Rob Kent-Smith to Kate Davies: Compliance review of the Statistical Business Register

Dear Kate,

Compliance review of the Statistical Business Register

We have completed a compliance review of the Statistical Business Register (SBR) under development by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) against the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code). Our review considered whether the development and implementation of the SBR are consistent with the principles of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value in the Code.

Our review concluded that the ten-week reset undertaken earlier in 2026 has effectively improved governance arrangements and that collaboration between delivery partners has strengthened. ONS has also established a more credible phased delivery approach, increasing confidence in short-term delivery and future progress. However, the most significant challenges still lie ahead. Much of the programme’s complexity, benefit realisation and risk reduction sit within the later transition stages. ONS’s next challenge is less about governance structures and more about developing a shared understanding of quality and success. We have identified four recommendations to support the development including establishing clear quality criteria, success measures and assurance requirements and strengthening dependency management to reduce delivery risks.

We expect ONS to provide a public update on its progress against the recommendations every six months.

I am grateful for the constructive engagement from you and your team throughout this review.

I am copying this letter to Phillip Davies, Deputy Director, Business Surveys & Registers Transformation Division and Luke James, Deputy Director, Business Surveys Change Delivery.

Yours sincerely

Rob Kent-Smith

Deputy Head of the Office for Statistics Regulation