Next meeting: 29 January 2026, London Boardroom

Members present

• Penny Young (Chair)
• Peter Barron
• Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter
• Professor Mairi Spowage
• Professor Dame Carol Propper
• Emma Rourke
• Darren Tierney
• Dr Sarah Walsh

Other attendees

• Mo Baines (for item 10)
• June Bowman
• Kate Davies (for item 13)
• Lucinda Eggleton (for item 12)
• Nicola Shearman (for item 11)
• Rob Kent-Smith
• Sarah Moore
• Kirsten Newton (for item 12)
• Tom Taylor
• James Benford
• Alex Lambert (for item 13)

Secretariat

• Sally Jones
• Tom Marsh

Apologies

• Dr Jacob Abboud
• Ed Humpherson

1. Apologies

1. Apologies were noted from Dr Jacob Abboud and Ed Humpherson.

2. Declarations of Interest

1. There were no new declarations of interest.

3. Minutes and matters arising from previous meetings

1. The minutes of the previous meeting held on 27 November 2025 were approved.

4. Report from the Authority Chair

1. The Chair noted thanks on behalf of the Board to Emma Rourke for her work as Acting National Statistician and wished her every success in her next role through the Whitehall in Industry scheme. Emma had established a clear focus for the National Statistician’s Office. It was noted that in addition to James Benford, Mary Gregory, ONS Executive Director for Population Statistics and Census, would attend Board meetings going forward and Lucinda Eggleton, ONS Director, National Statistician Office, would attend for relevant items relating to the National Statistician’s Office.
2. The Chair reported on her activities since the Board last met. She noted the need for a clear timetable for the appointment process for a new Chair of the UK Statistics Authority. The recent recruitment campaign had closed without appointment. The Chair highlighted the importance of maintaining the work led by the Acting National Statistician in the coming months. Work was ongoing by ONS to refresh the management information provided to Board and other committees to enable effective oversight. The Chair, Dr Sarah Walsh and Dr Jacob Abboud had met Tom Taylor to discuss the approach. The Minister Josh Simons, Cabinet Office Parliamentary Secretary, had visited the Newport office on 25 November.
3. The terms of reference for Population Statistics System Committee, a new subcommittee of the Board, were provided and noted by the Board.

5. Report from the Permanent Secretary

1. Darren Tierney provided the Board with an overview of activity and issues since the last meeting highlighting the following:
   1. delivery progress of ONS recovery plans including positive feedback from stakeholders. Significant progress had been made in terms of finance and resourcing of delivery plans with further work which would be undertaken as part of the ongoing business planning process;
   2. the results of the 2025 People Survey were similar to the previous year with a drop in Employee Engagement by one percentage point. A more detailed paper would be provided for the January Board meeting;
   3. regarding ONS’s senior leadership structure, recruitment processes were ongoing for a Chief People Officer and Director General for Digital, Data and Technology;
   4. the strategic outline business case for Census 2031 had been considered by a Treasury Approval Panel, supported by extensive engagement by Mary Gregory, Jason Zawadzki and Tom Taylor; and
   5. legacy transformation was a key area of focus for the senior leadership team with work ongoing to develop plans including the use of Artificial Intelligence and the potential for use of consultants to help review the current infrastructure and advise on a route map. A specific session on IT architecture and legacy transformation was scheduled for members of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee on 28 January.
2. Members discussed the update and noted the need for ONS to consider the sequencing of the work on prioritisation, business planning and the review of the strategic risk profile. Non-Executive Director engagement with Government Statistical Service (GSS) Heads of Profession had highlighted the importance of ONS engaging with GSS colleagues as part of the prioritisation process. ONS had announced the decisions on the prioritisation work noting there would be a dedicated ONS lead for the relevant areas to underpin engagement with stakeholders. Prioritisation decisions would form part of the ONS’s business planning process.
3. With regard to the census ONS were engaging with the Devolved Governments on funding and readiness including considerations relating to the interaction of elections in 2026.
4. The Board heard that work was ongoing to align risk reporting for the Economic Statistics Plan with the strategic risk on quality economic statistics with an agreed set of controls to mitigate the risks around legacy and manual systems. Members highlighted that the key components of the limited opinion, by the Head of Internal Audit for the financial year 2024/25, including data, technology and legacy, were still key areas of focus for the ONS senior leadership team. Board members noted the progress made by ONS with the introduction of a prototype data explorer for provisional weekly death statistics in England and Wales. Another area of progress by ONS included the exploratory work on the potential to use PAYE data to improve labour market statistics.

