GSS Conference speakers

Emma Rourke will open the conference this year.

Emma Rourke is the Acting National Statistician. She is the principal advisor on statistical matters to the UK Statistics Authority Board, as well as to ministers and Parliament. She is Head of the Government Statistical Service (GSS) and the Analysis Function, focusing her time on system-wide leadership of statistical production within the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and across government. She works closely with other senior analytical leaders across government and represents the ONS at relevant international fora.

Emma was previously the Deputy National Statistician and Director General for Health, Population and Methods, and prior to this Emma was the Director for Public Policy Analysis, joining the ONS in November 2016. During the pandemic, Emma led ONS’ Health Analysis and Pandemic Insights and has continued to work with international partners to strengthen the role of National Statistical Offices worldwide in preparation for future global health emergencies.

Before joining the ONS in 2016, Emma held senior roles in the health sector, including Director of Intelligence at the Care Quality Commission where she developed a strategic plan to create an intelligence-driven regulator. Prior to that, Emma held various analytical and policy development roles in the CQC and its predecessor body, the Healthcare Commission.

Emma has experience leading a range of social analyses, assisting in the development and evaluation of public policy, and promoting high quality statistics to meet the needs of a diverse range of customers in central and local government. Emma’s professional background is in healthcare clinical practice where her area of interest was clinical risk management, audit, and analytics.

Jason Bradbury will facilitate the first part of the day: Innovating our practice to level up statistical processes.

Jason is joint Deputy Head of the GSS, and Interim Chief Analyst and Director for Insights and Research at Ofsted. He has more than 30 years’ experience across 6 government bodies working in analysis, strategy, digital, data and programme/project delivery.

A statistician by background, Jason is passionate about the power of data and research to inform evidence based decision-making and operational practice. Jason has been at Ofsted for the past 8 years and is also supports the National Statistician as one of three Deputy Heads of the Government Statistical Service. As a Deputy Head of the GSS, Jason is responsible for GSS input into UKSA and AF strategy, liaising with the National Statistician, attending the Analysis Function Board, and supporting the position of the GSS.

Steve Ellerd-Elliott will facilitate the second part of the day: Building capabilities for the future, and will lead the parallel session: ‘Building a toolkit for the Future Statistician’. The Deputy Heads of the GSS will lead the final session of the day.

As one of the Deputy Heads of the GSS, Steve leads on Future Capability, supporting the work of the People Advisory Group. He works with the RSS on the future role of the GSS, to support innovation and partnership working.

Steve is the Head of Profession for Statistics at the Department for Work and Pensions.  He has held previous posts as Head of Profession for Statistics in Ministry of Justice and the Head of Statistics in the National Offender Management Service.

Steve has been in the GSS for nearly 30 years and has experience across a variety of roles including developing management information for performance reporting; producing statistics and working with survey data; developing forecasting models; and providing analysis to inform policy development.

Jane Naylor will facilitate the final part of the day: Collaborating to transform experiences, and will participate in the panel: Embedding Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. The Deputy Heads of the GSS will lead the final session of the day.

Jane has been a Government Statistician for nearly 25 years and over that time has held positions in different departments including the ONS and Ministerial departments, such as the Department for Business and Trade where she is currently the Chief Statistician. She therefore has experience of applying the Code in different organisations and roles.

Since January Jane has also taken on the position of joint Deputy Head of the GSS and in this role leads on the implementation of the GSS Vision, ‘Strength in Numbers’ – ensuring that we maximise the opportunities to join up across the GSS. Code adherence is a key area for collaboration highlighted in the Vision.

Ed Humpherson – Launch of the refreshed Code of Practice for Statistics

Head of the Office for Statistics Regulation at the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), Director General for Regulation at the UK Statistics Authority.

The OSR provides independent regulation of all official statistics in the UK, and aims to enhance public confidence in the trustworthiness, quality and value of statistics produced by government.

Prior to joining the UK Statistics Authority, Ed was a Board Member and Executive Leader for Economic Affairs at the National Audit Office (NAO), a post he held since July 2009. This role included responsibility for the overall strategic direction of NAO’s work on economic affairs. Ed was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and is a Chartered Accountant, and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Ed’s full biography can be found on the OSR website.

