The Office of Statistics Regulation continues to successfully protect the independence and use of official statistics, including during the political transition following the 2024 general election, as detailed in our latest report published today.
As the UK’s statistics watchdog, OSR has:
- worked to promote intelligent transparency and strengthen the appropriate use of statistics by new government ministers;
- investigated 219 cases including protecting statistical independence and promoting the transparent use of data; and
- reduced response times to public concerns, to 13 days, down from 27 days two years ago.
The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) investigated 219 cases of potential misuse or concerns about statistics during 2024/25, working to ensure government ministers and departments used data appropriately.
The report highlights OSR’s role in promoting the principles of intelligent transparency across government – ensuring statistics are accessible, understood by the public, and free from political manipulation.
This included rapid interventions when concerns were raised about the Prime Minister’s comments on immigration returns and the Department for Work and Pensions’ use of figures in a press release on Universal Credit.
OSR has significantly improved its response times to public concerns, with cases now resolved in a median of 13 days, compared to 27 days in 2022/23. This reflects the organisation’s commitment to quickly addressing issues that might undermine public confidence in official data.
Elected officials remain an important source of casework, with 16 enquiries raised by MPs and MSPs during the year. The report also notes valuable collaboration with fact-checking organisations like Full Fact and BBC Verify to address statistical concerns.
Looking ahead, OSR is in the process of refreshing the Code of Practice for Statistics to ensure it continues meeting evolving needs, with intelligent transparency principles being integrated into the revised Code this Autumn.
Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation, said:
“Our casework demonstrates how protecting the proper use of statistics is vital to maintaining public trust in government. Ensuring data is used transparently and accurately promotes and maintains statistical integrity.”
Notes to editors
- The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) provides independent regulation of all official statistics produced in the UK, and aim to enhance public confidence in the trustworthiness, quality and value of statistics produced by government.
- See more information specifically on our casework and current issues log. Our interventions policy provides more details on our role in making public interventions on the use of statistics. Here are the previous 2023/24 casework themes.
- OSR regulate 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.