initiatives such as celebratory events, learning workshops, sharing blogs, developing and publishing guidance and toolkits, identifying best practice, and linking with other government departments. The Authority engages regularly with the employee diversity networks on the development of our people policies and procedures.

Benchmarking and Collaborating

We participate in external diversity benchmarking exercises to identify opportunities to further improve our policies and practices and develop our inclusive culture. The Authority has achieved the highest level of accreditation (Leader) through the Disability Confident Scheme, a Silver Award in the Mind Workplace Wellbeing Index and during 2020, we entered the Working Families Top 30 Employers List for the first time. We are committed to maintaining and improving our position in these benchmarks.

We work closely with other Government Departments and Cabinet Office
to identify areas for collaboration and shared initiatives.

Measuring Progress

Progress is measured through regular monitoring of workforce diversity data at both organisational level and within individual business areas via an interactive dashboard. Declaration rates are regularly monitored, and colleagues are actively encouraged to provide this information. We have achieved a significant increase in our declaration rates over the past year, progressing our goal to develop a stronger evidence base for action. In addition, we use the benchmarking data outlined above, insights from our employee networks and from the annual Civil Service People Survey to track progress on inclusion. The Civil Service People Survey provides a score for Inclusion and Fair Treatment. In 2020, the Authority’s score was 85%, up from 79% in 2019. We build further insight through regular use of employee voice channels including pulse surveys, monthly polls, listening groups and engagement with our employee networks.

This year, we also benchmarked the inclusivity of our policies and processes against a set of Civil Service wide standards for inclusion and diversity. We will continue to work closely with the Cabinet Office to align our approach to measurement.

Workforce diversity data and progress against targets as at 31 March 2021

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 84.4%. The following data is collated from those who have made a declaration.

Table 32

Table 33

Table 34

The Authority has a long-term ambition to be representative of the society we serve. We have set a headline workforce representation target to increase ethnic minority representation by one percentage point a year, with an ambition to reach 11% by 2025. The annual target has been achieved for March 2021. Efforts to increase the diversity of the applicant base for our vacancies and to minimise any bias within our recruitment and selection processes will continue to be a priority focus to ensure positive progress continues.

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 49. The time spent on trade union facility activity is analysed in the table below.

Table 35

The cost to the Authority of trade union facility time represents 0.04% of the pay bill of £254,857,000 (2019/20 0.04% of the pay bill £190,988,000). 9.5% (2019/20 8.5%) of the facility time was spent on paid trade union activities.

Civil Service Pensions

Pension benefits are provided through the Civil Service pension arrangements.

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 with a normal pension age equal to the member’s State Pension Age (or 65 if higher). From that date all newly appointed civil servants and the majority of those already in service joined alpha. Prior to that date, civil servants participated in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS). The PCSPS has four sections: 3 providing benefits on a final salary basis (classic, premium or classic plus) with a normal pension age of 60; and one providing benefits on a whole career basis (nuvos) with a normal pension age of 65.

Defined Benefit Schemes

The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) and the Civil Servant and Other Pension Scheme (CSOPS) – known as “alpha” – are unfunded multi-employer defined benefit schemes but the Authority is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities.

The scheme actuary valued the PCSPS as at 31 March 2016. You can find details in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation at the website https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/about-us/resource-accounts/

Because the Government plans to remove discrimination identified by the courts in the way that the 2015 pension reforms were introduced for some members, it is expected that, in due course, eligible members with relevant service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 may be entitled to different pension benefits in relation to that period (and this may affect the Cash Equivalent Transfer Values shown in this report – see pages 81 to 83). All members who switch to alpha have 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 pension figures quoted for officials show pension earned in PCSPS or alpha – as appropriate. Where the official has benefits in both the PCSPS and alpha the figure quoted is the combined value of their benefits in the two schemes.)

In all cases members may opt to give up (commute) pension for a lump sum up to the limits set by the Finance Act 2004.

Further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements can be found at the website www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

Pensions payable under classic, premium, classic plus, nuvos and alpha are increased annually in line with pensions increase legislation. Details of each pension scheme and the differences between them are shown in the table below.

Table 36

For 2020/21, employers’ contributions of £39.8 million were payable to the PCSPS and CSOPS (2019/20 £34.8 million) at one of four rates on the range of 26.6% to 30.3% (2019/20 26.6% to 30.3%) of pensionable pay, based on salary bands.

More detail about the Remuneration Report, providing detail on the pension benefits for the members of the Executive Committee can be found on pages 81 to 83.

Partnership Pension

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).

Employers’ contributions of £374,000 (2019/20 £337,000) were paid to one or more of a panel of three approved stakeholder pension providers.

Contributions due to the partnership pension providers at the balance sheet date were £35,000 (2019/20 £29,000). Contributions prepaid for both 2020/21 and 2019/20 were nil.

Employers’ contributions of £13,000 representing 0.5 per cent of pensionable pay (2019/20 £12,000 and 0.5 per cent) was payable to the PCSPS over the course of the year to cover the cost of centrally-provided risk benefit cover for employees.

Six members of staff (2019/20 seven members of staff) retired early on ill-health grounds.

Statement of 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 one); a reconciliation of outturn to net operating expenditure in the SOCNE, to tie the SOPS to the financial statements (note two); a reconciliation of outturn to net cash requirement (note three); and an analysis of income payable to the Consolidated Fund (note four).

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 40, in the financial review section of the performance report. Further information on the Public Spending Framework and the reasons why budgeting rules are different to IFRS can also be found in chapter one 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 2020-21

All figures presented in £000’s

Table 37

Net cash requirement 2020/21 (audited)

All figures presented in £000’s

Table 38

Notes to the Parliamentary Supply, 2020/21 (£000’s) (audited)

• SOPS 1 – Outturn detail by Estimate Line
• For the period ending 31 March 2021
• SOPS 1.1 Analysis of resource outturn by Estimate line

Table 39

SOPS 1.2 Analysis of capital outturn by estimate line

Table 40

SOPS 2 – Reconciliation of outturn to net operating expenditure

Table 41

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

For the period ending 31 March 2021

Table 42

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 2021

Table 43

There are no individual cases of special payments or losses over £300,000 (2019/20: 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.

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.