About the session

“I can’t wait to officially launch the refreshed Code of Practice for Statistics at the 2025 GSS Conference. We’re delighted to have received excellent collaboration from across the statistics system, and beyond, in developing the new Code.

The new Code reflects how we all aim to continually evolve and improve the production, dissemination and onward communication of high-quality statistics, data and wider analysis. It continues to promote a collaborative, open, and accessible approach which enables statistics and data to provide insight, inform understanding, and shape action – in short, to serve the public good.

Join me in Manchester to find out more about how you can play your professional part in embedding Trustworthiness, Quality, and Value (TQV) throughout the lifecycle of statistics.”

Eric Anvar is Head of Smart Data at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Statistics and Data Directorate. He leads the implementation of the OECD Smart Data Strategy, which aims to integrate new data sources and techniques into policy analysis, while modernising statistical processes and practices across the organisation.

Over the past 15 years, Eric has spearheaded the development of the open-source Statistical Information System Collaboration Community (SIS-CC), a global partnership of 20 national and international statistical organisations.

Eric has 30 years of experience in IT and data management across both public and private sectors, and holds engineering degrees from École Polytechnique and Télécom Paris (Computer Science).

About the session

“As the saying goes: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.’ But my experience in recent years — growing communities of practice as a cornerstone of OECD data governance, and building an open-source community — has led me to a different conclusion: ‘If you want to go slow, or not move at all, go alone; if you want to go fast and far, go together.’

At the heart of a successful digital transformation lies our ability — or perhaps our responsibility — to cultivate networks of like-minded professionals who share common goals and a passion for learning. I’m very much looking forward to exchanging views with you in Manchester on what it takes to cultivate thriving ecosystems, and why it truly matters.”

Professor Allison Littlejohn is Pro-Vice Provost for UCL’s Grand Challenge Data Empowered Societies and is Professor of Learning and Technology at University College London. Her work aims to expand our understanding of the socio-technical effects of digital transformation at work and accelerate UCL’s positive impact on the world through data and information technologies that empower humans.

Over the past 20 years Allison has held senior positions at UK universities, advancing the use of data and digital technologies for work and learning previously as Director of the UCL Knowledge Lab; Dean (Learning & Teaching) at the University of Glasgow; Academic Director for Digital Innovation at the UK Open University; and Director of the Caledonian Academy at Glasgow Caledonian University. She has held professorships at 5 UK universities and currently is a visiting professor at the National Institute of Education, Singapore.

About the session

“In the race to generate ‘data-driven’ solutions, we run the risk of sidelining human experiences. Efforts to utilise data in ways that empower society, like making data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) or developing federated data systems, tend to focus on technical areas such as the user experience, privacy, standardisation, interoperability, legal issues, scalability, sustainability. These areas are all important—but they only work well when people are fully engaged.

Making use of data is more than just technical work, it involves an important social dimension. Use of data changes how people work together, what roles they take on, and how power is shared. These changes can create tensions that change the dynamics of work. For example, one of the biggest challenges is that different groups of people think about and use data in different ways. These groups have distinct “epistemic cultures”— they have their own tools, ways of thinking, and social rules. Because of this, sharing and understanding data across groups can be beset by tensions such as lack of trust, poor communication or even feelings of vulnerability.

In this presentation, I’ll share stories from people who work with data and how changes in their work affect them. I’ll also talk about their concerns and how we might address these tensions they experience. I look forward to hearing about your own experiences and thoughts, and to talking with you in Manchester.”

In support of the new Code of Practice for Statistics 3.0, senior leaders will share their views and answer your questions about the changes in the new code, and approaches for developing the way we embed the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value across the UK Statistical System.

Ed Humpherson (Office for Statistics Regulation)

Ed’s biography can be found in the keynote section of this page.

Penny Young (UK Statistics Authority)

Penny’s biography can be found in the parallel sessions area of this page.

Mairi Spowage (UK Statistics Authority)

Mairi’s biography can be found in the parallel sessions area of this page.

Jane Naylor (Deputy Head of the GSS, Head of Profession at Department for Business and Trade)

Jane’s biography can be found in the GSS Leaders section of this page.

