Statistics Director, BBC News

A very important government review shows that the “deep sitting” issue must be addressed before the UK official Statistics Bureau can “rebuild its reputation.”
Repeated issues with the Bureau of National Statistics (ONS) data used to make decisions that affect millions of people have led governments to set up reviews of organizations and their leadership.
This review states that most of these issues are attributed to “inadequate” in the way agents plan and make decisions.
The ONS welcomed the report, and the issue “fully acknowledged” the issue was highlighted when it came up with a plan to restore the quality of the economic data it generates.
The ONS provides data used by agencies to make policy decisions, such as setting state interests, planning housing schemes, and making decisions about migration and crime.
The Bank of England relies on ONS when weighing whether to raise or reduce interest rates, which affects interest rates on things like mortgage repayments, credit cards, and other loans.
In April, the government called on former Chief Public Service Sir Robert DeVerou to conduct an independent investigation of the agency after a series of issues.
Sir Robert concluded that “most of the well-known issues regarding core economic statistics are the result of ONS’s own performance,” particularly “the result of “choices made at the top of the ONS for several years.”
He cited a “interest in new things” that he paid attention from the “not so exciting but important task” of providing enough core economic data to guide quality decisions.
His report also emphasized the unwillingness at the advanced level to hear and act difficult news.
The ONS was firing from its own regulatory authority in response to criticism of a new analysis of gender identity.
Repeated revisions to the upward revision of the transition figures resulted in questions regarding the population data being generated.
The Bank of England has repeatedly criticised statistical agencies for the reliability of job market data.
In the middle of the review, National Statistician ian Diamond, head of ONS, was quick to see results for health reasons.
Like many statistical organizations, ONS struggles with tight budgets and having people fill out the surveys they need for their data.
When he returned to working in the office, Sir Robert said that a quick resolution to conflict between management and staff was needed, noting that the relatively low wages of analysts made it difficult to recruit and retain staff.
In summary, he said, “I’m not surprised that so many experienced senior leaders have chosen to leave.”
Many of these issues were about the operation of the organization rather than technical statistics, so he recommended splitting the top work of national statisticians into two.
He suggests that senior civil servants will be hired to run the organization, while senior statisticians will provide technical advice and leadership to the government and staff.
In response to the review, representative national statistician Emma Rourke welcomed the report and said she “full acknowledges the issues he highlighted.”
ONS has also set up plans to improve core economic statistics.
These plans are paid by ending the development of data link programs that link different government datasets, and by making changes to management. I hope that it will save about £10 million from these changes and can be used to improve it.
Overall, ONS continues to face a tight budget.
A recent spending review has given the UK statistical system extra money to prepare for the census in 2031, but the remaining funds won’t keep up with price increases.