Dear Ed,
I am writing to inform you of an upcoming consultation on the Welsh Government’s portfolio of statistics. This consultation forms a key part of our response to rising demand, ongoing financial pressures and our broader transformation programme aimed at ensuring our analytical work remains sustainable, efficient and effective.
The consultation will seek views on proposed changes to a number of our statistical outputs. These proposals are designed to create capacity within analytical teams to support the transition to open-source software and reproducible analytical pipelines, while also responding to increasing demand for new and more timely statistics.
The proposals include changes to the frequency, format, and scope of some outputs, as well as the potential postponement or cessation of others. These have been informed by a recent scoping exercise which considered usage data, initial user engagement and feedback from analytical teams.
The last consultation of this kind was held over a decade ago, and we are keen to ensure that any changes are made transparently and with user input. We are particularly mindful of the need to maintain public value and trust in our statistics, and are committed to engaging openly with users in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The consultation will therefore invite feedback on how best to balance the need for change with the continued delivery of high-quality, relevant statistics. We will also be transparent about any decisions made following the consultation, including the reasons behind them, to ensure users understand how their input has shaped the outcome.We will share the consultation document with your team once it is published, and would welcome any feedback you may have.
Yours sincerely,
Stephanie Howarth
Chief Statistician
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