Kylie Lovell – Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST)
Beccy Shipman – Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Peter Lynn – Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex
Samantha Clemens – Ipsos
Debrah Harding – Market Research Society (MRS)
Nicola Fisher – NISRA
Alex Lambert (Chair) – Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Sophie Coombes – Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Jen Woolford – Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Paula Parkes (Secretariat) – Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Bobby Duffy – Policy Institute, King’s College London
Ailie Clarkson – Scottish Government
Ed Dunn – Social Research Association (SRA)
Michael Davis -The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)
Gerry Nicolaas – The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)
Steve McEachern – UK Data Service
Olga Maslovskaya – University of Southampton, Department of Social Statistics and Demography
Ben Humberstone – Verian
Apologies
Catrin Awoyemi – Welsh Government
Minutes
1. Welcome and National Statistician update
Opening remarks provided by the chair.
An update was shared on the appointment of André Loranger as the new National Statistician. André will join the UK Statistics Authority in November and we are looking forward to him picking up the chair of this forum in the New Year.
2. Session 1: Action log and updates
Action log update
A Social Survey Strategic Forum (SSSF) Action Log has been created to track progress against key strategic actions for the group. This will be circulated to members after this meeting and in advance of future meetings.
SSSF Threat Statement and System Map: Product Sign-off
Members endorsed the final Threat Statement and System Map products and agreed their publication on the Authority website, accompanied by a supporting blog.
ESRA Conference
Members agreed to an SSSF sponsored panel discussion at the 12th Conference of the European Survey Research Association (ESRA) in Paris, in July 2027. A proposal has been accepted by ESRA, with members agreeing to collaborate as sponsors and work alongside NatCen and ONS to identify potential panellists for the session.
Strengthening Social Survey Leadership in Government
ONS provided an update on the July 2026 SSSF action “Consider options for strengthening leadership, sponsorship and representation of social surveys across government”.
Members discussed strengthening leadership and demonstrating the value and impact of social surveys across government, including the idea of establishing a new senior-level strategic survey group across government. Feedback included considering the remit and audience for this group, with any new group complementing rather than duplicating existing forums.
ONS have created an initial list of Government Strategic Surveys and supporting definition of a ‘Strategic Survey’ which will be circulated to members for feedback.
Members discussed the scope of the list, considering whether it should focus solely on national government surveys or include other surveys and potentially wider social research.
Members recognised the need to identify relevant decision makers and audiences as part of this work. The stakeholder map will be reviewed in response to this.
Members agreed an SSSF Strategy and agreed direction of travel were required to build on existing products and support forward action for the Forum.
It was agreed that all SSSF outputs should explicitly link to actions identified in the Threat Statement, Heat Map and System Map products.
Positive Case Studies
Members shared progress against the July 2026 SSSF action “collate evidence and case studies demonstrating the value and impact of social surveys to support future engagement activity”.
NatCen have identified 18 positive case studies. The UK Data Service, ESRC and NISRA also have examples demonstrating the positive impact and value of social surveys.
Members agreed the need for a consistent approach to developing and using case studies, tailored to the intended audience.
Case studies should form part of a coherent, sector-wide initiative demonstrating how survey evidence informs decision-making and creates public value.
3. Session 2: Citizen Lab paper discussion
ONS provided a brief overview of the Citizen Lab paper which was circulated to members ahead of the meeting, inviting initial views on the concept and proposed delivery model.
Members discussed the Citizen Lab concept and considered whether the proposal could sit alongside existing initiatives, including Census 2031 engagement.
Members agreed the immediate priority should be developing an overarching SSSF strategy and forward plan which could then inform how a Citizen Lab fits into priority actions affecting participation and engagement in UK social surveys.
4. Any other business and close
Initial discussions were had around a topic request for the January 2027 SSSF meeting.
Members were asked to consider a realistic stance for acceptable survey response rates, including how we define ‘good enough’ when participation is not mandatory.
Members were also asked to consider whether the definition of ‘social surveys’ is too narrow and should encompass surveys that use other data sources.
5. Action log
Invite new National Statistician to future SSSF meetings to support strategy development discussions. Owners: ONS.
ONS to share SSSF action log with members. Owners: ONS.
Develop an SSSF sponsored blog to launch the Threat Statement and System Map products and consider next steps. Owners: Sophie Coombes, Gerry Nicolaas and Ed Dunn.
ESRA 2027 Conference: Members to contact Gerry Nicolaas to volunteer or recommend potential panellists for the ESRA Conference in Paris in July 2027. Owners: All.
Circulate the draft definition for a ‘strategic survey’ and the current Government Strategic Survey List with SSSF members for comment. Owners: Sophie Coombes.
Explore expanding the Strategic Survey List for the whole Social Survey sector. Owners: Sophie Coombes, Steve McEachern and Gerry Nicolaas.
Establish a working group to develop the Forum’s approach to strengthening social survey leadership, including defining a “strategic survey” and clarifying the Forum’s intended purpose and impact in this space. This working group will draft a paper to bring to the SSSF January 2027 meeting. Owners: Sophie Coombes, Steve McEachern and Gerry Nicolaas.
Forum members to continue to submit positive case studies to survey.strategy.qhub@ons.gov.uk ahead of January 2027. Owners: All.
Establish a working group to support actions on demonstrating the value of Social Surveys. To include developing guidance and templates and clarify how case studies will be used. Owners: Gerry Nicolaas, Steven McEachern, Beccy Shipman and Tim Vizard (ONS).
Establish a SSSF Strategy working group to develop the Strategy and Direction of Travel for the Forum, to present to the January 2027 SSSF Meeting. Owners: Ben Humberstone, Kylie Lovell, Sam Clemens, Beccy Shipman, Olga Maslovskya and Gerry Nicolaas.
GAP Analysis: To support future planning, consider a GAP Analysis of pre-existing research on public perceptions, response rates etc across the sector. Owners: Sophie Coombes.
