Professor Sir Ian Diamond has been appointed as the UK National Statistician for a second term which will start on the 1 April for a period of five years.
The National Statistician is the Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, Permanent Secretary at the Office for National Statistics, and Head of the Government Statistical Service (GSS).
Sir Ian has been the UK’s National Statistician since 2019, leading the GSS through the pandemic, and overseeing the establishment of outputs such as the Covid-19 Infection Survey. His team also oversaw the delivery of the 2021 Census in England and Wales.
RSS President Dr Andrew Garrett commenting on the news, said ‘Ian Diamond has done an excellent job of leading the UK’s statistical system over the last few years. Government statisticians were central to our pandemic response and many of their outputs, such as the Covid-19 Infection Survey, were world-leading. As the UK continues to face many challenges, Sir Ian has shown he has the experience required to deliver data that meet the evolving needs of the public.’
Sir Ian Diamond said ‘It has been an enormous privilege to be National Statistician for the past three years, working with a truly wonderful group of colleagues and an excellent Board, to drive through so successfully our ambitious plan: Statistics for the Public Good. I am extremely excited by the opportunity to continue this work and take UK official statistics to a new level.’
The RSS look forward to continuing their engagement with Sir Ian through our National Statistics Advisory Group.