Further guidance

Where else can I find guidance on these standards and intelligent transparency?

OSR offers specific guidance on the following topics:

Publishing, pre-announcing and labelling official statistics including ad hoc releases

OSR’s regulatory guidance on publishing official and National statistics and guidance on understanding the difference between Official Statistics and published Management Information.

Publishing official statistics and management information

National Statistician’s guidance on management information and official statistics

Evaluation

OSR’s explainer on how the Code can help support evaluation highlights that users and the intended use should be at the centre of the evaluation. Published data and analysis should be made equally available to all, being open about the nature of the evaluation and how it serves the public good.

Models

OSR’s Guidance for Models provides information on how the principles in the Code can support good practice and transparency in designing, developing and using models.

Leadership

OSR published its review of Statistical Leadership: Making Analytical Insight Count in February 2021, which looked at how statistical leadership can be strengthened across governments. Statistical leadership can help ensure the right data and analysis exist, that they are used at the right time to inform decisions, and that they are communicated clearly and transparently in a way that supports confidence in the data and decisions made on the basis of them.

Social Research

The Government Social Research: Publication Protocol details five principles that should be adhered to in the publication and release of all government social research products. These five principles are consistent with the Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis. The Publication Protocol clearly sets out how social research conducted by or for government should be released; who should be responsible for the release; the timing of the release and the independence of the research. It states that “There should be no public comment on unpublished findings; where this occurs an immediate release of the findings would be required to ensure equality of access. This doesn’t necessarily mean all of the research but should be sufficient to provide understanding”.