The UK Statistics Authority is responsible for ensuring that official statistics serve the public good. To deliver this responsibility, it has two executive offices:
- the Office for National Statistics, which is the UK’s national statistical institute and produces many of the key statistics for the public and decision makers, including statistics on the economy, population and crime
- the Office for Statistics Regulation, which sets the standards for official statistics through the Code of Practice for Statistics and upholds those standards through a range of regulatory tools
The Lievesley review of the UK Statistics Authority endorsed the Authority’s approach of operating with these two distinct executive offices. The review also considered that they are sufficiently operationally separate in practice.
However, for regulation to be effective, it is important that external stakeholders have confidence in the arrangements ensuring OSR’s separation from ONS. This separation is crucial because it is what enables OSR to make sound regulatory decisions about ONS’s production of official statistics. These regulatory decisions should be made in the same way, using the same criteria and governance, as for any producer of official statistics.
This statement sets out, clearly and transparently, how the separation of OSR from ONS is achieved in practice. The measures set out below are designed to ensure that the judgements made by OSR consider all relevant factors and treat ONS the same as any other statistics producer.
Governance and regulatory decisions
OSR reports to a separate committee of the UK Statistics Authority Board, called the Regulation Committee. The Committee is made up of four non-executive members of the Authority Board and the Director General for Regulation. No ONS member of staff sits on the Committee. These arrangements are in line with sections 31 and 34 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
On very rare occasions, ONS members of staff may be invited to present at Committee meetings, but they only do so before the start of the formal meeting to provide information. Staff members of other statistics producers are sometimes invited to contribute on the same basis. The standing procedures of the Committee prohibit the attendance of any ONS member of staff.
The Regulation Committee’s role is to:
- review OSR’s business plan and budget and commend it to the Board (see the Strategy and Business Planning section below)
- approve OSR’s regulatory judgements on accredited official statistics (usually through discussing and approving Assessment reports)
- approve the annual State of the Statistical System report
- monitor OSR’s delivery of its business plan, risk management plan and overall performance
- review OSR’s key policies related to the use of statistics, including its interventions policy and annual casework report
- review proposals for amendments to the Code of Practice for Statistics and commend them to the main Board
The Committee’s role is set out more formally on its website.
Strategy and business planning
OSR develops its own five-year strategy and provides assurance to the Committee that this strategy aligns with the overall strategic outcomes determined by the Authority Board.
Each year, OSR consults on and publishes its own business plan, which includes its proposed work programme. This plan and work programme are available for comment from users of statistics and from producers, including ONS – but ONS has no greater or different opportunity to input than any other producer.
The Director General for Regulation proposes the budget for OSR to the Regulation Committee. After reviewing the budget, the Committee then commends it to the Authority Board for approval. Once it is approved, the Authority’s finance director arranges for the funds to be made available. ONS executives have no role in deciding the size or allocation of the OSR budget.
The Director General for Regulation is a second Accounting Officer, responsible to the Board for the appropriate use of and accounting for OSR’s finances.
Separate reporting lines to the Chair and the Board
All OSR staff report to the Director General for Regulation, or to the Director General’s team. No member of OSR staff reports to any ONS staff. The Director General reports to the Authority Chair, who is the Director General’s line manager. The Director General and the Chair hold regular meetings without the presence of the National Statistician or senior ONS executives.
The Director General provides a report to the Board every month. OSR work is never presented to the Board by any ONS staff.
External communications
OSR undertakes its own external relations activities, issuing its own press statements and engaging directly with the media. All press statements and media lines are signed off by the Director General of Regulation or members of the Director General’s team.
OSR has its own website, X account and LinkedIn account. All decisions on the content of the website, X account and LinkedIn account are signed off by the Director General for Regulation or members of the Director General’s team.
OSR provides evidence as a witness before Parliamentary Select Committees. The decision on whether to give evidence and the nature of the evidence provided is that of the Director General for Regulation and does not involve any overview by any ONS staff.