2025 was a turbulent year for the UK’s statistics system – issues with the production of key sets of statistics led to two inquiries and, against that backdrop, the UK Statistics Authority’s (UKSA) most senior leaders both resigned their roles.
In September 2026, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee (PACAC) concluded and published its review of The Work of the UK Statistics Authority. This was a major piece of work. It marks an important opportunity for Parliament to ensure that the appropriate governance and oversight mechanisms are in place – and that reliable statistics are produced, so that policy-makers' key decisions are properly informed by evidence.
Today, the RSS has published our statement reflecting on PACAC’s report. We are in broad agreement with the majority of PACAC’s analysis and think the report is a helpful starting point for considering what should come next for the UKSA. Under the leadership of Penny Young (as interim UKSA chair) and with the appointment of a new group of senior leaders at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), progress has been made towards tackling methodological and cultural challenges. The report provides the opportunity to build on this progress and address the further challenges facing the statistical system.
There are six areas where we would like to see progress made as a priority:
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Leadership of the statistical system: in the short-term, clarity is needed on how the new national statistician and the permanent secretary of the ONS will work together; in the longer-term, we would like to see leadership of the ONS return to the national statistician.
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ONS scrutiny and accountability: new arrangements need to ensure that, in the future, ONS is held meaningfully to account – we argue that there is a strong case for a separate ONS Board to fulfil this function.
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A new Governance Framework: we welcome the development of a new framework document and call for proper stakeholder and parliamentary scrutiny.
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User engagement, transparency and prioritisation: we call for a more transparent and user-informed process for deciding statistical priorities.
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Parliamentary accountability: we recommend regular and systematic engagement with the statistics system.
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Data sharing: we call for the Cabinet Office to take clear responsibility for overcoming the persistent barriers to data sharing in government.
Our president-elect, honorary officer for public statistics and CEO are due to meet with the UK’s new national statistician and the chair of the UKSA in the coming weeks and we look forward to discussing our response with them then.
Read our full statement here.