6. Report from the Acting National Statistician

1. Emma Rourke provided the Board with an overview of activity and issues since the last meeting highlighting the following:
   1. collaboration with Professor Dame Angela McLean, (Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Science and Engineering function) and Departmental Directors of Analysis with an event in January 2026 on the strengths and limitations of Large Language Models to support policy making;
   2. the work internationally with colleagues in economic statistics with the Ghana Statistical Service; and
   3. the plans to publish an update on the response to the UK Statistics Assembly that had been held in January 2025;
2. The Acting National Statistician had written to Permanent Secretaries of the Deputy Heads of the GSS to thank them for their service and to request support in the interim period without a National Statistician.
3. Members discussed the update and it was agreed that the draft response to the UK Statistics Assembly would be provided for members in correspondence for comment ahead of publication.

7. Report from the Director General for Regulation

1. Rob Kent Smith, Deputy Director for the Office for Statistics Regulation provided an overview of regulatory activities since the last meeting, highlighting the publication of OSR’s strategy on 26 November. OSR’s business plan would be scheduled for Board discussion at the next Board meeting. Areas of focus for OSR included preparation for elections in Scotland and Wales including an update to the Authority’s Intervention Policy to ensure alignment with the refreshed Code of Practice for Statistics. Rob Kent-Smith and OSR’s Head of Casework had met with colleagues at the Scottish Parliament about the use of statistics in demographic debate.
2. With regard to publications, on 27 November OSR had published its final report of its review of economic statistics published by ONS, which recognised the work by ONS and set out the approach to the future regulation of ONS in this area. ONS had published its first quarterly report in response to OSR’s systemic review on 4 December.
3. The Board heard that the volume of casework had increased. OSR’s 2025 People Survey results had been positive with an increase in employee engagement.

8. Report from the Chair of Regulation Committee

1. The Chair reported on the work of the Regulation Committee which had last met on 4 December.
2. The Committee had considered:
   1. OSR’s business plan, strategy evaluation and strategic risk profile;
   2. the accreditation of cancer waiting time statistics produced by NHS England subject to some amendment;
   3. the publication of the Systemic Review of Mental Health Statistics in Wales;
   4. ONS’s first quarterly update on the Economic Statistics Plan, which had been published on 4 December. (It was noted that at the November Board meeting had provided an opportunity for Board members to comment on the draft ESP plan for publication);
   5. OSR reported on its engagement on the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) and Labour Force Survey (LFS). The Committee had discussed perceived optimism bias in the update on the TLFS to Board in November, which had subsequently been clarified as a misunderstanding of the RAG statuses in the update. These indicators reflected ONS’ confidence in ability to make an assessment at various points in time, rather than confidence in delivery;
   6. OSR’s concerns about draft updates on harmonisation work being led by the NSO for GSS, including on plans for update on progress of sex guidance, which had not been published at the time of the discussion; and
   7. an update on the Authority’s Intervention Policy and election update in preparation for the forthcoming elections in Scotland and Wales in May.
3. Non-Executive Director members of Regulation Committee had met with OSR colleagues and discussed topics including workload and the need for the OSR senior leadership team to demonstrate how feedback had been acted upon. NEDs had also met GSS Deputy Heads  discussing OSR’s role in relation to methodology (including AI); the value of OSR interventions and the approach by OSR to address the backlog of statistics not reviewed for some time.

9. Communications update

1. Peter Barron and Sarah Moore reported on recent media coverage of ONS since the last meeting, highlighting the proactive approach being taken by the Communications team. Media coverage and sentiment in November had been more balanced covering a range of statistical outputs. During this period ONS had published two migration releases supported by media briefings. ONS had published the outcome on prioritisation with positive feedback for being open, transparent and taking difficult decisions. There was however still some negative media coverage on themes of poor data quality.

