The RSS has recently published its report ‘Public Statistics’, outlining a fresh approach and vision for statistics to serve the wider public good.
It highlights the importance of starting with user need when thinking about public good, and how access into and insight from a wide range of datasets from inside and outside government can meet that user need.
This approach is shared by the Office for Statistics Regulation, as we are also advocating for:
- Statistics producers to consider a wide range of users, not just Government users;
- More engagement with statistics users to serve their needs and really help statistics make sense of issues and topics, (a reoccurring theme in OSR’s assessments of statistics);
- Applying the Code of Practice for Statistics, (which we are currently refreshing), to place user confidence at the heart of statistical production, echoing the RSS call for recognising the role of statistics as the lifeblood of democratic debate;
- Being strong advocates for the role played by data that are not official statistics – through our programme of voluntary adoption; and
- OSR has continually pressed for a better system of data sharing and linkage for researchers inside government and beyond. Yesterday we published an update on the recommendations to enable greater data sharing and linkage for research and statistics to support public good.
Both the OSR and RSS recognise that there are significant challenges to realising this joint goal of better public statistics but remain committed to making progress and securing our societal vision as reality.
In addition, the RSS report highlights the importance of the Code of Practice for Statistics; praises OSR’s research programme; and sees an essential role for OSR in the development of public statistics in the future. It also echoes strongly the focus on transparency of evidence set out by Ed Humpherson, OSR’s Director General, at the Public Administration Committee in February as the concluding session of its enquiry into the UK’s evidence base.
Sarah Cumbers, Chief Executive of RSS said:
“Our work on this report has left us in no doubt that in any solution to support the public good of statistics, OSR’s role is crucial and needs appropriate resourcing. OSR has responsibility for the Code of Practice and its adoption within official statistics and, on a voluntary basis, in other organisations. OSR also promotes and shares best practice and is well placed, through its other regulatory roles, to help identify gaps in public statistics.”
Ed Humpherson, Director General of OSR, said:
“OSR really appreciates the RSS’s support for our role as regulator and we strongly support the focus on public statistics. I am excited to work with the RSS on making a reality of this approach, which recognises the importance of statistics beyond immediate Government users – the importance to citizens, companies, communities and charities.
He continued:
“We take our role to guide the statistics system very seriously and have just published our latest annual report that provides an objective analysis of the UK’s statistical system, its current state, and its future direction. This is our view on the system’s performance, its successes and its challenges, and highlights opportunities for innovation and progress to promote the use of statistics in public debate.”
Notes to Editors