Trustworthiness: Standards for Official Statistics with related practices

1. Producers must behave with integrity, working and communicating in ethical, honest, objective and professional ways

so that the public can have confidence in the behaviours of those involved in handling and using data and statistics

• Handle data and statistics with honesty and integrity
• Act professionally, work collaboratively and behave responsibly
• Be ethical in how you collect, access, use and share data
• Do nothing to undermine confidence in the independence of published statistics
• Present statistics and explanations impartially and objectively, ensuring statistical communication is balanced by presenting the totality of evidence rather than promoting a particular perspective (see the Standards for Intelligent Transparency)
• Recruit suitably skilled staff and apply an appropriate competency framework. Have clear roles and responsibilities for these staff
• Provide resources and time to enable staff to develop skills, knowledge and competencies, including training on safe data and quality management

2. Chief Statisticians/Heads of Profession for Statistics must have autonomy in deciding statistical methods and the content and timing of statistical releases 

so that the public can have confidence in the independent and objective nature of statistics

• Apply professional judgement, free from conflicts of interest, to decide methods, standards and procedures, as well as the content and timing of release for regular and ad hoc statistics (see the Standards for Intelligent Transparency)
• Promote the professional standards of the Code of Practice across the organisation
• Challenge inappropriate use of statistics and pre-empt misunderstandings by explaining potential misinterpretations of the evidence
• Seek the advice of the National Statistician or the Chief Statistician for the relevant administration on professional matters, including any concerns about statistical independence
• Report concerns about meeting the Code to the Director General for Regulation
• Apply good business practices in managing your resources. Raise any concerns about inadequate funds to deliver key priorities with senior leaders

3. Producers must release the statistics in an orderly way, at a standard time, and pre-announce the date and timing of the release

so that the public can have confidence in how and when the statistics are released

• Be open about how you ensure your release process is orderly

• Pre-announce release, giving the time and date in a 12-month release calendar, 4 weeks ahead where possible
• Release on a timely basis, meeting the needs of users, and as soon as the statistics are ready. Provide a straightforward way for users to contact the producer team
• Limit access before release to quality checking and for operational purposes
• Act in line with the relevant pre-release access rules and principles set out in legislation
• Release at the standard time of 9.30am on a weekday unless an alternative release time is agreed with the Director General for Regulation
• Release policy and ministerial statements separately from the official statistics, in line with professional standards, and with advice from the lead statistician (see the Standards for Intelligent Transparency)
• Release revisions and corrections of errors as soon as possible in line with published policy, being clear about the nature and scale of change

4. Producers must manage data and statistics safely and securely and encourage the provision of information by being open about how it will be used and protected

so that the public can be confident about providing their own information for official statistics

• Work in line with the UK Statistics Authority’s ethical principles

• Work with users to understand and promote the social acceptability of the statistics, clearly explaining how data will be used when collected for statistical purposes
• Consider and manage the rights of data subjects at all times, in ways that are consistent with data protection legislation
• Keep and handle data safely and securely. Follow all relevant statutory obligations governing the collection, storage, sharing, access, linking and analysis of data. Keep up to date with changing circumstances and technological advances
• Protect personal data when producing statistics. Be transparent about the choices made and apply appropriate disclosure control methods before release

• Hold regular reviews. Share best practice across the organisation and ensure data management and sharing arrangements are robust

Back to the standards hub