Committee publication · Correspondence · 16 December 2025
Letter from Professor Denise Anne Lievesley CBE on the role of the National Statistician, dated 9.12.25
From: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Summary
Professor Denise Lievesley CBE writes to PACAC Chair Simon Hoare following her June committee appearance, outlining her views on the National Statistician role. She argues the position has become too broad—combining professional leadership of UK statistics with management of ONS—and recommends structural reforms: appointing a COO-equivalent to manage ONS operations, implementing a Director General for Methodology, and making the ONS Director General a second permanent secretary reporting to the National Statistician.
Key findings
- The National Statistician role is currently too broad, combining professional leadership of UK statistics with overall ONS management, which is unsustainable for one person.
- Appointing a senior public servant (COO-equivalent) to strengthen ONS operations would free the National Statistician to lead professionally across the UK Statistical System across all four nations.
- A Director General for Methodology position—previously recommended in Lievesley's Independent Review and reportedly supported by UKSA—remains unimplemented.
- Long-term structural reform should make the ONS Director General a second permanent secretary reporting to the National Statistician with a dedicated place on the UKSA Board.
- The National Statistician's reporting responsibility should be clarified as running to the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority to ensure independence of the statistical system.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Professor Denise Anne Lievesley CBE, Simon Hoare MP, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), Office for National Statistics (ONS), Royal Statistical Society
Notable line
“This role, as currently conceived, has become too broad for one person, being both the professional lead for UK statistics and the overall manager of ONS.”
Key Quotes
“This role, as currently conceived, has become too broad for one person, being both the professional lead for UK statistics and the overall manager of ONS.”
“This frees the National Statistician to lead professionally across the UK Statistical System, supporting statisticians in all four nations and developing a coherent statistical programme that takes account of users inside and outside Government - ie the Chief Executive of UK statistics.”
“In this regard it is vital to have clarity on the reporting responsibility of the National Statistician which I would argue should be to the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