Facilitated by Rachel Skentelbery, Deputy Head of Profession for ONS, Deputy Director – Quality and Improvement Division, ONS

Rachel leads the Quality and Improvement Division at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), and is the Deputy Head of Profession for Statistics for ONS.

Rachel’s team provide support within ONS and across government on statistical methods and quality improvement. The division is focused on continuous improvement through the implementation of automation (through Reproducible Analytical Pipelines and Statistical Methods Library), best practice modelling, and implementation and understanding and improving quality.

Previously Rachel worked at the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) as their Head of Statistical Quality and Data Science.

Rachel is passionate about improving the quality, efficiency and usefulness of statistical products through the sharing of best practice, working in partnerships and the utilisation of new data and tools.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here, and it’s One Big Thing to think about. This session aims to discuss how we can leverage AI for statistics, including considerations of the challenges, benefits and risks to be aware of.  We welcome all attendees to ask questions to the panel about the use of AI when working with statistics.

Eric Anvar, Head of Smart Data at the OECD

Eric’s biography is available in the keynotes section of this page.

Sophie Stewart, Head of AI Analysis, Home Office

Sophie Stewart is the Head of AI Analysis in Home Office Digital, leading the Data Science, AI Evaluation, and AI Assurance teams. She’s also the GSS and GORS professions lead for AI at Home Office, alongside leading the Gen AI for Analysts working group.

Benedicte Terryn, Head of Data Science and Innovation, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

Bene currently leads a Data Science and Innovation Unit at FCDO, leveraging data science, AI and automation to drive efficiency and insights across the organisation.

She started her career in official statistics in the UK and at UNESCO, running surveys and developing modelling methodologies. She then joined the Department for International Development and worked in analytical roles in various corporate, policy and geographical areas, or supporting institutional capacity development with partners.  Bene reflects on a rewarding job serving as an advisor to the President of the Central Statistics Organisation in Afghanistan. Bene expanded analytical leadership in research and evaluation, engineering culture change in African departments and at the centre.

Andrew Larkham, Head of AI Enablement, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Government Digital Service (GDS)

Head of (Service Owner) the AI Enablers Team in Government Digital Services. Andrew leads the teams responsible for the AI Playbook for Government, and the AI community of practice, publishing guidance and frameworks to government departments and the public sector.

Facilitated by Steve Ellerd-Elliott, Deputy Head of the GSS

Steve’s biography is available in the GSS Leaders section of this page.

Penny Young, Interim Chair of the UK Statistics Authority Board

Penny Young is the Deputy Chair of the UK Statistics Authority Board. She was the Librarian and Managing Director of Research and Information at the House of Commons, where she oversaw research services for MPs, including the House of Commons Library and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), and had Board level responsibility for information risk. Prior to this she was Chief Executive of the National Centre for Social Research. She holds an MBA from Bradford University.

Penny joined the Board on 13 February 2023 for a period of four years.

Professor Mairi Spowage, Non-executive Board member, Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute

Professor Mairi Spowage is the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute, Scotland’s leading economic research institute at the University of Strathclyde.
Mairi leads research on modelling economic impact, economic measurement, regional economic and trade performance and public sector finances. Mairi has previously held roles as the Deputy Chief Executive of the Scottish Fiscal Commission and Head of National Accounts at the Scottish Government, and has almost 20 years of experience of working in different areas of statistics and analysis.

Mairi joined the Board on 31 January 2025 for a period of three years.

About the session

Penny and Mairi will share how the Board has approached public pressure on the ONS and the statistical system. Colleagues will be invited to discuss their own challenges with innovation, skills and resourcing, and to share how the Board and the new National Statistician can help them.

Laura Dale, Senior Assistant Statistician, Scottish Government

Laura Dale is a Senior Assistant Statistician at the Scottish Government, with specialist expertise in NHS Scotland waiting times statistics. She focuses on improving accessibility and implementing Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAP) to enhance the transparency and efficiency of official statistics.

About the session

This presentation will focus on how, though an iterative Reproducible Analytical Pipeline (RAP) project, our team was able to improve the production of management information on NHS Scotland waiting times to aid policy discussions.

