Select Committee · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Transforming the UK’s Evidence Base

Status: Closed Opened: 14 Nov 2023 Closed: 24 May 2024 15 recommendations 21 conclusions 1 report

This inquiry is exploring how officials produce statistics and analysis, how demands for data are changing, and whether the privacy of citizens is being adequately protected as new and innovative sources become available.

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifth Report - Transforming the UK’s Evidence Base HC 197 24 May 2024 36 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

5 items
7 Recommendation Fifth Report - Transforming the UK’s Ev… Deferred

Review exclusion of health and social care data from Digital Economy Act 2017.

While time in this Parliament now runs short, we recommend that the next Government review the exclusion of health and social care data from the Digital Economy Act 2017. There are understandable sensitivities around the sharing of health data, but it may be that the implementation of research provisions over …

Government response. The Government accepts the recommendation but states that HM Treasury would consider findings of any future reports from the UKSA (subject to responses to other recommendations) to inform funding decisions related to public evidence, rather than directly committing to review …
11 Recommendation Fifth Report - Transforming the UK’s Ev… Deferred

Establish UK Statistics Authority framework for prioritising evidence demands and submit triennial findings to Parliament.

It is time to democratise access to data and evidence. The UK Statistics Authority should establish a framework for identifying and prioritising demands for evidence. We recommend that it use a high-level Assembly (of the kind recently recommended by Professor Denise Lievesley) to draw together information from communities across the …

Government response. The government response does not address the committee's recommendation to establish a framework and high-level assembly for evidence demands, nor to report findings to Parliament. Instead, it discusses the ONS's plans to review the Analysis Function's scope and standard, evaluate …
13 Recommendation Fifth Report - Transforming the UK’s Ev… Deferred

Use OSR data gap reports to inform Treasury funding decisions for public evidence.

We recommend that in its conduct of future Spending Reviews, HM Treasury uses the findings from these reports to inform the decisions it takes on the funding of activity relating to the collection, analysis and communication of public evidence.

Government response. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) is exploring ways to provide Intelligent Transparency materials online, developing new social media guidance, and refreshing the Code to articulate IT standards more clearly. It states it already encourages transparency around policy announcements but …
14 Conclusion Fifth Report - Transforming the UK’s Ev… Deferred

Confirm Government support for the public good principle of statistics in response to report.

We ask the Government to confirm, in its response to this report, that it supports the principle - enshrined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 - that statistics are for the public good; and that the public good includes not just assisting in the development and evaluation of …

Government response. The government response does not confirm support for the principle that statistics are for the public good, as requested. Instead, it discusses the ONS's acceptance of a recommendation to develop options for Ministers on the routine publication of evidence and …
15 Conclusion Fifth Report - Transforming the UK’s Ev… Deferred

Inadequate data comparability across UK nations hinders public service evaluation.

It is disappointing that - despite the ever-increasing amount of data available to policy-makers - there are many areas in which it is impossible to compare the experiences of those living in each of the four nations of the UK. This is detrimental to individual citizens, who are deprived of …

Government response. The government response does not address the committee's conclusion regarding the lack of comparable data across the four nations of the UK. Instead, it states the ONS accepts a recommendation for the Analysis Function to explore options for improving transparency …

Oral evidence sessions

5 sessions
Date Witnesses
12 Mar 2024 Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG · Cabinet Office, Professor Denise Lievesley CBE · Oxford University, Steffan Jones · Cabinet Office View ↗
6 Feb 2024 Ed Humpherson · Office for Statistics Regulation View ↗
5 Dec 2023 Gavin Freeguard · Connected by Data, John Edwards · Information Commissioner's Office, Reema Patel · Ipsos UK View ↗
9 Nov 2023 Chris Morris · Full Fact, Dr Gemma Tetlow · Institute for Government, Hetan Shah · British Academy View ↗
5 Sep 2023 Professor Sir Ian Diamond · Office for National Statistics View ↗

Correspondence

4 letters
DateDirectionTitle
12 Mar 2024 To cttee Letter from Professor Sir Ian Diamond, National Statistician, UK Statistics Aut…
9 Jan 2024 To cttee Letter from Professor Sir Ian Diamond, National Statistician on supplementary w…
19 Dec 2023 To cttee Letter from John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner on follow-up after the or…
17 Oct 2023 To cttee Letter from Professor Sir Ian Diamond, National Statistician to on follow up wr…