Penny Babb explains how organisations can voluntarily apply the pillars of the Code of Practice for Statistics.
New year’s resolutions can be easily made and even more easily forgotten. The three pillars of the Code of Practice provide all analysts with a memorable focus for their work. Repeat after me: Trustworthiness, Quality and Value!
It is hard to believe that it is nearly a year since we launched our refreshed Code of Practice. Our Code website is proving a successful aid for statistics producers and we are seeing a growing interest in the voluntary adoption of the Code’s pillars. It was great to meet with 11 organisations at the beginning of December – our first step towards creating a ‘community of practice’. It provided an opportunity for new adopters to share their experiences of voluntarily applying the pillars with others considering it. Exciting times!
A List of Voluntary Application
We have just launched a list of the organisations that have made a public commitment to Trustworthiness, Quality and Value, by publishing a statement of compliance that shows how they demonstrate the pillars. We are in touch with a range of other organisations that are working on adopting the Code pillars and we expect to add to the list in the coming months.
If you are interested in voluntarily applying the Code pillars, you will find it helpful to look at the statements of compliance available through the List – they reflect the variety of situations in which the statistics are being produced.
Making a commitment
Here are my suggestions for what it looks like to commit to the pillars of the Code:
Organisations and analysts can commit to demonstrating their trustworthiness:
- by behaving with integrity and professionalism
- having effective business processes and being accountable for decision making
- by respecting the security and confidentiality of people’s information
Organisations and analysts can commit to ensuring quality by using data and methods that produce assured statistics:
- using appropriate data to meet the intended uses
- using the best available methods and being open about their choices
- ensuring that the data and statistics are quality assured and as robust as possible
Also, organisations and analysts can commit to delivering value in their analysis and statistics by:
- placing users at the centre of analysis and statistical production
- producing statistics that are useful, easy to access, relevant and provide insight for the intended audiences
- seeking to improve their statistics through collaboration and efficiency
Applying the three Code pillars can help any analyst to produce outputs that are well respected, high quality, and useful. Why not start the year as you mean to go on?
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the statement of compliance or voluntary application in general.