Guest blog by Jonathan Everett, RSS Head of Policy
At the end of 2025, the Covid Inquiry turned its attention to economic statistics, and RSS members’ expertise was called on. RSS CEO, Sarah Cumbers, was invited to give evidence to the Inquiry’s module on the economic response to the pandemic. This was a great forum to reiterate our key messages about pandemic preparedness and public statistics – and gave us a real opportunity to shape the Inquiry’s recommendations by drawing on many years of work by RSS members.
Public statistics: influencing how the system prepares for shocks
Our public statistics campaign focuses on ensuring that the UK’s statistical system runs well and effectively provides the evidence needed both for government decision-making and for the public to assess the government's performance. The Covid Inquiry provided an excellent platform to emphasise our key messages in a way that should help set the government’s direction – especially in the context of preparing for future shocks. Much of the policy team’s focus at the end of last year was on making the most of this opportunity, and we’re very grateful to the members who supported us in this. You can read Sarah’s reflections on the Inquiry and also the transcript of the evidence session.
We also continued our engagement with the statistical system. In November, we held the second RSS-ONS-OSR roundtable – this time focusing on population statistics. We brought together RSS members with the teams working on the Census and broader population statistics at the ONS and had a very fruitful discussion covering key themes such as user needs and inclusivity; methodology and data integration; and maintaining trust and communicating uncertainty. Keep an eye out for the report later this month, which will also inform our upcoming response to the ONS’s Census 2031 consultation. We’ll be holding a roundtable with the OSR on user engagement in the context of the Code of Practice in February.
Our CEO and senior members are continuing to engage constructively with senior figures at the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). We contributed to OSR’s consultation on their Code of Practice for Statistics, and our members played an important role in helping to shape the new code. We were pleased to welcome its publication in November and set out our views on how the commitments focused on user engagement could be implemented. We are also meeting regularly with the new Director General responsible for economic statistics to input into the economic statistics recovery plan, and the Executive Director for population statistics and census in the run-up to the 2031 Census. We have been working with senior members to develop the Society’s views on the future governance of the system and intend to use that work to respond to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee’s inquiry into the UKSA. We expect that in the coming weeks and will respond when it is released.
We have also been working with the wider Government Statistical System (GSS) to think about the skills requirements for future statisticians – and what the RSS and GSS should do to help ensure that they are met. We now anticipate this will be published in February. It should be an impactful piece of work, shaping both the RSS’s and GSS’s workplans.
Our work to map out gaps in UK poverty data is also continuing. We have now published our interim findings, which identify several key areas where data gaps exist and highlight barriers to accessing the data we do have. We are planning two workshops in February that will help us identify where data needs are greatest, what barriers prevent people accessing them and what can be done to address them.
Public understanding, engagement and education
Our 2025-26 William Guy Lecturers have begun their terms, with their AI-themed talks added to our growing collection of engaging public-facing videos. Please do share them with anyone you think might be interested.
The main news from the education policy sphere is that the government has published its review of the National Curriculum. Our incoming Vice President for Public Understanding, Engagement and Education, Chris Brignell, indicated disappointment that the plans didn’t do more to prepare young people for a data-driven and AI-enabled society. We will continue to advocate for an education system that develops statistical and data literacy, while working to shape the developing new curriculum as much as possible.
AI: making the case that statistics is foundational, not optional
The unexpected call to give evidence at the Covid Inquiry delayed our planned work to start making the case for the relevance of statistics to AI. October’s policy update highlighted that this connection is not immediately recognised by many of the stakeholders that we have been engaging with. We will soon be publishing work that makes the case that AI is essentially statistical and will be working to ensure that this message is widely understood.
The AI Task Force responded to the government’s AI Growth Lab consultation. We expressed some support for the work but highlighted that there are significant barriers to AI adoption that the Lab wouldn’t, in its current conception, address. We also called for an eligibility criteria for projects based on their commitment to rigorous evaluation and transparency. Evidence-based decision-making is vitally important in the context of AI, and the AI Growth Lab should prioritise projects that will deliver meaningful insights. Read our response.
As we move into 2026, there will be no shortage of opportunities to shape debate, influence policy and ensure that statistics continues to play its essential role in public life. Thank you to members whose expertise underpins this activity, and to those following and engaging with the Society’s policy work as it unfolds.