We aim to share practical insights and lessons learned to support wider adoption of RAP methods across the GSS community. The presentation will highlight:

• how RAP principles were applied to streamline routine reporting
• insights into the types of tools found useful in this process
• benefits realised: reduced manual effort, improved consistency, and faster turnaround
• challenges faced in adapting legacy processes, dealing with time constraints and engaging stakeholders
• opportunities for scaling RAP approaches across other datasets

Through highlighting the successful application of RAP in a live policy context, we hope to demonstrate how analytical teams can collaborate and respond quickly to deliver meaningful.

Stephanie Howarth, Chief Statistician, Welsh Government

Stephanie Howarth is the Chief Statistician for the Welsh Government, where she leads the production of official statistics and ensures the highest standards of data quality, trustworthiness, and public value. With a career in government statistics spanning two decades, Steph has held roles across the UK Statistics Authority, ONS, Senedd Cymru and BBC News. She is also the senior GSS sponsor for diversity and inclusion.

About the session

Statisticians in Welsh government have been undergoing a programme to transform the way we work and the tools we use. The main change we’re making is moving away from proprietary statistical software and Excel towards using R, SQL and GIT. This has involved all statisticians with a focus on upskilling and using consistent tools, processes, and code styles across teams to improve consistency.

This has relied on harnessing the expertise we already have to advise on the approach to take and produce training to teach others.The transformation has been team-led so the ownership of analytical products stays within teams and capability is built across the profession. This has allowed us to undertake the project without any additional resource.

The focus of this session is on how we’ve included both more experienced coders and those with less/no experience. We’d like to share our learnings from this process with other government departments and take any ideas on board as we continue to improve.

Nick Mavron, Head of Data Linkage, Office for National Statistics

Nick currently leads a team of data linkage specialists at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), within the Data Architecture, Location and Integration Division. Prior to joining ONS, Nick worked at the Ministry of Justice, where he was involved in linking administrative data to produce National Statistics on ‘Proven Reoffending’.

About the session

As data linkage across administrative and health datasets grows in scale and complexity, so too does the potential for deeper population insights and more informed policymaking. However, this expansion also heightens privacy risks.

This presentation introduces a de-identification approach embedded within the Reference Data Management Framework (RDMF), a strategic infrastructure developed at ONS. The RDMF supports the management of high-value reference indexes, Demographic, Business, Address, Geography, and Classifications and their associated matching services, enabling scalable and privacy-conscious data integration.

Kate Brosnan, Statistician, Office for Life Sciences

Kate has worked in the Civil Service for seven years in total, and has been a statistician in the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) for the last four of those years. During her time at OLS, she has helped develop two statistics publications and has collaborated with external suppliers to create datasets of companies operating in the life sciences sector.

Rachael Sanderson, Statistician, Office for Life Sciences

Rachel is a Statistician at OLS, with previous experience in MHCLG. Within OLS, she contributes to the production of our official statistics, including using RAP processes, to show the characteristics of the life sciences industry. Before working in the civil service, Rachael’s background was in geospatial data science and the use of spatial datasets to understand inequalities.

Claire Beaton, Statistics and Data Lead, Office for Life Sciences

Claire has worked in the GSS for 8 years and has been in the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) for the last 4. Her past roles have included working on statistical publications covering the topics of public health, COVID-19 and social care. In OLS, Claire leads on the data collection and reporting for statistics on the life sciences sector.

About the session

After 10 years of producing statistics on the life sciences sector, the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) have transformed their bioscience and health technology sector statistics using new AI techniques including large language models.

This session will explore how they developed their official statistics with a bespoke definition of life sciences that was not reliant on Standard Industry Classifications , their experience of collaborating with external contractors, and how they ultimately brought a larger proportion of data production processes in-house. These changes have enabled OLS to have greater ownership and control over the methodology used, and the quality of its outputs.

Join the session to learn more about:

• the process of matching a web-sourced list of companies to various datasets such as IDBR and Fame to compile publication metrics
• OLS’s experience of using contractors to cover data collection, and what processes could ideally be done by government vs contractors
• reflections on the quality of the approach and their methods for validating data
• how they communicated the methodology changes in their official statistics publication
• lessons learned, and where they hope to go next with this approach

Steve Ellerd-Elliott, Deputy Head of the GSS, Head of Profession at Department for Work and Pensions

As one of the Deputy Heads of the GSS, Steve leads on Future Capability, supporting the work of the People Advisory Group. He works with the RSS on the future role of the GSS, to support innovation and partnership working.

