Advisory Panel on National Accounts

May 2025

Overview

The Advisory Panel on National Accounts (APoNA) provides independent advice to the Deputy National Statistician on the production, publication, uses and applications of National Accounts and their technical aspects. 

Introduction

The APoNA has been set up to provide advice and guidance for National Accounts, and its directly associated topics, which are produced and published by the ONS. This includes the regular suite of National Accounts publications (monthly, quarterly and annual) as well as the transformation of existing outputs and the development of new statistics.

In scope are:  

• Data sources and methods used to compile the National Accounts,  
• Production issues related to the compilation of GDP and components, which includes: GDP (monthly, quarterly and annual), Trade, Balance of Payments, Sector and Financial Accounts, and Productivity.  

Note that Public Sector Finances and classification guidance and decisions will be considered separately and outside of the APoNA due to specific user focus and needs. 

Relationship of APoNA to other advisory panels

The APoNA forms part of a suite of separate advisory panels on Economic Statistics and works in parallel to separate advisory panels on Labour Market and Prices. Issues relevant to those topics are covered by the appropriate advisory panel.

Functions

The Advisory Panel provides independent advice to the Deputy National Statistician, Economic Statistics on the production, uses and applications of National Accounts, and its associated topics, to ensure that these statistics meet the needs of users and ‘serve the public good’. 

Specifically, the Panel will: 

• monitor and provide timely advice on the National Accounts and related transformations and improvements based on the agenda items covered; 
• raise other relevant issues or topics on the production, use and application of National Accounts, including on behalf of the user community; 
• provide technical expertise on relevant aspects of the National Accounts statistics work programme guided by the agenda items; 
• provide a yearly report to the Deputy National Statistician, Economic Statistics as appropriate, describing its activities and plans 

Reporting and Governance 

The APoNA advises the Deputy National Statistician, Economic Statistics.  

The Chair of the APoNA, in conjunction with the Deputy National Statistician for Economic Statistics, will present a yearly summary report on the activities of the Advisory Panel, for the National Statistician, who in turn can decide whether specific matters or issues need to be raised or discussed by the UK Statistics Authority Board. 

Chairing

The chair of the APoNA is appointed with a transparent and open process, and the appointment will be reviewed every three years by the Deputy National Statistician, Economic Statistics. 

The Chair sets the Panel’s agenda, guided by the strategic direction and the needs of ONS. 

The Chair also represents the Panel publicly, as necessary. 

Membership 

Membership of the Panel provides for a mixture of interests and expertise. Members are appointed for fixed terms of two years (with the current term running until July 2027), by the Chair and the Deputy National Statistician. Reappointments will be permitted if agreed. The membership of the Panel will be reviewed yearly by the Chair and the Deputy National Statistician for Economic Statistics to ensure it is representative.  

The role of each member of the APoNA is to participate in consideration of the full range of issues within the remit of the Panel. 

In general, substitutes will not be permitted to attend Panel meetings unless with express invitation and agreement from the Chair. However, for government departments, Devolved Administrations, and Bank of England representatives, the Chair accepts that it is sometimes necessary for the Panel member to delegate attendance of the Stakeholder Panel meeting to a colleague, if they are unable attend or depending on the agenda topic. 

Members, excluding the Chair, are not remunerated. All reasonable travel and subsistence costs will be reimbursed. 

Transparency / Confidentiality 

The Panel will operate transparently. Meeting agendas, papers and minutes will be published shortly after each meeting, unless it is deemed that they are of a sensitive nature. The sensitivity of each paper will be discussed during the meeting, and decisions that have been made will be clearly stated in the minutes. 

• Papers that are deemed to be of a sensitive nature (classified APoNA  MARKET SENSITIVE) will be withheld from publication. 
• Papers that are draft versions of scheduled publications will not be published ahead of their scheduled date, but the APoNA minutes will clearly state when the final document is expected to be published. 
• Any papers sent by additional correspondence will be published alongside the documents for the following meeting, subject to being non-sensitive and not a draft of a planned publication. 
• Any document will remain confidential until published (and will be classified as APoNA CONFIDENTIAL). 

Panel members will have the opportunity to comment on the minutes before publication for issues of accuracy. The Panel chair will have the final sign off on the minutes. The minutes are made publicly available within six weeks following the meeting date. 

Code of Conduct

Panel members are expected to provide their expertise and advice on the topics they are asked to consider. Members are welcome to share papers in advance with colleagues on a need-to-know basis to develop their advice within the constraints outlined in the Confidentiality Undertaking which all panel members are requested to sign. If Panel members wish to share a paper more widely, this can be decided by the chair of the Panel, in-discussion and agreement with ONS, on a case-by-case basis. 

On occasion members will be asked to consider topics of a sensitive nature. In these instances, certain restrictions will apply. These will be clearly set out by the Panel secretariat in advance of receiving any papers. Members who feel they are not able to abide with the restrictions will not receive papers and will be asked not to attend the relevant meeting. 

Secretariat

The secretariat will be provided by the ONS.

Meetings

The Panel will be expected to meet between 2 to 4 times each year or on an as needed basis as requested by ONS and agreed with the Chair. Adequate meeting preparation time will be provided. 

Membership list will appear here once appointed.

Vacancy: Advisory Panel on National Accounts members
Closing date: 24 October 2025

Meeting minutes will appear here once published.