Today we have published a blog, entitled Quality under challenge: Regulating statistics and data from the Labour Force Survey, to bring together information about how we are regulating statistics and data from the Labour Force Survey.
We have also issued a statement which summarises our decisions to remove the accreditation from 14 statistical outputs due to issues with the quality of the Labour Force Survey.
Ed Humpherson, DG Regulation said:
“We welcome ONS publishing its response to our recommendation on learning lessons from their experience with the transformation of labour market statistics so far. We encourage a continued commitment to transparency. It is important that ONS is open about the challenges and its progress, as there are no quick fixes.”
OSR will continue to keep a close watch on ONS’s plans for the recovery of the labour force survey, and the development of its new transformed survey, to restore confidence at the earliest opportunity.
Notes for editors
- The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) provides independent regulation of all official statistics produced in the UK, and aims to enhance public confidence in the trustworthiness, quality and value of statistics produced by government. OSR regulates statistics by setting the standards official statistics must meet in the Code of Practice for Statistics. We ensure that producers of official statistics uphold these standards by conducting assessments against the Code. Those which meet the standards are given accredited official statistics status, indicating that they meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and value. We also report publicly on systemwide issues and on the way that statistics are being used, celebrating when the standards are upheld and challenging publicly when they are not.
- OSR is independent from government ministers, and separate from producers of statistics, including the Office for National Statistics (ONS). OSR’s Director General, Ed Humpherson, reports directly to the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority Board, Sir Robert Chote. The Director General, and OSR, have wide discretion in highlighting good practice and reporting concerns with the production and use of statistics publicly.
- OSR’s work is overseen by the Board’s regulation committee (made up of non-executive directors, and with no statistical producer in attendance). OSR’s budget is proposed by the Board’s regulation committee and endorsed by the Board.