Office for Statistics Regulation Annual Report 2025/26

OSR Publications in 2025/26

Assessments (8)

An assessment is a review conducted when a producer has requested the accreditation of official statistics. Compliance with all standards and practices of the Code’s Standards for Official Statistics is reviewed. We published 8 Assessment Reports:

Review of the UK Trade statistics (ONS)
2021 Census in England and Wales: Phase 3 (ONS)
Wealth and Assets Survey (ONS)
Statistics about Cancer Waiting Times in England (NHS England)
Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland (Department for Infrastructure, NI)
NHS Workforce in Scotland (NHS Education Scotland)
Statistics on Higher Education, Further Education, Apprenticeships and Adult Community Learning in Wales (Medr)
Domestic Abuse Estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (ONS)

Suspensions of Official Statistics Accreditation (23)

Accredited official statistics can have their accreditation suspended or cancelled, if substantial non-compliance with the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics is identified. OSR will issue an improvement notice to the producer of the statistics, detailing the areas to be addressed. We suspended 23 sets of statistics in 2025/26:

Levels of Highest Qualification Held by Working Age Adults (Welsh Government)
Producer Price Indices (PPI), including the Export Price Index (EPI) and Import Price Index (IPI), and Services Producer Price Indices (SPPI) from Nov 2020 onwards (4) (ONS)
Scottish Cervical Cancer Screening Programme statistics (2016/17 to 2021/22) (Public Health Scotland)
Statistics from the Wealth and Assets Survey (ONS) (3): Household Total Wealth in Great Britain; Saving for Retirement in Great Britain; Household Debt in Great Britain
Digital Sector Economic Estimates: Employment statistics (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) ambulance statistics within the Northern Ireland Hospital Statistics: Urgent and Emergency Care publication (Department of Health, NI)
Healthy Life Expectancy statistics (National Records of Scotland)
Students in Higher Education (Medr)
Welsh Language in Higher Education (Medr)
Further Education, Work-Based Learning and Community Learning (Medr)
Learner Outcome Measures for Apprenticeships (Medr)
National Survey for Wales statistics (Welsh Government)
DCMS Sector Economic Estimates: Employment series (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
School Meal Uptake statistics (Scottish Government)
Adult Social Care Activity statistics (Department of Health and Social Care)
Breast Cancer Screening Statistics and Scottish Health Costs (Public Health Scotland)
NI Poverty and Income Inequality Report 2024–25 and the NI Family Resources Survey Report 2024–25 (Department for Communities NI, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency)
Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland (Scottish Government)
Relative Income Poverty (Welsh Government)

Confirmations of new OS Accreditation (or Reaccreditation) (7)

Accredited Official Statistics are official statistics that have been independently reviewed by OSR and confirmed to comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. These will wither be new accreditations or reaccreditations of statistics that have previously been cancelled or suspended and have implemented remedial actions.

Accident and Emergency statistics (NHS England)
Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency)
Statistics on Employment and Earnings from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI) (HM Revenue and Customs and Office for National Statistics)
Northern Ireland Business Expenditure on Research and Development (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency)
Cancer Waiting Times statistics (NHS England)
Domestic Abuse Estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (ONS) (Reaccreditation)
Northern Ireland Tourism statistics covering trips, nights and associated expenditure (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) (Reaccreditation)

Compliance Reviews (14)

Compliance reviews of existing accredited official statistics are conducted to check the statistics’ ongoing compliance with the Code. They often focus on a specific issue or part of the Code. Compliance review of official statistics are conducted to check the statistics’ ongoing compliance with Code, but where the outcome does not involve a decision on accreditation. Their main aim is to recommend improvements to the statistics.

Maternity and Births statistics and Breastfeeding statistics (Welsh Government) (continued designation)
Coroners statistics (Ministry of Justice) (continued designation)
Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) (ONS) (continued designation)
Inpatient, Day Case and Outpatient Stage of Treatment Waiting Times (Public Health Scotland) (continued designation)
Family Spending statistics (ONS) (continued designation)
Treatment of Seasonality in Quarterly GDP statistics (ONS) (continued designation)
Referral to Treatment (RTT) statistics (NHS England) (continued designation)
Gambling Survey for Great Britain (Gambling Commission)
Building Safety Remediation: Monthly Data Release (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Northern Ireland Tourism statistics (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency)
Direct Effects of Illustrative Tax Changes (HM Revenue & Customs)
Justice Data Lab statistics (Ministry of Justice)
Cyber Security Breaches Survey (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Home Office)
Estimates of Additional Housing Need (Welsh Government)

Reviews (including Systemic Reviews) (8)

Systemic reviews are used when we want to improve the public value of a set of statistics or examine a cross-cutting statistical issue such as data linkage or classifications rather than an individual set of statistics. Examining issues across the statistics landscape allows us to influence how the statistics system responds collectively to maximise quality and public value.

