Join the Office for Statistics Regulation on Wednesday 13 October at 5.30pm when we’ll be hosting an online public event to talk about our work during the pandemic and ask your questions about how we regulate official statistics across the UK.
Register for the event here (free)
Over the last year and a half, there has been unprecedented public interest in data and statistics about the coronavirus pandemic. We’ve all become used to seeing numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations, deaths, and vaccinations in the daily news. Many of us have even taken to checking government dashboards, looking for the most up-to-date numbers and trends for our local area. And statisticians have regularly appeared on our TV screens and on the radio – at government press briefings and in interviews explaining the latest figures.
So, what has it been like to be the statistics watchdog during a year when public interest in data and statistics has been so high? At the Office for Statistics Regulation, we believe that statistics should serve the public good. We stand up for statistics used in public debate to ensure that they are trustworthy, high quality and valuable. The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that the public care about statistics and data – and we’ve experienced this directly through an increase in concerns and complaints raised with us about COVID-19 statistics.
At the online event, we’ll present some short talks – introducing ourselves, explaining what we do, and talking about some of our work relating to COVID-19 statistics during the pandemic. Then we’ll invite your questions for a Q&A in the second half of the session.