About this toolkit

The Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code), published by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), sets the standards that those producing official statistics should apply to deliver statistics that serve the public good. Compliance with the Code gives people confidence that published statistics have public value, are of appropriate quality, and are produced by people and organisations that are trustworthy.

The third edition of the Code, published in October 2025, includes an emphasis on engaging with the public to better:

• understand and meet their needs as users of statistics
• understand and strengthen the degree to which the collection and use of data in the production of official statistics are viewed as acceptable by society

This toolkit helps statistics producers involve and engage the public in statistics production in a proportionate way that reflects the nature of, and public interest in, their statistics. It provides advice on why, when and how to reach members of the public. It is not a guide specifically on user engagement but will help statistics producers develop their wider public involvement and engagement strategy, as well as being useful in other data developments, such as with operational data.

The guidance is based on a Design Lab, held on 4 February 2025 with Connected by Data, involving experts from over 20 different organisations across the statistics, research and public involvement and engagement ecosystems. It also incorporates findings from the Independent report on the 2025 UK Statistics Assembly and OSR guidance on user engagement.

This guidance has four parts:

To support understanding of and action based on the toolkit, throughout the next three sections we present case studies (in expandable accordions) to illustrate different forms of public involvement and engagement, and boxes (grey in colour) that indicate content you should include in your public involvement and engagement plan.