National Statistician’s Expert User Advisory Committee (NSEUAC)

Membership is drawn from some of the principal user and advisory forums within the UK statistical system. The members of NSEUAC are:

1. Professor David Hand (Chair)
2. Eva Aizpurua
3. Professor Paul Allin
4. Dame Kate Barker
5. Helen Boaden
6. Professor Paul Boyle
7. James Brooks
8. Phyllis MacFarlane
9. Professor Guy Nason
10. The National Statistician, Director General for Regulation, and the Chief Executive of the Royal Statistical Society are ex-officio members.
11. The Director of Communications and Digital Publishing will be in attendance at meetings.

1. Introduction

1. The National Statistician’s Expert User Advisory Committee (NSEUAC) was established in March 2022. It provides advice to the National Statistician on a range of cross-cutting issues that extend beyond the remit of any single one of our existing user or advisory groups.

2. Purpose

1. In line with our published user engagement strategy, our vision is that user engagement is second nature for all producers of statistics, and therefore that it is embedded into organisations’ wider engagement activities and actively implemented throughout the statistical development, production and review cycle. User engagement is about building sustainable relationships and feedback loops between statistics producers, users and potential users of statistics and other relevant stakeholders. It can be collaborative both within and across organisations and themes, to make statistics accessible to a wider range of potential users.
2. NSEUAC will provide strategic advice and insights to the National Statistician about how the UK statistical system can best maximise effective engagement with all users to enable the UK Statistics Authority and the wider system to use data in radical, ambitious, inclusive and sustainable ways as set out in the UK Statistics Authority strategy, Statistics for the Public Good.
3. The Code of Practice for Statistics sets out that “users of statistics and data should be at the centre of statistical production; their needs should be understood, their views sought and acted on, and their use of statistics supported”. The quality pillar of the Code of Practice also reminds us that statistics should fit their intended uses, and therefore that producers of statistics will only know whether this element of quality continues to be achieved by regularly engaging with a full range of users.
4. Effective user engagement means that our statistics, analysis and services are relevant, fit for purpose and help answer people’s questions; make a real contribution to our better understanding of the world; instil confidence and deliver maximum impact and value to the user; and, empower better evidence-based decision-making.
5. The Committee will define its own agenda or subjects of interest that will include, but not be limited to, the following:
   1. discussing strategic priorities and statistical activities;
   2. promoting the value of official statistics to society;
   3. helping UKSA, ONS and the UK statistical system to improve user engagement; and
   4. identifying areas not being addressed by the statistical system.

3. Chair, membership and role of members

1. Membership is drawn from some of the principal user and advisory forums within the UK statistical system. The members of NSEUAC are:
   • Professor David Hand (Chair)
   • Eva Aizpurua
   • Professor Paul Allin
   • Dame Kate Barker
   • Helen Boaden
   • Professor Paul Boyle
   • James Brooks
   • Phyllis MacFarlane
   • Professor Guy Nason
2. The National Statistician, Director General for Regulation, and the Chief Executive of the Royal Statistical Society are ex-officio members.
3. The Director of Communications and Digital Publishing will be in attendance at meetings.

4. Meetings

1. NSEUAC will meet at least three times a year. The Secretariat will coordinate the timing of NSEUAC meetings. The Chair of NSEUAC may convene additional meetings as deemed necessary.
2. The Chair may invite other relevant experts as appropriate to advise the Committee.
3. Papers will usually be sent to NSEUAC members seven days prior to its meetings.

5. Reporting

1. The Secretariat will send minutes to NSEUAC members no later than seven days following the meeting.
2. NSEUAC will operate transparently. Meeting minutes and papers will be made available on the UK Statistics Authority website.

6. Quorum

1. NSEUAC meetings will be considered quorate when five or more members are present including the Chair or the Chair’s delegated nominee.
2. Substitutes will not normally be permitted to attend meetings, and only with the invitation of the Chair.

7. Other information

1. Secretariat for the NSEUAC will be provided by the staff from the Central Policy Secretariat within the UK Statistics Authority.
2. NSEUAC will review the effectiveness of its meetings and its terms of reference annually.

April 2024