Review of Fraud and Computer Misuse Statistics for England and Wales (ONS)
Systemic Review of ONS Economic Statistics – Interim Report
Systemic Review of Economic Statistics produced by ONS – Final Report
ONS Reports on Progress with Economic Statistics, December 2025: OSR response
The Adequacy of UK-wide Comparable Statistics and Data
State of the UK Statistical System 2025
Intelligent transparency: 2025 review
Review of Mental Health Statistics in Wales

Alternative Release Time Decisions (5)

The Code enables official statistics to be released at times other than the standard release time of 9.30am, when there is evidence that this better serves the public good. Applications for alternative release times are made to the Director General, OSR by the relevant Head of Profession for Statistics/lead official.

Transformation of UK consumer price statistics, groceries scanner data analysis, April 2025 (ONS)
Viral respiratory diseases in Scotland surveillance report (Public Health Scotland) (temporary)
Non-domestic rates revaluation statistics (Scottish Government)
Alternative Release Times for Economic Statistics (ONS)
UK Economic Accounts (UKEA) datasets (ONS)

Research, Guidance and Think Pieces (40)

We undertake research projects and collaborate with others who share our vision of statistics that serve the public good. We also publish policies and guidance to promote and support application of the Code across the UK.

Statistics for the public good: Understanding and enhancing trust in official statistics
Trust and official statistics
Reflecting on the role of statistics and OSR in an evolving public sphere

Regulatory Guidance: Dashboards
Putting the Code Principles into Practice
Ensuring Public Accountability
TQV Voluntary Application: Showing Trustworthiness, Quality and Value when working with data and statistics
Quality Statistics and Data for Everyone: Renewing Trust Through Ethical Practice
Guidance on the Standards for the Public Use of Statistics, Data and Wider Analysis
Required policies and statements relating to official statistics production
Short Guides to Code of Practice Standards (10)
Transition Guidance: Moving to the Code of Practice for Statistics Edition 3.0
Public involvement and engagement in official statistics: A toolkit for statistics producers
Introducing the Code of Practice for Statistics: Summaries about why the Code is helpful
Guidance on analytical leadership: achieving better outcomes
Compliance reviews: A guide for statistics producers
Election Guidance and Explainers (14)
Suspension and cancellation of accreditation

Blogs and Guest Blogs (21)

The Director General and team members at the Office for Statistics Regulation and other ad-hoc guest authors present thinking on how the different areas of the statistical system can affect and benefit the public.

Blogs:

Demand on the NHS is a poor proxy for understanding the UK’s health
Mission possible? Statistics and data in the UK Government’s mission-led approach to government
GDP beyond the bottom line: measuring what matters most
Welcoming the new Evaluation Registry
Good statistics are never done: Why producers should never stop improving their statistics
OSR’s emerging strategic themes: 2026-29
From Trend to Tool: Elevating Dashboards with Trustworthiness, Quality and Value
Efficiency in Action: Improving Productivity in Public Services
Advancing data linkage: key takeaways from the Administrative Data Research UK conference
Why Migration Statistics Still Matter
Going beyond consultation to creative conversation about the Code of Practice
What is it about TQV?
How official statistics producers need to embrace vulnerability in a time of crisis: ISI World Statistics Conference 2025 keynote speech
Renewed momentum? The Statistics Assembly one year on
Mental health statistics across the UK: What we know so far and what’s next
Beyond public letters: the hidden impact of casework

Guest blogs:

Quality Data, Shared Purpose: World Statistics Day 2025 and the Refreshed Code of Practice
Trust in Statistics: Launching the Refreshed Code of Practice
Celebrating Women in Stats and the refreshed Code of Practice: Reflections from Denise Lievesley
Don’t Ask for Trust in Statistics. Earn It.
Skills for Care’s journey to becoming producers of an accredited official statistic

Other publications (6)

Consultation on the Code of Practice for Statistics: Findings and next steps
Annual Review of Casework 2024/25
Office for Statistics Regulation Annual Report 2024/25
Interim OSR Summary Business Plan 2025/26
OSR Strategy: How we will strengthen trust and confidence in statistics: 2026–2029
OSR Annual Business Plan 2026/27

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