Siobhan Tuohy-Smith to Liz McKeown: Average weekly earnings

Dear Liz

Compliance review of Average Weekly Earnings

We have recently completed a compliance review of ONS’s Average Weekly Earnings (AWE). This statistical bulletin is currently published as accredited official statistics. Our review considered whether AWE statistics continue to meet the Trustworthiness, Quality and Value standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Based on the findings of our review, we conclude that the statistics continue to comply with the Code and should retain their accredited official statistics designation. We found the statistics to be robust, credible and supported by methodological and system improvements, including reviews of sample allocation and seasonal adjustment, with longer-term plans to move away from legacy systems. The review also identifies four improvements that we recommend ONS undertakes to improve transparency, accessibility and value of the statistics, in line with the Code.

We have shared our findings with your team and we expect ONS to provide a public update on progress against all recommendations by October 2026.

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

Yours sincerely

Siobhan Tuohy-Smith

Assessment Programme Lead for OSR