Annex 1: The Assessment Process

• This Assessment was conducted from November 2020 to March 2021.
• This report was prepared by the Office for Statistics Regulation and approved by the Regulation Committee on behalf of the Board of the UK Statistics Authority, based on the advice of the Director General for Regulation.
• The regulatory team – Elise Baseley, Catherine Bremner and Nisha Bunting – agreed the scope of and timetable for this assessment with representatives of DfC in November 2020. Documentary evidence for the assessment was provided by DfC in December 2020.
• The regulatory team discussed and met with the statistics team in March 2021 to review compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking account of the evidence provided and research performed.
• A key part of the assessment was talking to people who use the statistics, to help us to understand the current value of the statistics, and where there is the potential to increase this. We approached known and potential users of these statistics and conducted seven interviews and received one submission of written feedback. These users worked within DfC, Capita, advice agencies and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Our engagement gave us some insight into the extent to which the statistics meet different users’ needs and the extent to which users feel that the statistics’ producers engage with them.