Dear Glyn

WELSH GOVERNMENT WELL-BEING OF WALES STATISTICS

As you are aware, we recently started to assess the Well-being of Wales official statistics against the Code of Practice for Statistics. During November 2018 we obtained feedback from stakeholders and reviewed the published documentation. Since then, you and your team reviewed the outputs and published plans to change the format of the publication. We are encouraged by the ambition of these statistics and having discussed the assessment with you we have mutually decided to pause the assessment until Autumn 2019, when you will have implemented some of these changes. While we have not completed our assessment, we are sharing some of our early findings.

We recognise the commitment the team showed to producing these statistics, the team has actively promoted these statistics through presentations at public events, conferences, and blogs. There is an ambition for this output to provide insight and help the public understand progress being made in Wales towards the 7 well-being goals.

Trustworthiness

At this point in the assessment we have found that the statistics are produced with honesty and integrity and meet consistent standards of behaviour that reflect the wider public good. The statistics are released in an open and transparent manner that promotes confidence, and future plans are published on the Welsh Government website in a blog by the Chief Statistician.

Quality

The commentary is clear, and our early findings indicate that the output is supported by the most suitable data sources available. The methods and processes are based on National (Well-being of Wales) and International good practice (Sustainable Development Goals). We consider that the published quality information is easily accessible and provides information about the strengths and limitations of the data.

Value

We have found the statistics are easily accessible and the landing page links to useful documents. We particularly like the presentation slide pack that has been created because it supports and promotes use by all types of users. The statistics and data are presented clearly and provide insights that may serve the public good. We welcome the continued developments the team have planned to shorten the bulletin as it is currently quite a long document.

Our main concern is related to users and the engagement we had with them. The team carried out a feedback survey in 2017 and published the results. We recognise the commitment to make improvements following this feedback, however, we are still unclear who uses this information, making it difficult to know how to develop their output.  The statistics team should undertake wider engagement to known and potential users, to help understand the range of users and their needs. This would help develop the planned changes to the publication, to ensure it adds value and serves public good.

We will agree the best time to re-commence the assessment once the new shorter bulletin has been published and there has been a stronger emphasis on user engagement. I look forward to hearing about the progress you are making.

Your sincerely

Ed Humpherson
Director General for Regulation