The work of the UK Statistics Authority

Status / emerging findings

• ONS problems were 'in plain sight' through parliamentary scrutiny for years but only became actionable after the October 2023 Labour Force Survey crisis forced comprehensive review; board papers were 'thin and repetitive' with an 'overly rosy picture' masking deterioration
• Systemic governance failures: no individual held accountable; senior responsible owners lacked adequate resourcing; critical early warning signs (declining survey response rates identified March 2020) were not escalated to board level until September 2023
• Root causes identified: outdated survey designs, reliance on undocumented legacy SAS code rather than open-source software, chronic underfunding relative to expectations, and organisational culture that discouraged staff from raising concerns
• The UKSA board structure where it oversees both ONS and its regulator is acknowledged as 'bizarre' and problematic; structural changes under active consideration alongside weekly Cabinet Office line management and new permanent secretary prioritising operational transformation
• Cabinet Office cross-government data sharing stalled for a decade before transfer to DSIT; fundamental barrier is harmonising what data means across departments rather than technical sharing capability

Why it matters

UK government policy decisions affecting millions of people depend on reliable statistics; repeated failures undermine democratic accountability and public trust in official data, making this inquiry's recommendations on governance and independence critical to restoring credibility.

Tone arc

Early sessions adversarial, pressing witnesses on accountability gaps and board failures; tone shifted after November session to focus on forward-looking governance reform and Cabinet Office intervention measures, acknowledging systemic rather than individual culpability.

Key witnesses

Professor Sir Ian Diamond (former National Statistician and ONS leader), Sir Robert Chote (UK Statistics Authority Chair), Emma Rourke (ONS Executive Director), Ed Humpherson (Office for Statistics Regulation), Josh Simons (Cabinet Office), Catherine Little CB (Cabinet Office), Penny Young (Interim UKSA Chair), Darren Tierney (Permanent Secretary, ONS)