Labour Market and Welfare
The Labour Market and Welfare theme includes statistics measuring different aspects of work and jobs and covers people’s employment, working patterns and the types of work they do. The theme also covers any earnings and benefits they receive.
In the first quarter of 2023/24, we published our findings on a range of labour market and welfare statistics, including;
- the latest findings from our review of ONS’s transformation of the Labour Force Survey (July 2023)
- our assessment of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates of earnings and employment from Pay as You Earn Real Time Information ( PAYE RTI) UK (June 2023)
- our compliance check of Benefit Sanctions statistics (June 2023)
We continue to explore public concerns/queries about labour market and welfare statistics through our casework, working alongside statistic producers. For example, the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) responded earlier this year to our highlighting of a lack of statistics on Universal Credit Work Capability Assessments.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues and as explored in our blog we want to ensure that statistics used to help measure the impact on household incomes, in particular, for those people living in poverty are robust, accurate and timely. We continue to follow-up on our recommendations for our income-based poverty review, with a latest guest blog highlighting some progress made in this important area.
More recently, we started our review of DWP’s Personal Independence Payment statistics and are continuing to provide regulatory support to the ONS as it transforms the Labour Force Survey. In parallel we have also agreed to review the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency’s (NISRA) development of the NI Labour Market Survey.
In 2023/24, we look forward to continuing our engagement with statistics producers across the UK, more details of which can be found in our Rolling Regulatory Work Programme.
Contact our regulators for this domain Vicky Stone, Gemma Keane, or Gillian Fairbairn for more information.
Planned Work
Project | Geography | Project Type | Timescale |
---|---|---|---|
Personal Independence Payment statistics (Department for Work and Pensions) | England and Wales | Assessment | July-Dec 2023 |
Labour Force Survey transformation (Office for National Statistics and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) | Great Britain and Northern Ireland | Compliance Checks | Continuing from 2022/23 |
Systemic review of Income-based Poverty Statistics (Department for Work and Pensions, Office for National Statistics, HM Revenue and Customs) | United Kingdom | Review | Continuing from 2022/23 |
Statistics from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Office for National Statistics and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) | United Kingdom and Northern Ireland | Compliance Checks | 2023/24 |
Disability Payment Statistics in Scotland (Social Security Scotland) | Scotland | Compliance Checks | 2023/24 |
Fraud and Error in the Benefit System (Department for Work and Pensions) | Great Britain | Compliance Checks | 2023/24 |
Household Financial Statistics Transformation (Office for National Statistics) | United Kingdom | Review | 2023/24 |
Correspondence
Ed Humpherson to Alex Lambert and Darren Morgan: Review of experimental Labour Market Statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)
14 November 2023
Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation to Alex Lambert, Darren Morgan, Office for National Statistics
Ed Humpherson to Darren Morgan: Labour market statistics derived from the ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)
24 October 2023
Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation to Darren Morgan, Office for National Statistics
Steve Ellerd-Elliott to Ed Humpherson: Request for assessment – Personal Independence Payment statistics
19 July 2023
Steve Ellerd-Elliott, Department for Work and Pensions to Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation
Ed Humpherson to Steve Ellerd-Elliott: Response to request for assessment – Personal Independence Payment statistics
19 July 2023
Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation to Steve Ellerd-Elliott, Department for Work and Pensions
Mark Pont to Alex Lambert, Director of Surveys and Darren Morgan, Director of Economic Statistics Production & Analysis: ONS’s transformation of the Labour Force Survey (TLFS)
10 July 2023
Mark Pont, Office for Statistics Regulation to Alex Lambert, Darren Morgan, Office for National Statistics
Publications
Office for National Statistics’ transformation of the Labour Force Survey (TLFS): OSR judgment and progress report, July 2023
10 July 2023
Published in:
Assessment of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics: Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK
8 June 2023
Published in: Assessment Report
Assessment Report: Pay in the Northern Ireland Civil Service Statistics
10 December 2021
Published in: Assessment Report
Assessment Report: The Living Costs and Food Survey
7 July 2021
Published in: Assessment Report
Assessment of Personal Independence Payment Statistics for Northern Ireland (produced by the Department for Communities, Northern Ireland)
13 May 2021
Published in: Assessment Report
Assessment Report: Benefit statistics
18 November 2020
Published in: Assessment Report
Assessment Report: UK employment and jobs statistics
26 March 2020
Published in: Assessment Report
Statistics on Sickness Absence in the Northern Ireland Civil Service
30 April 2019
Published in: Assessment Report
News & Events
OSR publishes its findings on response rate challenges in ONS’s Labour Market Statistics
14 November 2023
OSR Publishes Progress Report on ONS’s Transformation of the Labour Force Survey
11 July 2023
OSR publishes initial findings following review of Office for National Statistics’ transformation of the labour force survey
14 November 2022
OSR publishes its review of income-based poverty statistics
19 May 2021
OSR statement on the impact of COVID-19 on the Labour Force Survey
5 February 2021
OSR launches its review of poverty statistics
20 November 2020
The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) Publishes its Reviews of UK Benefit Statistics
18 November 2020
The Office for Statistics Regulation encourages ONS to enhance employment and jobs statistics
26 March 2020