Dear Tony,

We have completed a compliance review of the War Pensions Scheme statistics produced by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) against the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code). At the time of our review, these statistics were published as accredited official statistics. Our review considered whether these statistics continue to meet the standards of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value in the Code and should retain their status as accredited official statistics.

We found that MOD has taken steps to engage users and clearly communicate when system changes to source data have occurred. However, we have concerns about some aspects of the quality assurance process, the impact of system changes on data quality, and the lack of transparency with users about the impact of system changes.

These factors mean that, on balance, we found that these statistics no longer comply with the Code. Alongside the completion of our review, you have written to me requesting cancellation of accreditation for these statistics. I therefore support your request to cancel accreditation, which is in line with the findings in our review report.

Our review identifies three requirements that the statistics must meet before they comply with the standards of the Code. These requirements focus on building a clearer understanding of the impact of system changes on reporting, improving quality assurance, and better communicating the impact of system changes on the statistics. We also set out two recommendations for MOD to further enhance these statistics in line with the Code.

Despite cancellation of accreditation, I expect our requirements and recommendations to inform the ongoing development of these statistics. MOD should provide a public update on its progress against our requirements and recommendations by December 2026.

I am grateful for your team’s constructive engagement throughout the review.

I am copying this letter to Julia Edwards, Head of Publications, and Paula Fredersdorff, Deputy Head of Profession (Statistics) at the Ministry of Defence.

Yours sincerely,

Ed Humpherson
Director General for OSR