Overarching Purpose
We provide independent regulation of all official statistics produced in the UK. Statistics are an essential public asset. We aim to enhance public confidence in the trustworthiness, quality and value of statistics produced by government.
We do this by setting the standards they must meet in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Statistics which meet these standards are considered:
- Trustworthy – they have been prepared by professionally-independent statisticians, free from political pressure
- High quality – they are produced using sound methods and based on reliable sources
- Valuable – they provide insight, support decision-making and inform debate.
We ensure that producers of government statistics uphold these standards by conducting assessments against the Code. Those which meet the standards are given National Statistics status, indicating that they meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and value. We also report publicly on system-wide issues and on the way statistics are being used, celebrating when the standards are upheld and challenging publicly when they are not.
Our purpose is underpinned by our values:
- Outward and forward focused
- externally engaged and connected
- thinking ahead and responsive
- vocalising our commitment to statistics
- Trustworthy
- independent and rigorous
- enquiring and open-minded
- transparent and fair in our judgements
- Empathetic and respectful
- inclusive and listening to others’ views
- sensitive to competing priorities
- building partnerships for collaboration
- communicating thoughtfully
- Ambitious about improvement
- encouraging innovation in ourselves and others
- unwavering in our focus
- celebrating success
Feedback
We want to learn about the most effective ways to achieve our aims. These include developing our innovative model further, deploying our public voice, the National Statistics brand, the Code itself, and our power to convene. We welcome your input, particularly if you have any views about how our outputs might better meet your needs. You can email us at regulation@statistics.gov.uk.