Steve is the Head of Profession for Statistics at the Department for Work and Pensions.  He has held previous posts as Head of Profession for Statistics in Ministry of Justice and the Head of Statistics in the National Offender Management Service. 

Steve has been in the GSS for nearly 30 years and has experience across a variety of roles including developing management information for performance reporting; producing statistics and working with survey data; developing forecasting models; and providing analysis to inform policy development. 

Ricky McGowan, Head of Standards and Corporate Relations, Royal Statistical Service (RSS)

With over 15 years of experience within the development of standards, competencies and corporate relations, Ricky has worked at the RSS for over 8 years, helping them look ahead and reestablish their professional membership offering. He is one of the founding members of the Alliance for Data Science Professionals.

About the session

• In a decade, what will statisticians be doing?
• Which elements of the role will remain constant, and which will evolve?
• What skills and training will the future statistician need?
• Which factors are going to influence how the role of the statistician evolves?

Join us as we provide an update on the joint GSS and RSS report on the Future Statistician, and encourage you to think about the tools you’ll need for the future.

Tom Nott, Head of Survey Analysis, Ministry of Defence

Tom is Head of the Surveys Analysis team in the Ministry of Defence, delivering routine, strategic surveys and survey and research consultancy across the Department.

Harry Barnard, Senior Statistical Officer, Ministry of Defence

Harry is a statistician in the Analysis Surveys team in Ministry of Defence. He develops official statistics survey releases and produces the free text analysis for the Civil Service People Survey.

Luke Heley, Evaluation Lead, Ministry of Defence

Luke Heley is the Ministry of Defence’s Policy and Programme Evaluation Lead. Luke specialises in economic evaluation, evidence synthesis, and advanced analytics — including natural language processing and time series analysis — to drive improvements in Defence evaluation practice.

About the session

Using existing digital infrastructure, MOD analysts developed from scratch an automated tool that leverages AI to analyse over 30,000 People Survey free text responses. Before 2024, it would have taken several analysts hundreds of hours to analyse just a sample of these responses. Leaders had to review many pages of data without the support of qualitative insight.

In this session, we will explore how they transformed the department’s understanding of employee experience by unlocking a large repository of data that continues to inform decisions and shape people policy. We will discuss how, alongside sharing cross-government, MOD analysts continue to iterate and identify new areas for its deployment.

Katie Coria, Stakeholder Engagement Lead, ONS Local Statistics and Analysis (OLSA), Office for National Statistics (ONS)

As the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, the ONS plays a critical role in enabling informed decision-making at all levels of government. To better support local and subnational users, the ONS Local, Statistics and Analysis (OLSA) division provides a bespoke service designed to help users—including councils, devolved administrations, and academic institutions—navigate and apply ONS data effectively.

About the session

OLSA works directly with their stakeholders to ensure that data is fit for local purposes, while also gathering feedback and building networks across regions. This collaborative approach strengthens the foundation for evidence-based policy at the subnational level and ensures that ONS outputs reflect the diverse needs of local communities.

In this session, Katie will showcase a selection of OLSA’s subnational projects, including their innovative use of relative-access data to explore connectivity in rural areas. This work has led to more representative rural-urban classifications and has enhanced their understanding of how these areas interact — ultimately supporting more nuanced and targeted policy development.

Mo Davies, Senior Surveillance Data Scientist, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)

Mo Davies has worked as a data scientist in the Extreme Events and Health Protection team within the Centre for Climate and Health Security at the UK Health Security Agency since 2024. She has expertise in quantifying impacts of adverse temperature on health, and a background in evaluation and health data analysis.

About the session

Cold weather has long been recognised as a hazard to health, while England’s unprecedented 40°C temperatures in July 2022 highlighted the growing health risks of heat.

Heatwaves have a rapid and serious impact on health, requiring effective early warning systems, while cold snaps have varied and sometimes delayed impacts on health, needing whole-winter action. Analysis at episode level demonstrates the need for a nuanced approach to surveillance and health protection, with factors other than temperature also affecting health outcomes. These include behaviour, preparedness and population factors, as well as interactions with infectious diseases. These findings inform continuous improvements in England’s impact-based Weather Health Alerting system.

