Delivering Authority Priorities & Strategy

Delivering the Authority priorities for 2020-25

The Authority Strategy set out four priorities for the statistical system for 2020-25:

• build public trust in evidence
• make greater data available in a secure way for research and evaluation
• enhance understanding of social and economic matters
• improve clarity and coherence of communication for maximum impact

As the independent regulator, we work through three delivery channels:

Delivering on the 2020-25 Strategy – Mid-Point Review

This year, we passed the half-way mark of the UK Statistics Authority strategy, Statistics for the Public Good. Here we reflect on how OSR has contributed to the Authority strategy and what this means for our plans as we work towards 2025.

We are delivering our core regulatory programme – which shows we are meeting the basic level of maturity – delivering a wide range of assessments and other compliance reports during the year. We are also responsive to emerging user concerns: for example, about ONS’s excess deaths statistics; or the exam algorithms in 2020; or about the population estimates, a set of concerns that first arose around the city of Coventry. But we can be more ambitious. There is a way to go to be better at anticipating these sorts of user concerns and being more skilled at doing deep dives into specific issues that are raising questions.

We are also increasingly systemic – addressing the ability of the system to meet user needs more widely; for example through our State of the Statistics System report and through our campaign on Intelligent Transparency. And some of this work edges into the wide space of a public culture of data and evidence use, for example, our recent work on statistical literacy. This is the start of a direction we are keen to develop further: it’s hugely important.

Feedback collated for a recent mid-term review of the Authority Strategy point to us needing to focus at the upper end of our maturity range – to be more systemic and outwards focused. Themes raised in relation to our role included: supporting society’s key information needs; effective communication; innovation and collaboration; mis- and dis- information; widening our reach beyond official statistics; data sharing; and coherence for users.

Direct feedback we have had highlight similar themes. Stakeholders said we should; continue to do deep dives and do them well; challenge poor practice; increase our visibility; champion effective communication; and build partnerships with other organisations.

There is a strong appetite for us to continue to be more effective and impactful in our role.