Our asks of government
Statistics in Action: A manifesto for empowering society through data
We have published our manifesto, ‘Statistics in Action: A manifesto for empowering society through data’, which outlines three key areas where we believe the next government should focus its efforts to unlock the potential benefits of data in the UK.
Read the manifesto in full
Read our detailed policy briefings for the three pillars of the manifesto:
Our asks of the UK government, we believe will drive productivity and economic growth through investment in data skills and infrastructure, build understanding of the major international challenges of AI, climate change and pandemics, and strengthen democracy by providing citizens with the ability to hold governments to account.
Our Data Manifesto
We initially published our Data Manifesto in 2014 ahead of the 2015 General Election. The manifesto gives ten recommendations on how the UK government can improve data for policymaking, democracy and for the prosperity of society as a whole.
The ten recommendations are:
- Ensure official statistics are at the heart of policy debate
- Commit to greater data sharing between government departments for statistics and research purposes
- Champion basic training in data handling and statistics for politicians, policymakers and other professionals working in public services
- Maintain the commitment to keep pace with other leading scientific nations on investment in research and development
- Give the Office for National Statistics and the wider Government Statistical Service adequate resources
- Prepare for the data economy by skilling up the nation
- Involve the public in shaping the conversation about how data is used
- Misinformation needs countering but without undermining free speech
- Move beyond averages and break down data to a much more granular level
- Keep data regulation updated to protect the public
Read the most recent version (published 2019)