The third phase of the review of the National Statistics (NS) designation by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) involved speaking with official statistics producers across the UK through webinars, workshops, and meetings, to hear their ideas and views about the designation. The review culminated in a consultation paper that invited written responses from statistics producers.

The review focused on finding out views about how to demonstrate accountability and about adding value for users. It has elicited clear views about the designation and gathered a range of suggestions about ways to understand compliance with the Code, to hold producers to account, and to better aid users in understanding and using official statistics.

The review team will use the views shared by producers to inform proposals on how to shape the designation to best meet the needs of our data-abundant world.

The research in the third phase of our National Statistics designation review has revealed important insights among official statistics producers about the nature and relevance of the designation.

It has demonstrated the wide commitment to the standards enshrined in the Code of Practice of Statistics among producers and the importance of their application to the production of all official statistics – producers said they equally apply the Code for their official statistics and National Statistics.

It has shown that accountability of producers is seen by them as essential to supporting the confidence of users and the wider public in their statistics.

Producers are also committed to demonstrating the quality of their statistics and see value in providing prominent, clear information that guides users.

While a national life story was not seen to be a meaningful or helpful concept, producers did support enhancing the value of official statistics through increasing accessibility and insight.