Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Deferred
Paragraph: 63
Establish UK Statistics Authority framework for prioritising evidence demands and submit triennial findings to Parliament.
Recommendation
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 UK about their needs for evidence and the benefits new evidence would bring, alongside research on data gaps, and public understanding. We further recommend that the UK Statistics Authority submit its findings on the nation’s demands for evidence to Parliament on a triennial basis, for scrutiny by this Committee.
Government Response Summary
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 its impact by Q2 2025/26, and update its strategy.
Paragraph Reference:
63
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
33. The ONS accepts the Committee’s recommendation to review the AF’s scope and standard with achievable next steps in mind and will take the points raised away for further consideration. Subject to gaining sufficient 16 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/ populationestimates/bulletins/populationestimatesforenglandandwales/ mid2023#comparison-with-admin- based-population-estimates-published-in-july-2024, Section 6. funding for the AFCT, the team will review the scope of the AF, which will be reflected in the updated AF Strategy for 2025–2028. The team will also review the AF standard, focusing on any changes needed to reflect the importance of transparency in analysis. 34. With regards to the evaluation of the AF, subject to funding, the AFCT will evaluate the impact of their work to support analysts across government. It will also undertake a light touch assessment of the impact of analysis more widely, using existing evidence sources, such as the results of the assessment against the AF Standard. This will be complemented by the work of departmental Chief Analysts who are responsible for evaluating the impact of their analysis and whether it is meeting the needs of their decision makers. 35. The AFCT will update the Committee on the findings of this evaluation, via a letter from the National Statistician to the Chair. The AFCT anticipate that this work will be completed by Q2 2025/26. However, further reviews of the standard, and evaluation of the work of the Central Team, will be undertaken as part of our business as usual.