Select committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Conclusion 15
Fifth Report - Transforming the UK’s Evidence Base
Published 24 May 2024
Paragraph 67
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Transforming the UK’s Evidence Base All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
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 the ability to compare public services delivered in their part of the UK with those delivered in other parts. These issues were highlighted in a recent review of the UK Statistics Authority; but three months on from the report’s publication, although the issue appears to be a priority for Government, it has not yet made its full response on the issue known.
From: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Fifth Report - Transforming the UK’s Evidence Base (HC 197), paragraph 67, 24 May 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 March 2025 (deadline 24 July 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government accepts some of the Committee's recommendations addressed to it, rejects others, and notes two on funding, while referring the remaining recommendations to the UK Statistics Authority.
- On a new data-sharing programme (recommendation 1), the Government "rejects the Committee's recommendation", saying it is "developing a more comprehensive approach", including a National Data Library, with funding implications "considered in the round" at Spending Review 2025.
- It rejects the recommendation to publish evidence and data underpinning major policy announcements (recommendation 14), stating that such decisions lie with departments, which weigh transparency against factors such as public safety and commercial sensitivity.
- It accepts the recommendation to review health and social care data in the Digital Economy Act 2017, saying it will implement this "by the end of 2025", and states it has "now implemented" the recommendation on training communications staff in Intelligent Transparency.
- On future funding of the analysis function and the Office for Statistics Regulation (recommendations 10 and 12), the Government "notes" them, and HM Treasury "will consider all UKSA funding arrangements as part of Spending Review 2025".