Following on from the Steering Group meeting back in May and guided by your valuable feedback, we’ve spent the summer period shaping recommendations for each of the five themes from the Code Stocktake. We’ve been asking other government professions for their views too. The broad recommendations we’ve drafted to date include ideas around:
- extending the Code ‘beyond’ National and official statistics to other classes of numerical information and exploring the idea of a ‘Code of Practice for Statistics’
- supporting a more openly principle based assessment function and increasing the Authority’s emphasis on systemic issues (with strong links to trust, quality and value)
- working with producers of official statistics to redefine the National Statistics estate and in doing so support a defined shelf-life for the National Statistics’ designation
- changing the structure and presentation of the Code to support a searchable, interactive version of the Code, perhaps differentiated for different audiences
- encouraging innovation in the exploitation of data and technology and clarifying our expectations around proportionality in relation to Code compliance
- delving into more detail in the Code about aspects of methods and quality
In parallel to this we are working on more detailed work packages on:
- Brand and Value
- Boundary
- Digital and Data
- Methods and Quality
- Presentation of the Code
We report back to our Steering Group on 7 September, the Regulation Committee on 15 September and the Authority Board on 28 October. It’s a busy (and exciting) time!
If the broad recommendations are accepted by the Authority Board and there is agreement to revise the Code, the detail from our five work packages will form the basis of an implementation phase where we will start to redraft the Code, alongside widespread informal and formal consultation processes. The work will then feed into ongoing work establishing our new style regulatory office.
For more information please email Richard.Laux@statistcs.gsi.gov.uk and if you are interested in providing feedback as part of a focus group in the autumn please register your interest by emailing Georgia.Trewick@statistics.gsi.gov.uk . We’ll publish a further update in late September when we’ll make the minutes and papers from September’s Steering Group available.