Strength in Numbers: a strategic vision for the GSS

The National Statistician leads the GSS. Each UK government organisation and each devolved government that produces official statistics has a Chief Statistician or Head of Profession for Statistics (HoP). HoPs, in addition to reporting to their departmental management, have professional accountability to the National Statistician.

Where an organisation produces official statistics but not enough to warrant appointing a HoP, the organisation appoints a Lead Official (LO) for statistics. LOs are often supported by a HoP in a sponsoring or related organisation. Collectively, the network of HoPs work together to support the National Statistician in leading the GSS, reporting to the National Statistics Executive Group (NSEG).

The Presentation and Web Dissemination Committee and the GSS International Committee provide additional governance for the GSS, reporting into HoPs. There are also networks of GSS Champions that focus on specific issues such as quality, harmonisation and user engagement.

This role was created in 2024 to provide stronger links between HoPs and the National Statistician, as well as to improve the visibility of the community. The membership and terms of reference of NSEG will be reviewed to ensure appropriate representation of HoP views so that their feedback drives the strategic leadership of the GSS.

Many GSS initiatives rely on volunteers from across the GSS. There is a need for a permanent central GSS support team to coordinate these activities, provide secretariat support for groups such as the People Action Group (PAG), and to lead on specific activities such as recruitment and induction.

Since this team is based in the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there is a need for a sustainable funding model that is ringfenced from other ONS funding for this central GSS support team to ensure their contributions can continue to be delivered in an effective way. HoPs will need to influence the workplan for GSS central resource to ensure it is focused on priorities that will deliver for the GSS community.

As a statistical community delivering analytical work, we are strongest when we work together. We recognise and respect the individual expertise and remit of departments and agencies, whilst working together across boundaries to maximise the impact and delivery of statistics and insights. There are areas where we have achieved this, but there are areas where prioritisation is not as effective as it could be.

We will develop a light-touch annual work plan that will set out at a high-level overview of statistical activities in relation to significant areas of work with cross Government responsibilities. These will include topics such as labour market, children and education, and health and care. In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, these plans will support:

• transparency about our processes, methodology and content
• coherence between different statistics outputs,
• collaboration between producers

These plans will then be overseen by NSEG and will align with the recommendations from the Independent Review of the UK Statistics Authority and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) report ‘Transforming the UK’s Evidence Base’  about the need for coordination on evidence and data gaps. We will support proposals for the UK Statistics Authority Triennial Statistical Assembly.

This represents the current governing body that ensures these aims are achieved across the GSS. Further information about the group is available on the People Advisory Group webpage.

The Government Statistician Group (GSG) includes statisticians and data scientists who have passed an accreditation exercise, and has a well-established competency framework.

The competency framework defines the technical skills of the GSG. It is used to ensure consistency in recruitment and to support career development and learning and development activities. The GSG competency framework should reflect the skills required of a modern statistician.

The annual GSS conference is essential for bringing the community together by facilitating networking, collaboration and best practice to be shared across the GSS.

We will build on the success of the 2023 GSS Conference towards fostering a sense of community, and prioritise community-building efforts at future GSS conferences. The GSS Conference will be a flagship event in the GSS calendar.

We have several existing GSS community groups, particularly in active regional hubs across the UK. We want to actively promote and extend these activities to strengthen the GSS community across all locations. We will also further develop the content of the GSS section of the Analysis Function website and the GSS newsletter.

The learning curriculum is an important part of the GSS offer. A varied analytical offer is available to support continued learning and development for GSS members. Although resources are already in place to deliver a highly capable GSS workforce, we will focus on improving induction processes and talent and career management to support our capability goals and improve retention.

It is important to look ahead and understand which skills and capabilities the GSS will need in five to ten years’ time. Working with the Royal Statistical Society, we will undertake a horizon scanning think piece to identify how the role of statisticians will change in the future, and what this means for the GSS.

We will embed diversity and inclusion throughout the delivery of this vision, informed by the work of the GSS Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. This includes an ambition to understand and monitor diversity information more closely, to ensure we grow and maintain our diverse and inclusive community.