10. Board Effectiveness Review

1. Mo Baines, lead Non-Executive Director, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Chief Executive of the Association for Public Service Excellence, presented emerging findings for her external review of board effectiveness. In line with best practice, to undertake an external review every few years, the review had been commissioned by the Chair.
2. The scope of the review as agreed with the Interim Chair included discussions with Board members, a previous Non-Executive Director and a member of the ONS Senior Civil Service who regularly bring papers to the Board. Mo introduced the item focusing on a number of overarching questions. The discussions covered the effectiveness of the Board, governance, culture, relationships, behaviours, skills and experience, quality of information, diversity of thought and characteristics and potential areas for improvement. Mo had observed the November Board meeting and was provided with board papers and the annual self-effectiveness reviews of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and Regulation Committee that had been undertaken in 2025. Mo did not attend Board subcommittee meetings but was provided with a recording of the most recent Regulation Committee meeting.
3. It was acknowledged that the aim of the review was not to revisit the extensive inquiries already undertaken including the Devereux Review and ongoing inquiry by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC). This allowed for a critical friend approach: taking account of challenges already highlighted together with a forward look focus on how the current Board could maximise its effectiveness and what changes within the current overall set up could contribute to this.
4. The Board heard that in all interviews the impact of challenges faced by the Authority over the last couple of years informed discussions. Cultural issues, such as previous working relationships at a senior level had created barriers to the effectiveness of the Authority. The Board were committed to providing rigorous oversight, challenge and support for ONS during its recovery.
5. The review highlighted some strong examples of NED engagement, for example, the development of the Future of Population and Migration Statistics recommendation and more recently the work by Audit and Risk Assurance Committee NEDs supporting the ONS Risk and Assurance team. There was an acknowledgement that Board agendas had been dominated by specific ONS topics (TLFS, Integrated Data Service and the Future of Population and Migration Statistics). This was already being addressed with the Interim Chair ensuring regular discussions on People and Cultural issues as well as GSS and Devolved Governments topics with Chief Statisticians and Deputy Heads of GSS in attendance. The quality of papers and management information for the Board also featured in discussions. This area was being addressed with improvements to high level Management Information already underway. With regard to NED skills the current Board provides a wide range of deep expertise relevant to the Authority. The impact of the delay in NED recruitment due to the general election was apparent during 2024. The recruitment and appointment of new NEDs joining in January 2025 had strengthened skills and has impacted positively. Feeback suggested the potential for further strengthening with enhanced experience of large scale transformational leadership and a macroeconomist.
6. Members discussed the emerging findings and recommendations – relating to Board oversight including the potential for producer challenge, further strengthening of NED skills, sharpening the quality of papers and management information and the importance of a timely recruitment process of a permanent Board Chair. Some members highlighted their concern at the potential suggestion of introducing a dedicated forum to provide oversight of ONS, noting that it could be counterproductive and bureaucratic. It was clarified that the recommendations would need to be considered fully by the Board, alongside the outcome of the PACAC Inquiry.
7. The Board noted thanks to Mo Baines for her work on the review. It was agreed that members would have an opportunity to provide further feedback ahead of the Board Effectiveness Report being concluded. The final report would also be shared with PACAC.

11. National Statistician – Memorandum of Understanding [SA(25)68]

1. The Chair updated the Board on the progress of arrangements for the split of responsibilities between the National Statistician and Permanent Secretary. Progress was being made on the Memorandum of Understanding that would codify the split.
2. Board members discussed the options, including mitigation of the associated risks, for the split of responsibilities with consideration to the legal advice from the Government Legal Department. The Board collectively agreed that the Board should pursue the option whereby it delegates certain functions directly to the Permanent Secretary under the legislation, whilst also directing the National Statistician not to undertake those functions. It was agreed that members would provide any further comments in correspondence.

12. International Strategy [SA(25)69]

1. Lucinda Eggleton introduced a paper which provided an update on development of the new GSS International Strategy. The strategy would provide a framework for UK government statisticians to work together to shape international standards, influence global statistics, gain valuable insights on modernisation, and access comparative data. The change of emphasis would provide an opportunity for leading as the UK National Statistics Institute (NSI) to include an increased emphasis on learning from others. Feedback from consultation across the GSS would be addressed and work was ongoing with the GSS International Committee members to identify priorities that align with the pillars of the GSS Vision ‘Strength in Numbers’.
2. Members discussed the developing strategy. The importance of modernising NSIs was noted including ONS. Regarding coherence, an area of focus included multinational corporations and accounting treatment in the same way across borders. It was noted that International standards did not fully account for AI. It was noted that there were lots of shared international challenges and the strategy provided the opportunity for bilateral and multilateral engagement and shared learning. There was the potential to incorporate Trustworthiness, Quality and Value as set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Members strongly endorsed the increased emphasis on learning from others.
3. The Board noted the developing strategy, which was an opportunity to strengthen the impact of UK statistics internationally.

13. Survey Improvement and Enhancement Plan [SA(25)70]

1. Alex Lambert and Kate Davies introduced a paper which provided an update on progress made against the commitments set out in the Survey Improvement and Enhancement Plan.
2. Areas of focus related to the key challenges of interviewer recognition and sustaining field force headcount with a recent increase in attrition rates. Delivery of the December 2025 milestone for the interviewer recognition project had not been achieved. With regard to business surveys, progress had been made on legacy systems reduction with three surveys transitioned off legacy technology. Work was ongoing to complete the build of the Statistical Business Register but there were a number of challenges to be addressed including uncertainty on timing for legacy systems to be decommissioned.
3. Members discussed the update. The following points were made in discussion:
   1. the survey strategy work provided the opportunity for ONS to consider a wide range of issues including the resourcing model given the difficulties upscaling the field force and difficulties with the interviewer recognition model. A paper was scheduled for the Executive Committee in January to consider these issues;
   2. benchmarking against other similar organisations could also provide useful learning, in areas such as approach to resourcing models, and pay incentives; and
   3. the business planning process would conclude the prioritisation process and help underpin the approach by the enabling functions working with the business areas to address legacy remediation.
4. The Board noted the update.

14. Any other busines

1. The Authority Board would next meet on 29 January 2026.