Dear Sarah,
Thank you for your letter setting out findings from your review of DCMS Sector Economic Estimates: Employment series statistics, following the suspension of the accredited official statistics status for ONS labour market statistics based on the Annual Population Survey (APS).
Your publication is based on APS microdata and is used to estimate the number of filled jobs in DCMS sectors and subsectors. Employment data for DCMS sectors and subsectors are then further broken down by various demographics. Your review of your data has identified increased volatility due to low APS sample sizes and this is having an adverse impact on the reliability and quality of your estimates.
Based on the quality concerns, I agree to your request to temporarily suspend the accredited official statistics status from the following output:
Your approach to now publishing the statistics as official statistics in development, along with the additional advice and caveats you will provide in your publications, will ensure clarity for users about the quality issues you have found and help them make the most appropriate use of the estimates.
Our Population and Society team will continue to engage with your team on this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Ed Humpherson
Director General for OSR