The GSS is part of the cross-government Analysis Function (AF). Community and capability activities for the GSS should where possible and appropriate join up with AF initiatives, whilst maintaining the identity of the GSS.

GSS leadership will become more visible through providing a directory of Heads of Profession, and promoting blogs and departmental visits. This should also support our aim to clarify and promote the status and identity of the GSS following the introduction of the Analysis Function.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) provides independent regulation of official statistics produced in the UK, as set out in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. The role of the the Code of Practice for Statistics and OSR is a unique asset for the GSS. OSR’s regulation of Code compliance:

• sets the standard for GSS work
• provides principles to guide decision-making in a wide range of situations
• provide assurance to users inside and outside Government

Heads of Profession should uphold and advocate the standards of the Code in their organisation. They should strive to make high-quality statistics available for all, improving statistics and data for the public good and challenging any inappropriate use. From the induction of new HoPs to mentorship between experienced HoPs, HoPs provide an important support network in meeting these standards and interpreting the Code. The OSR also play an important role collaborating, supporting and challenging HoPs.

GSS harmonised standards and guidance are tools for improving the consistency, comparability, and coherence of statistics. Producers of statistics can use the harmonised standards to align with others, which increases the usefulness of their statistics.

In practice, harmonised standards and guidance mean using consistent definitions and survey questions in data collection across the GSS. Harmonised standards:

• improve understanding of how data and statistics can be combined
• present data and statistics in a comparable and coherent way
• provide guidance where absolute consistency may not be appropriate or achievable

HoPs ensure harmonisation is prioritised within their organisations, supported by departmental harmonisation champions.

Heads of Profession already have an important role in ensuring the Code of Practice is followed within their organisation, but we should go further. We need to work across the GSS more to ensure a coordinated effort to raise the profile of the Code and principles such as intelligent transparency at the most senior levels, including with permanent secretaries and ministers.

Teams across the GSS have been focused on addressing the challenge of improving access to comparable data and statistics across the UK.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) leads on a programme of statistical coherence, and working with devolved governments and relevant UK government departments has created new UK-wide data in high priority areas such as public transport, housing, smoking. The ONS has launched the Explore Local Statistics service, which allows users to compare metrics at the local authority level across all parts of the UK.

In 2021 the UK Government, all three devolved governments and the National Statistician signed a refreshed UK Concordat on Statistics, committing to working together to improve the availability and use of coherent UK-wide data.

There is more that we can do, and this challenge has been recognised in the PACAC review and the Independent Review of the UK Statistics Authority. GSS HoPs will have a crucial role in supporting the government response to these reviews. They should ensure coherence is considered for all statistical collections and outputs, and prioritised where appropriate funding is in place.

The GSS has been instrumental in the widespread implementation of reproducible analytical pipelines (RAPs), increasing the efficiency, quality and value of statistical and analytical processes. This transformational leadership should continue.

The GSS should continue to support the development of the Integrated Data Service (IDS), a crucial enabler for data sharing.

Data sharing between government departments is critical to support innovation and to allow the GSS to deliver the statistical evidence base that users need. Both the Independent Review of the UK Statistics Authority and the PACAC report include recommendations that the centre of government must actively work to resolve the systemic, often cultural, barriers to data sharing. The GSS must show leadership within departments to influence data sharing initiatives and to address these barriers.

The GSS needs to be at the forefront of discussions surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) use in statistics, to ensure statisticians are influencing this work and are suitably prepared to handle this opportunity. The GSS competency framework should reflect these skills.

The GSS includes teams and individuals who are experts in different methodological areas. This expertise and best practice needs to be better shared across the community and beyond, including the Analysis Function, to enable high quality production of statistics and analysis.

The GSS should explore options to develop and fund a government-wide dissemination platform for statistics.

This should:

• make it easier for users to find the data they need
• support coherence
• improve impact through innovative and interactive visualisations

This exploration should investigate scaling up existing and successful departmental sites as well as designing from scratch.