Next meeting: 28 November 2024, London Boardroom

Members present

• Sir Robert Chote (Chair)
• Dr Jacob Abboud
• Professor Sir John Aston
• Professor Sir Ian Diamond
• Ed Humpherson
• Professor Dame Carol Propper
• Emma Rourke
• Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter
• Penny Young

Other attendees

• Mike Keoghan
• Alex Lambert (for item 9)
• Liz McKeown (for item 9)
• Sarah Moore
• Professor Rebecca Riley (for item 7)
• Emma Rourke (for item 8)
• Ruth Studley (for item 8)
• Tom Taylor

Apologies

• None

Secretariat

• Sally Jones

1. Apologies

1. There were no apologies.

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 26 September were agreed.

4. Report from the Authority Chair [SA(24)53]

1. Non-Executive Directors (NED) had met before the meeting and had discussed the recruitment process for NEDs.
2. The Chair reported on his recent activities since the Board last met:
   1. on 17 October, Sir Robert and Professor Sir Ian Diamond had met with Georgia Gould, Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, to outline key priorities for the Authority;
   2. Sir Robert had met with John Van Reenen and Tom Hemmingway, HM Treasury (HMT) to discuss topics including the Office for National Statistics (ONS) labour market statistics; and
   3. Sir Robert had written to Secretaries of State regarding the ongoing consultation on the Code of Practice for Statistics highlighting the principes of intelligent transparency.
3. The Board heard that the recruitment process for NEDs had restarted with interviews scheduled for early December.

5. Report from the Chief Executive [SA(24)54]

1. Sir Ian provided the Board with an overview of activity and issues since the last meeting, highlighting the following:
   1. phase one of the Spending Review 2025 (SR25) had concluded with HMT confirming the Authority’s 2025/26 settlement and agreeing to a simplified funding model, including recalibrated core funding. The formal commission for SR25 phase two had not yet been received;
   2. progress of business planning 2025/26 alongside SR25 and framing for the refresh of the Authority’s strategy, Statistics for the Public Good;
   3. Sir Ian, on behalf of the Authority, had signed an arrangement on statistical cooperation with Eurostat;
   4. the publication of a number of economic statistics including the annual publication of Blue Book and Pink Book 2024 on 31 October;
   5. plans for communication and stakeholder engagement regarding the publication of migration statistics scheduled on 28 November;
   6. Professor Cathie Sudlow had been commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Ian and NHS England’s National Director for Transformation to lead an independent review: Uniting the UK’s Health Data. The report was scheduled for publication on 8 November;
   7. the pay award process for delegated grades for 2024/25 in line with the Civil Service Pay Guidance had been agreed following consultation with the unions. Payment of the award was scheduled for November;
   8. progress of the work by the ONS in partnership with the Royal Statistical Society on the Authority’s first UK Statistics Assembly on 22 January 2025;
   9. consideration by the Senior Leadership Team on the ONS estate. The Darlington Economic Campus had been shortlisted for a Civil Service Award; and
   10. the programme of work on FPMS. Timing for publication of the draft recommendation had been delayed due to the general election and the need for pre-ministerial engagement.
2. Sir Ian noted thanks to Tom Taylor and Rhys Thomas for their work on SR25.
3. The Board heard that ONS had set out options to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Department for Health and Social Care for addressing delays to data on deaths caused by long registration delays for cases referred to the coroner, which MoJ had responded to. It was acknowledged that further consideration was needed on next steps to address this issue.
4. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter provided an update on his attendance at a recent event by Better Statistics in relation to the Assembly.
5. The Board noted the report and agreed an approach in relation to the long-standing issue of delays to coronial data. With regard to SR25 phase one it was agreed that Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) aligned to the conditions set out by HMT in the settlement letter would be developed as part of the business planning process and reported at every Board meeting, with effect from April 2025. The KPIs would be agreed with key stakeholders in advance.

6. Report from the Director General of Regulation [SA(24)55]

1. Ed Humpherson provided and update on regulatory activity. The consultation for the Code of Practice for Statistics had been published on 23 October. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) would engage with producers and stakeholder throughout the consultation period.
2. The Board heard that in response to a recommendation from the Lievesley Review OSR had published a statement on its separation from ONS. The volume of casework had increased and a blog published following concerns that the Prime Minister had used unpublished data regarding immigration. Following discussion at the last Board meeting Ed Humpherson had met with Special Advisers at the Department of Business and Trade

7. Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence [SA(24)56]

1. Sir Robert welcomed Professor Rebecca Riley, Director of the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE), to the meeting. ESCoE had been established as part of the Bean Review.
2. The Board heard about the opportunities, challenges and impact of ESCoE which facilitates research led development of economic statistics delivered through an international research network working in partnership with ONS.
3. Areas of innovation in economic statistics included: novel surveys, new uses of existing surveys, new methods to harness new data sources, historical data, hard to measure concepts and measuring new concepts. ESCoE had worked in partnership with ONS in a range of areas including Gross Domestic Product, Consumer Price Index methodology to incorporate scanner data, measuring public sector productivity, communicating uncertainty in economic statistics and preparation for the System of National Accounts 2025.
4. The following points were made in discussion:
   1. the most appropriate funding mechanism for ESCoE and the value it provided for ONS;
   2. the model of good engagement with ONS was based on joint working underpinned by a clear understanding of the project at the outset. This was facilitated by a readiness to engage by teams at both ESCoE and ONS, ongoing communication, and the ability to adapt as necessary;
   3. ESCoE’s approach to the development of its programme of research; and
   4. resourcing and development of PhD early career researchers with the required level of support in place.
5. The Board noted their thanks for an excellent presentation and invited Professor Riley to return for further discussions as needed. Sir Ian and Mike Keoghan noted ESCoE’s excellent work and valuable contributions to the ONS.

8. The Future of Population and Migration Statistics Recommendation [SA(24)57]

1. As this area of work is in development, this paper will be published upon completion.

9. Transformed Labour Force Survey/Labour Force Survey [SA(24)58]

1. Alex Lambert and Liz McKeown introduced a paper which provided an update on the Labour Force Survey and the Transformed Labour Force Survey.
2. The Board heard that the project was amber red, which reflected the risks associated meeting labour market quality criteria. The plan of work to February and the focus of the February design review had been agreed. As part of the development of the TLFS three shorter versions of the survey, referred to collectively as the LMX, had gone live on 28 October with analysis of the impact of the shorter survey taking place during November and December. In September, an update on TLFS data had been provided to users. The three key risks remained, the collection of Complex Data Variable, UK Data Coherence and conflicting resource pressures.
3. Board members discussed the update of the LFS/TLFS. The following points were considered in discussion:
   1. the Stakeholder Advisory Panel chaired by Jonathan Portes would consider LFS and TLFS quality issues at its October meeting;
   2. the impact of LFS recovery actions implemented at the end of 2023/24 would not be fully seen in labour market estimates until quarter two of 2025. Until this point labour market estimates would be subject to more volatility. Clear communication and increased transparency would be needed to provide clarity for users on the volatility of the data;
   3. the request by ONS to suspend the accreditation of ONS outputs based on the Annual Population Survey given the need to address quality issues; and
   4. progress of work to improve Standard Industrial Classification and Standard Occupational data for the TLFS including the use of Artificial Intelligence.
4. The Board noted the report and would continue to remain engaged as the work progressed.

10. Any other business

1. The Board would next meet on Thursday 28 November.