This presentation discusses two newly established official statistics publications at UKHSA on heat and cold mortality, and how they are used to support public health and climate adaptation.

Kirsty Hendry, Head of Homelessness Data Linking, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)

Kirsty is a social researcher who leads the Homelessness Data Linking team in the MHCLG. The multi-disciplinary team generates insights into homelessness and rough sleeping by collecting data and linking datasets across government.

About the session

Since April 2018 the MHCLG has collected case level data on people experiencing statutory homelessness, which was transformative for homelessness statistics. In addition, the Rough Sleeping Questionnaire conducted in 2019 and 2025 has collected information from people who may not have engaged with the statutory system, along with identifiers to allow for data linking.

Despite these improvements, homelessness data is still fragmented and only gives us limited insight into critical areas such as health service use, engagement with the justice system, and the relationship between Rough Sleeping and wider forms of homelessness.

The Homelessness Data Linking team developed several projects as part of the MoJ-led cross government Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) programme to address these gaps. These projects faced challenges due to limited data availability, complex data sharing processes, and lack of unique identifiers in the data. However, by working closely with government departments and using a range of innovative techniques, we were able to produce novel findings to address these data gaps.

This presentation will share learning from these projects, including strategies for innovating when facing challenges and early findings from linked datasets.

Owen Abbott, Deputy Director, Methods and Statistical Design, Office for National Statistics

Owen is a chartered Statistician with over 25 years’ experience in official statistics at ONS. He worked on the 2001, 2011 and 2021 Censuses leading innovative research on the statistical methods. He leads on supporting statistical methods for Population and Economic statistics. He was awarded an OBE in 2022 for services to Census and Population Statistics.

Orlaith Fraser, Head of Collection Statistical Design for Census 2031 Taskforce, Office for National Statistics

Orlaith is a Senior Principal Researcher who has worked at ONS for the last 12 years. Having led the statistical design for the collection operation for Census 2021, she went on to lead the statistical design for the Transformed Labour Force Survey before returning to the world of Census. She is now part of the core team established to form the Census 2031 taskforce.

Sandy Fitzpatrick, Director of Census and Social Statistics, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)

Sandy  joined the predecessor of NISRA in 1993 as an Assistant Statistician and over the last 32 years has held a range of posts in public expenditure, social security statistics, health workforce planning and primary care statistics. Sandy moved to work on the 2021 Census in 2017 and led and supported several teams in the planning, design, operational delivery and data processing. Most recently, he has started to work with colleagues in England, Scotland and Wales as begin planning for the next census in 2031.

Stephanie Howarth, Chief Statistician, Welsh Government

Stephanie’s biography is available in the panel session 1 section of this page: ‘The death of Excel?’

Esta Clark, Head of Statistical Design Scotland’s Census 2031, National Records of Scotland (NRS)

Esta Clark is a Senior Statistician with substantial expertise in statistical methodology, demographic analysis, and the design, delivery and evaluation of large scale data collections. She plays a key role in ensuring the integrity and utility of census data, contributing to evidence based decision making and public policy.

About the session

This interactive panel session will explore the key considerations in the early stages of Census 2031. The session aims to support attendees to gain an understanding of:

• considerations for ensuring a representative Census
• how Census data feeds-in across the United Kingdom Nations
• how Census data is used across the GSS
• the upcoming topic consultation

Following the panel, attendees will try their hand at designing a Census engagement approach together.

Sam Caton, Head of Cross Government Analysis: Businesses, Benefits and Occupational Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

Sam’s team provide Other Government Departments (OGDs) with key data, analysis, and insight from HMRC’s data systems to inform wider government priorities.

About the session

This presentation explains how HMRC and DSIT worked together to achieve a cost-effective route to sector analysis, including:

• using data linkage and new technologies to improve the accuracy of business identification
• reducing the need for licenses to external databases for financial and employment information
• maximising the power of linked data to support reporting, monitoring and evaluation.

HMRC’s Cross-Government Analysis team aims to support better decision making across wider government. This presentation will also explore the work they do supporting Other Government Departments with the development of policy areas they own by delivering key data, analysis, and insight from HMRC’s data systems.

