Dear Ed,

Alternative release time request for Impact of increased cost of living on adults across Great Britain: June to September 2022 and Analysis of lowest cost grocery items: UK

I am writing to request an alternative to the 9:30am release time for Impact of increased cost of living on adults across Great Britain: June to September 2022 and Analysis of lowest cost grocery items: UK. The release time is requested as 7:00am on Tuesday 25 October 2022.

These releases form part of a suite of cost of living related analysis being published on this date in advance of the Understanding cost of living through statistics public event being held from 9:30am on the same day.

Publishing, on a one-off basis, this suite of releases at 7:00am will provide a comprehensive and coherent narrative on the cost of living, with the earlier time enabling us to communicate effectively with the widest possible audience ahead of the cost of living event.

While other release times were considered, releasing at 7:00am on the day of the event should heighten the relevance, interest and use of the statistics and encourage media engagement with the event. It will also enable a broad range of users to review the releases before the event, providing equality of access and facilitating informed debate and discussion of the statistics.

Publishing at this time on a one-off basis is assessed as not imposing any greater burden on producers or likely users of the data. With this in mind, I ask that we publish at 7:00am, and would be grateful for confirmation you are content to grant this.

I am copying this request to Michael Keoghan, Deputy National Statistician & Director General for the Economic, Social and Environmental Statistics Group (ESEG) at ONS.