Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee questions the Head of the Office for Statistics Regulation
In the fourth evidence session of its ‘Transforming the UK’s Statistical Evidence Base’ inquiry, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee will hear from the Head of the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), Ed Humpherson.
Meeting details
During its inquiry, PACAC has heard that decision-makers are turning to new, real-time data sources. The Committee will speak with Mr Humpherson about the quality and trustworthiness of these new sources, and the OSR’s role in assessing them.
The OSR introduced new guidance in 2022, which encouraged government to proactively publish evidence, where that evidence was being cited publicly. The Committee will seek to establish whether this guidance has achieved its intended aims, exploring instances in which the OSR has publicly reprimanded government departments for failing to publish data.
As the statistical regulator, the OSR is also responsible for assessing statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). MPs will discuss the performance of the ONS, raising recent criticisms of the body relating to GDP figures, labour market data, and crime numbers.