Georgina Eaton, Principal Statistician and Social Researcher, Co-lead of the Data First: Research, Academic Engagement and Communications Team, Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

Georgina has been working in the Civil Service for 13 years and has worked in various statistical roles across justice and climate change. She is currently the co-lead of the Data First: Research, Academic Engagement & Communications Team and is a double-badged analyst (Principal Statistician and Social Researcher). Georgina has expertise in justice data, data linkage, cross-sector collaboration, and advanced analytical techniques such as Propensity Score Matching.

About the session

This presentation will provide an overview of how Data First has transformed the justice data landscape.

Data First is a flagship, award-winning programme led by the Ministry of Justice and funded by ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK), driving innovation and transformation by unlocking the potential of data collected when people interact with the justice system. Siloed administrative datasets from the courts, prison and probation services have been linked together for the first time and with a range of other public services, including education and employment. Through the programme, the linked data is made accessible to academic and cross-government researchers via secure platforms, enabling powerful new insights into justice system users, their pathways, and outcomes.

In the session, Georgina will:

• Highlight the development of Splink, an award-winning open-source data-linking tool downloaded nearly 13 million times, and how it has enabled linkage of administrative justice data.
• Share key findings from published analysis using Data First linked datasets, including critical new insights into repeat use of the criminal courts and the characteristics and needs of young people who repeatedly offend in England and Wales.
• Showcase how Data First works collaboratively with academic researchers and government analysts to generate impactful research.
• Outline how academic expertise has been embedded through fellowships, advisory groups, and events, and how the programme has involved Alan Turing Interns to innovate and improve the programme’s outputs for example, by the production of synthetic data and the use of machine learning for codification of free text.

Cameron Race, Head of Statistics Services, Deputy Head of Profession for Statistics at Department for Education

Cam leads the Department for Education’s strategic approach to statistical publishing and data dissemination, including oversight of the bespoke Explore Education Statistics (EES) platform and accompanying public facing dashboards.

Cam brings expertise in building bridges between statistics, data, and digital delivery. His work focuses on modernising statistics publishing through digital transformation, advancing data standards, improving accessibility and automation, and embedding software best practices, particularly in R and R Shiny.

Cam has been a member of the Government Statistical Group since 2018, and is a trained DDaT Product Owner, Government Digital Service (GDS) assessor and a passionate advocate for open-source coding.

About the session

After years of systematically solving the ‘publishing problem’ in statistics, the Department for Education continues to transform how official statistics are shared through its Explore Education Statistics (EES) platform.

EES is a bespoke, user-centred digital service designed to meet the needs of both statistics publishers and data users, it first launched in 2020 and now hosts over 4,000 consistently structured datasets from nearly 600 releases, with more than 15 million page views since launch. It empowers users, from analysts and academics to policymakers and the wider public, to self-serve bespoke tables, access raw data, and explore statistics publications with ease. Manual processes and formatting issues have been replaced with automation, consistency, and flexibility, giving statistics producers full control over how their data is presented.

Building on the consistent data, the latest innovation is a public facing API, which enables automated access to official statistics. Users can now query live datasets directly from tools like R, Python, and Power BI, eliminating the need for manual downloads and reformatting. Changelogs showing changes to the data, including additional breakdowns, are automatically produced in the service, giving greater clarity than ever before on year-on-year changes.

This session explores the innovations of EES, including the API’s scalable design, which allows any dataset on EES to be published in API format with minimal effort for the statistics producers, maximising the value of having a consistent publishing platform.

Patrick Scott, Head of Content, Office for National Statistics

Patrick specialises in statistical communication and leads the team within the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that sets standards for website content. Prior to joining the ONS in 2022, Patrick was a data journalist for several national news publications, covering everything from general elections to world cups.

About the session

Join the ONS website transformation team as they share the journey so far of reshaping how data and statistical content is delivered. Rooted in user research and accessibility, the upcoming transformation focuses on clearer content and improved user experience.

Some of the key takeaways will be on the importance of a laser focus on user needs when creating outputs, tips on creating content for multiple user types, and what the team’s research has told them when it comes to communicating data quality and methods.

Patrick will also cover the background to the ONS’s website improvement plans and reflect on the challenges and opportunities throughout the transformation process.

Attendees will be invited to ask questions and share their thoughts on the challenges that they face when it comes to stats communication.