Introduction

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) is the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority. We aim to enhance public confidence in the trustworthiness, quality and value of statistics.

Trustworthiness: trusted people, systems and processes

Trustworthiness means that the statistics and other numerical information are produced free from vested interest and are based on the best professional judgement of statisticians and other analysts.

Trustworthiness is a product of the people, systems and processes within organisations that enable and support the production of statistics and other numerical information.

Quality: robust data, methods and statistics

Quality means that the statistics and numerical information represent the best available estimate of what they aim to measure at a particular point in time and that they are not materially misleading.

Quality is analytical in nature and is a product of the professional judgements made in the specification, collection, aggregation, processing, analysis, and dissemination of data.

Value: statistics that serve the public good

Value means that the statistics and numerical information are accessible, remain relevant, and benefit society, helping the public to understand important issues and answer key questions.

Value is a product of the interface between the statistics or numerical information and those who use them as a basis for forming judgements.

Accredited official statistics

Accredited official statistics are a sub-set of official statistics that have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation and confirmed as complying with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. 

It is the statistics producer’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards of the Code. If they become concerned about whether statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, they should discuss any concerns with us. The accreditation can be removed at any point if the standards are not maintained and reinstated when standards are restored. This might call for a full re-assessment or a more focused compliance check. Further information about this process of cancellation or suspension is available on our accredited official statistics policy. 

Accredited official statistics outputs should state when the accreditation was awarded through the most recent assessment or re-assessment against the Code of Practice for Statistics. They should also refer to any compliance check which has confirmed compliance with the Code and outline how outputs have been developed since the latest confirmation.