People producing statistics should be appropriately skilled, trained and supported in their roles and professional development.
What you should commit to
T5.1 Those involved in producing and releasing statistics and data should demonstrate sound judgement. They should act professionally, work collaboratively, and behave responsibly.
T5.2 The roles and responsibilities of those involved in the production of statistics and data should be clearly defined with supporting guidance provided to help staff carry out their roles.
T5.3 Suitably skilled staff should be recruited using a relevant professional competency framework as appropriate and with consideration given to future organisational needs.
T5.4 All staff involved in the production of statistics and data should be provided with training on secure data handling and quality management.
T5.5 Staff should be provided with the time and resources required to develop their skills, knowledge and competencies.
T5.6 Staff should seek statistical advice and guidance from the Chief Statistician/Head of Profession for Statistics.
Guidance and resources
| Description | Link | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The Government Analysis Function (AF) website contains links to relevant news, comments from the National Statistician, the Policy Store, job vacancies, conferences, and learning and development opportunities. | AF website | Government Analysis Function |
| The Government Statistician Group (GSG) Competency Framework is used to assess the technical skills of government statisticians and data scientists who belong to the Government Statistician Group (GSG). All GSG statisticians and data scientists are assessed against this when they enter the profession and as they progress through the grades. | GSG Competency Framework | Government Analysis Function |
| The Government Statistician Group (GSG) Guide to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is applicable to both Statisticians and Data Scientists within the Statistics profession and is intended to help you through the process of identifying and meeting your learning and development needs. | GSG Guide to Continuous Professional Development | Government Analysis Function |
| Advice for policy professionals on using statistics, developed by the Government Analysis Function's Good Practice Team. It aims to help policy professionals work effectively with statisticians and other analysts, by introducing some key ideas and concepts to help them ask the right questions when working with statistical evidence. | Guidance on statistics for policy professionals | Government Analysis Function |
| The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) encourages all its members, and requires its professionally qualified members, to follow a process of continuous professional review through CPD. The Society provides guidelines on minimum targets at which to aim. | RSS Continuing Professional Development policy | RSS |
| The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) guide on Making Data Meaningful is intended as a practical tool to help managers, statisticians and media relations officers use text, and visualisations to bring statistics to life for non-statisticians. It contains suggestions, guidelines and examples. | A UNECE guide to Making Data Meaningful | UNECE |