Official Statistics compliance

Official Statistics should be produced in accordance with the 'UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Official Statistics,' which incorporates eight key principles and three supporting protocols. The Code of Practice is designed to establish best practice standards in the production of statistics, that will serve to ensure a coherent and transparent service for statistical users. The UK Statistics Authority, established as part of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, maintains responsibility for development, maintenance and endorsement of the Code.

A key feature of Official Statistics is the legislative requirements surrounding the access to such statistics prior to formal publication. This is known as pre-release access, and refers to the length of time officials and other public figures are permitted access to statistical information before it is disseminated to the wider public. Information on the Office's Statement of Compliance to Pre-release Access to Official Statistics can be found here.

Furthermore, the Office demonstrates its support of Official Statistics standards through the publication of statements on: the administrative sources used in the production of statistics, the Office's statistics and research publication strategy, confidentiality arrangements, revisions and errors of published statistics, customer service strategy and complaints strategy.