We have published our new state of the UK’s statistical system report for 2020/21
This review sets out our view on the current state of government statistics. At their best, statistics and data produced by government are insightful, coherent, and timely. They are of high policy-relevance and public interest. There are good examples of statistics that effectively support decision-making in many areas of everyday life: this has been especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, when we’re seeing the kind of statistical system that we’ve always wanted to encourage – responsive, agile and focusing on users. However, the statistical system does not consistently perform at this level across all its work.
In this report we address eight key areas where improvements could be made across the system.
- Statistical leadership
- Voluntary Application of the Code, beyond official statistics
- Quality assurance of administrative data
- Communicating uncertainty
- Adopting new tools, methods and data sources
- Telling fuller stories with data
- Providing authoritative insight
- User engagement
In each area, we highlight examples of statistical producers doing things well. These examples illustrate the good work already happening which others can learn from and build on. We have organised our reflections under the three headings of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value, the three essential pillars that provide the framework for the Code of Practice for Statistics.