Committee publication · Correspondence · 3 September 2025 · HC 847
Letter from Ed Humpherson, Director General for Office for Statistics Regulation on State of the Statistical System report, dated 4.8.25
From: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Summary
Ed Humpherson, Director General of the Office for Statistics Regulation, writes to the PACAC Chair to highlight the OSR's State of the Statistical System 2025 report. The report identifies high-profile confidence-building initiatives, demand and resourcing pressures, declining household survey response rates affecting ONS quality, slow progress on data sharing, AI implementation risks, UK-wide comparability challenges, and the importance of transparent communication and uncertainty management across the statistical system.
Key findings
- Declining household survey response rates are negatively affecting the quality of key ONS statistics, particularly critical for long-standing surveys
- Progress on data sharing and data linkage across government remains slow despite ongoing innovations
- The statistical system must proactively research and implement system-wide solutions to understand variations in survey response rates across the UK and topic areas
- ONS has demonstrated welcome openness to feedback and increased transparency in recent interactions with OSR, particularly through publications on economic statistics and household/business survey plans
- The broader UK statistical system remains robust and is effectively meeting diverse user demands, though the ONS faces significant challenges in rebuilding quality and user confidence
Tone
FactualTopics
Key actors
Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation, Simon Hoare, Office for National Statistics, Government Statistical Service, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Notable line
“Despite clear challenges faced by the ONS, the broader statistical system remains robust and is working hard to meet diverse user needs.”
Key Quotes
“… declining responses to statistics household surveys are negatively affecting the quality of key UK statistics.”
“OSR, in its recent interactions with the ONS, has seen a welcome openness to feedback and an increased transparency.”
“It is becoming critical that the factors which affect variations in response rates to statistical surveys across the UK and topic areas are better understood by the whole statistical system.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