Dear Liz and Sarah Today we published our Review of ONS’s Treatment of Seasonality in quarterly GDP. This review was prompted by concerns from some users, and media commentators, about the effectiveness of seasonal adjustment in the post pandemic period. In recent years, quarterly (and monthly) GDP statistics published by ONS have shown stronger growth in the first half […]
Dear Stephanie, Thank you for your letter of 9th March outlining the context around the methodological developments to the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and their implications for your forthcoming report on Relative Income Poverty for Wales. Given the scale and phased nature of the transformation programme, and the sensitivities you highlight for the Welsh estimates, […]
Dear Ed, I am writing to request the reclassification from Accredited Official Statistics to Official Statistics in Development of the Welsh Government Relative income poverty report due for release 26 March 2026. The data that underpin this output is derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS), carried out by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with a funding contribution from Welsh Government. DWP […]
Dear Alastair, Thank you for your letter of 10th March outlining the context around the methodological developments to the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and their implications for your forthcoming report on Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland. Given the scale and phased nature of the transformation programme, and the sensitivities you highlight for the Scottish […]
Dear Ed I am writing to request that the designation of the Poverty and income inequality in Scotland publication, due for release 26 March 2026, be changed from accredited official statistics to official statistics in development. As you will be aware, this output uses data from the Family Resources Survey, which is carried out by the Department for Work and Pensions with a funding contribution from Scottish Government. […]
Dear Mary, Thank you for your letter of 4 March 2026 setting out the Office for National Statistics (ONS)’s revised plans for the production of mid-year population estimates for England and Wales. We note that the requirements and recommendations from our assessment of admin-based population estimates for England and Wales have helped ONS consider its […]
Dear Rachel, Thank you for your letter requesting an alternative release time for future publications of the UK Economic Accounts (UKEA) datasets. We understand that the current arrangements involve releasing aggregated data at 07:00 as part of the Balance of Payments and Sector Accounts publications. We also recognise that users have expressed a clear and increasing demand for timely access to the country level breakdowns […]
Dear Adele, Thank you for your letter of 5 March outlining the context around the ongoing transformation of the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and its implications for the forthcoming Northern Ireland poverty and income inequality statistics. As noted in our regulatory work programme, we are planning to perform a compliance review of DWP’s statistics based […]
Dear Ed, I am writing to request the reclassification from Accredited Official Statistics to Official Statistics in Development of the following publications: The Northern Ireland Poverty and Income Inequality Report 2024-25 (due for release 26 March 2026); and The Northern Ireland Family Resources Survey Report 2024-25 (due for release Spring/Summer 2026). The data that underpin […]
Dear Ed, We are writing to update you on our plans for improving how we produce population estimates for England and Wales. Firstly, we would like to thank the Office for Statistics Regulation for its 2024 assessment on our Admin based Population estimates, and the team’s continued engagement over the past 18 months. The requirements […]