Guidance

Guidance on aspects of Trustworthiness

Assessment process

We conduct compliance checks and assessments against the Code of Practice for Statistics, to ensure that all official statistics meet the standards of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. Our guidance will help support and guide producers in the Assessment and Compliance Check processes.

Producing official statistics in development

This guidance sets out the Office for Statistics Regulation’s expectations regarding the production and handling of official statistics in development – formerly called experimental statistics. They are a subset of official statistics that are going through development and evaluation, in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Intelligent transparency

This guidance on intelligent transparency sets out the Office for Statistics Regulation’s expectations for the transparent release and use of statistics and data. It outlines principles and provides practical advice on how to deliver on these principles. It is informed by the principles set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics and supports the Office for Statistics Regulation’s interventions policy approach to casework.

Publishing Official and National Statistics

Our guidance on Publishing Official and National Statistics includes information about pre-announcing the release of statistics, labelling the status of the statistics and sharing official statistics and other statistics prior to release.

Guidance on aspects of Quality

Changing statistical methods

Our guidance for producers when making changes to statistical methods sets out examples of the principles in the Code of Practice that producers need to adhere to in order to remain code compliant. It also includes examples of the kinds of materials that can be used to help document this adherence.

Collecting and reporting data about sex and gender identity in official statistics

Our guidance on collecting and reporting data about sex and gender identity in official statistics provides producers of official statistics with a set of tools, based on the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics, to help them think through how they collect and report data about sex and gender identity.

Data linkage and sharing

We promote joining up data to deliver better statistics. We have two guides to help producers identify ways of making the most of their data – ‘Building confidence in the handling and use of data’ and ‘Unlocking the value of data through onward sharing’.

Our guide ‘Building Confidence in the handling and use of data’ provides some further insight for statistics producers into the principle T6 Data Governance (Code of Practice) when handling data to produce and publish official statistics, and when making that data available to external users, in ways that are transparent and accountable.

It draws on our findings from a review of the UK statistics system’s ability to provide greater insight to users via linked data: joining up data for better statistics.

The principles of the Code of Practice extend beyond statistics production to data sharing and access. In our guide ‘Unlocking the value of data through onward sharing’ the we outline practices and processes that uphold these principles.

We focus on practices in three distinct areas:

• data standards, quality and curation
• data provision
• developments to official statistics

Guidance for Models: Trustworthiness, Quality and Value

This guidance for models document provides guidance on how the principles in the Code of Practice can help in designing, developing and using models to improve their Trustworthiness, Quality and Value (TQV). It covers both traditional statistical techniques (e.g linear regressions), and newer techniques (e.g machine learning), when they are used to create outputs that inform decision making and/or public policy.

Quality assurance of administrative data (QAAD)

The Office for Statistics Regulation’s Regulatory Standard for the quality assurance of administrative data (QAAD) recognises the increasing role that administrative data are playing in the production of official statistics and clarifies our expectations for what producers of official statistics should do to assure themselves of the quality of these data.

We have produced a range of additional guidance documents that help explain our approach to the quality assurance of data including case studies, frequently asked questions raised with us by statistical producers within the UK, and additional guidance for producers of management information based on the QAAD approach

See more about Administrative Data and Official Statistics (QAAD)

Thinking about quality when producing statistics

In our ‘Thinking about Quality’ guidance, we provide some questions that analysts producing statistics can use in considering quality at each stage of production. This list is adapted from a series of questions we asked teams during our review of the principles and processes underpinning the quality of HMRC’s official statistics, and draws on QAAD Questions which help producers find out about administrative data.

This quality guide is not a checklist but is designed to be used alongside your own organisation’s guidance, as well as alongside external resources.

Understanding the difference between Official Statistics and published Management Information

This guidance sets out the essential characteristics of official statistics and published management information. It can be used by statistics producers to guide statistical practice within their organisation and as they review outputs.

Guidance on aspects of Value

Statements about Public Funding

Our Guidance for Statements about Public Funding aims to aid understanding for those reading public funding announcements as to what to look out for so they are not misled, as well as encourage those producing or supporting statements to ensure any statements are clear and can be understood by all.

User engagement

Our guidance on user engagement presents a simple framework for analysts and their organisations when thinking about and planning user engagement activities. It has six practice areas. As producers of statistics you need to promote your statistics, understand the need for information, listen to what users have to say and act on the feedback. And to be effective across the organisation, user engagement needs to be planned and collaborative.