Committee publication · Correspondence · 2 June 2026
Letter from Darren Tierney, Permanent Secretary, Office for National Statistics on the ONS Business Plan for 2026-29, dated 20.5.26
From: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Summary
Darren Tierney, Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics, writes to inform the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the ONS Business Plan for 2026–29, published on 20 May 2026. The plan prioritises stabilising critical statistics, strengthening modern data services, and building sustainable capabilities. Tierney updates the committee on recent progress including appointing a new Director General for Digital, Data and Technology, resolving a hybrid working dispute, and completing 65 of 93 planned economic statistics milestones.
Key findings
- ONS business plan for 2026–29 focuses on three interdependent priorities: stabilising and improving critical statistics; strengthening modern National Statistics Institute services; and building sustainable capabilities in people, data and technology.
- Luke Ashton appointed as Director General for Digital, Data and Technology, bringing senior expertise from Barclays to modernise digital infrastructure and move away from legacy systems.
- Longstanding industrial dispute over hybrid working resolved following trade union votes in favour of new principles targeting 40% office attendance based on purposeful collaboration.
- 65 of 93 planned economic statistics and surveys milestones completed, including deployment of scanner data for inflation measurement, reframing monthly GDP statistics, and moving migration estimates to administrative data approach.
- ONS staff engagement index increased 3 percentage points to 63%; 69% of colleagues would recommend ONS/UKSA as a great place to work (up 10 percentage points from 2025). ONS developing long-term People Plan to sustain talent development and retention.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Darren Tierney, Office for National Statistics, Simon Hoare, Luke Ashton, UK Statistics Authority Board, Penny Young, Bank of England, Office for Budget Responsibility
Notable line
“… dependable statistics, communicated clearly; rigorous stewardship of public money; and a modern, high-performing ONS that supports better decision-making across the UK.”
Key Quotes
“Guided by the priorities established by the UK Statistics Authority Board, this business plan sets out how we will achieve our mission to deliver high-quality, independent statistics that underpin the UK's most critical economic and societal decisions and inform the public.”
“We will stabilise and improve the portfolio of our critical statistics, prioritising quality and coherence across economic, population and social statistics.”
“Luke joins us from Barclays where he was Group Chief Data Officer and Head of Process Automation and brings with him senior expertise across digital, data and operations, and will lead work to modernise our digital estate …”
“Colleagues are expected to work together to contribute meaningfully towards an overall expectation of 40% office attendance (the maximum capacity we have in our estate), focusing on purposeful collaboration and delivery …”
“… the latest pulse survey of all ONS staff shows that the headline engagement index is up 3 percentage points to 63%, and other indicators are encouraging, for example 69% of colleagues would recommend ONS/ UKSA as a great place to work, an increase of 10 percentage points from”
“The ONS was one of the first national statistics institutes 2 https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/ourstrategyandplans/onsimprovementplans/onseconomicstatisticsandsurvey simprovementplan/onseconomicstatisticsandsurveysimprovementplanquarterlyprogressupdateapril2026 globally last year to deploy generative …”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