We are delighted to announce the winners of the Trustworthiness, Quality & Value Award for 2021. This award is given in partnership with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and our media partner, Civil Service World.
Formerly the Voluntary Application Award, it recognises excellence in the voluntary application of the ‘pillars’ of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value (TQV) that stand at the heart of OSR’s Code of Practice for Statistics.
The 2021 winner is: Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors for Company Reporting - Greenhouse Gas Inventory team - Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
These emission conversion factors, published annually, allow users to convert activity data into greenhouse gas emissions. This resource is used by organisations to calculate their greenhouse gas emissions from activity data, and therefore comply with Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations and other environmental reporting needs and requirements. As well as being the main tool to support companies to report emissions in the UK, the factors are a source for policy development and statistical publications across the UK government departments and are internationally regarded as a high-quality resource. This project is a fantastic collaboration that was radical, innovative and created a valuable tool to help government and businesses calculate their carbon emissions from use of fuel, water and waste generation.
The panel considered this to be an outstanding example of how to apply the Code to the statistics and the conversion factors themselves.
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Highly commended is: NHS Test and Trace weekly statistics publication – NHS Test and Trace External Reporting team & the Department for Health & Social Care Central Statistics team
The purpose of this publication is to provide a weekly update on the implementation and performance of NHS Test and Trace in England. The publication was launched in June 2020, and two weeks after the programme started, the Code of Practice for Statistics was voluntarily applied. From February 2021, the team has also published additional data alongside the core Test and Trace metrics. This data focuses on rapid asymptomatic testing in England. This entry used voluntary application (VA) exceptionally well, at a time when these statistics were required to respond to public need and understanding of the pandemic. The team were also working under intense pressure and scrutiny – but managed to add value, transparency and consistency to this release. This is an excellent example of how VA can be used to create improvements and clarity for users.
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Baroness Onora O’Neill of Bengarve, whose ‘Trustworthiness’ work inspired this award said: 'This award once again provides an opportunity for high-performing statistics projects to showcase how they have voluntarily applied the Code to make a public commitment to high quality and trustworthiness.'
Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation and lead judge, commented: 'We have enjoyed another year of fantastic entries for this award, and have managed to identify a very worthy winner and a highly commended entry as our outstanding finalists. Once again we can see how flexible the Code of Practice is and how it supports public confidence in statistics and data.'
Stian Westlake, Chief Executive of the Royal Statistical Society, added: 'This year’s winners have demonstrated a real commitment to trustworthiness, quality and value that stand at the heart of the Code of Practice for Statistics. The teams are to be congratulated for their collaborative, fast-thinking and imaginative approaches and the dedication they have shown to the robust use of statistics to aid better decision-making.'