Areas for further reporting

Our systemic review made two recommendations for longer-term action by ONS.

First, it recommended that ONS produce a more disaggregated analysis of the costs associated with each of its major outputs. This would facilitate more effective engagement with stakeholders on prioritisation (including during future meetings of the UK Statistics Assembly). It would also enable ONS to engage with stakeholders based on information about the relative costs of various outputs as well as the benefits. Without this, engagement risks delivering an un-prioritisable wish list that increases pressure on ONS to spread resources too thinly.

OSR recognises that providing detailed and accurate cost information for individual outputs is challenging, particularly as many costs, including those for key data sources, are shared across outcomes. However, they are an important component in enabling stakeholders and users to contribute their views to ONS’s prioritisation discussions, enabling them to consider the opportunity costs alongside the benefits.

We expect to see such information included in ONS’s forthcoming business plan as a foundation on which to build in subsequent business planning prioritisation.

Recommendation 2: ONS should make a more disaggregated analysis of the costs associated with each of its major outputs available in its business planning and prioritisation processes.

Second, OSR recommended that ONS should supplement its risk-based approach to quality assurance with a prioritised programme of quality reviews covering its key outputs. Future versions of the progress report should set out how ONS plans to respond to this recommendation.

A key issue identified in the systemic review, and emphasised by stakeholders, is the risk posed to recovery by the recruitment and retention of expertise. While the progress report on the survey improvement plan refers to measures taken to improve the position in respect of interviewers, future progress reports should provide more evidence of progress on steps being taken to address recruitment and retention.

ONS has acknowledged that replacing legacy systems is key to delivering its plans. Future versions of the progress reports should include more information on the implementation of new systems across business areas, with associated dependencies and deadlines. Without this, stakeholders cannot assess whether ONS is addressing the root causes of its performance issues.

Finally, the data sources strategy, published alongside the plans, also responds to a recommendation from our systemic review. Publication of the strategy is welcome. The strategy is presented at a high level, setting out broad principles and aspirations. Further information will be needed, in either an updated version of the strategy or future progress reports, on the specific plans for key outputs. These plans should provide a vision for how survey and administrative data will be used in an integrated way to improve delivery across key outputs and “roadmaps” setting out how this vision will be delivered.

Some recent problems have arisen through errors in administrative data supplied by other government departments, including a series of issues with data supplied by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Leadership within the wider statistical system should consider whether there is need for stronger incentives on data suppliers to increase focus on the quality of data supplied, and if so, the best option for achieving this.

Recommendation 3: In its next update, ONS should provide further information on a prioritised programme of quality reviews, recruitment and retention and legacy systems.