In our latest blog, Head of OSR Ed Humpherson discusses our consultation on a revised Code of Practice, which is open for comments until 14 February 2025. Read more about the consultation and how to have your say here.
I have been asking myself why it is only now that I am writing a blog on our consultation on a revised Code of Practice, several weeks after its launch.
The consultation is big news for OSR and for the UK statistical system: the Code is our foundational set of principles, our conceptual framework, our guiding light. And it’s not as if we are proposing some mere tidying-up measures, the sort of pruning and weeding that a good gardener does to maintain their garden. We are proposing some significant landscaping changes – particularly to the structure and presentation of the Code.
Perhaps the answer comes down to my observation that most endeavours in the world of statistical regulation depend on, and are enriched by, conversation. OSR’s best work – our most impactful reports and interventions – is effective because of our engagement and interaction with users of statistics, both expert and not, and with the people who produce the statistics.
To give two examples: first, our annual state of the statistics system report is not dreamt up by us in a meeting room; it builds on a whole series of conversations across the statistical system, both with users and producers. Second, our assessments of individual statistics draw heavily on engagement with users; take a look at our recent assessment of ONS’s Price Index of Private Rents to see this in action.
Launching a consultation is not an end point in itself. It is an invitation to other people to share their thoughts, reflections and criticisms.
Moreover, the part of the work I particularly enjoy is not the sense of achievement on the day of publication. It’s hearing all the subsequent reactions and comments, and joining in the discussions that ensue.
That’s why I was so happy last week to participate in a joint event between OSR and the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) to discuss the new proposed Code. We heard a range of interesting and thought-provoking reactions, such as those from Paul Allin, Honorary Officer of the RSS for National Statistics, on the importance of recognising the public role of statistics; from Ken Roy, an independent researcher and former head of profession in a government department, who highlighted that the Code is the glue that holds together the large and complex UK statistics system; and from Deana Leadbeter, Chair of the RSS Health Statistics User Group, who welcomed the ambition of a more digestible Code for a wider audience. And we had some excellent questions from the audience on topics ranging from the limits to trustworthiness (from a colleague in the Hungarian national statistical institute) to the importance of simplicity.
These productive conversations are why I’m looking forward to the debates and dialogues around the new Code in the coming months – including those with the Market Research Society and the Forum of Statistics User Groups.
I want to hear people’s reactions to the new Code, including their views on:
- the focus on intelligent transparency, which sets standards for how government departments should use statistics and data publicly
- the emphasis on universality, highlighting how the Code’s core concepts of trustworthiness, quality and value apply widely
- the way we have clarified, and simplified, our expectations for official statistics
And I want to hear a wide range of other thoughts – not just about the things that we want to highlight, like those three bullets above – but the things we have missed.
This emphasis on engagement and conversation is not only a core value for OSR. It’s also central to the Code of Practice itself. The new Code that we are proposing sets even clearer and firmer requirements for statistics producers in how they should engage with their users and transparently communicate how they have produced their statistics, and what their statistics do (and don’t) mean.
So, back to the question at hand: why didn’t I write this blog until now? It’s this: for me, the day the consultation is published is not always the best day to publish a blog. Instead, it can be better to wait until we’ve started to hear some views. Or, to put it simply: communication shouldn’t be about broadcasting a fixed view. Instead, it’s all about the power of conversation.
Read more about the Code consultation and how to have your say here.
[1] What is it with me and gardens? I used to do a presentation all about walled gardens – how official statistics can’t be a walled garden, pristine but closed off from the world. They need to be open and accessible. Now, as then, I reach for a garden metaphor. It can’t be that I use these gardening analogies because I myself am an adept and successful gardener. I mean, you should just look at my own garden to realise that.