Mark Pont to Heather Bovill: Assessment of Business Enterprise Research and Development statistics

Dear Heather,

Assessment of the Business Enterprise Research and Development statistics

Following our last correspondence, we appreciate the cooperation of you and your team during the temporary suspension of accredited official statistics status of the detailed breakdowns of the Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) data.

We are pleased to see the progress made by ONS to improve the methodology used to produce BERD statistics, including uplifting BERD estimates and implementing electronic questionnaires, as described in your article on the Update on transformation of research and development statistics: November 2023. It is good that you have been able to announce your plans to reintroduce the previously suspended detailed breakdown statistics on 27 February 2024.

We are engaging with the BERD statistical production team while we conduct a Spotlight on Quality assessment. The scope of the assessment is to review how the recently introduced new methods used to produce BERD statistics have enhanced the statistics’ quality, and the extent to which the new statistics will meet users’ needs.

As the same methodological improvements are being applied to the Northern Ireland BERD survey, we will be assessing those statistics as part of this assessment.

I am copying this letter to Liz McKeown, Director of Economic Statistics Production and Analysis; and Laura Haddock, Assistant Deputy Director for Annual Surveys, Surveys and Economic Indicators.

Yours sincerely

Mark Pont

Mark Pont to Heather Bovill: Assessment of Business Enterprise Research and Development statistics

Assessment of the Business Enterprise Research and Development statistics

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