ONS annual stakeholder satisfaction survey

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) ran our annual stakeholder satisfaction survey from 6 December 2023 to 22 January 2024 to understand users’ and stakeholders’ satisfaction with and use of our statistics.

The survey findings form part of our wider stakeholder engagement programme, and help us to improve our offer, including how we communicate with you. 

We asked users questions on a range of topics, including:

• how they access and use our statistics
• to what extent the statistics meet their needs
• awareness and use of contact and engagement channels, such as newsletters and events
• awareness, use, and satisfaction with three of our core programmes of work: the Integrated Data Service (IDS), the Ambitious, Radical, Inclusive Economics Statistics (ARIES) transformation programme, and ONS Local

We received 715 responses from a variety of respondents. Of these, 460 use our statistics for both personal and professional uses, and 255 use our statistics for personal uses only.

After using our statistics out of personal interest, the most frequent reasons for using our statistics were for “understanding work-related issues” and “supporting policy and decision-making”. From the qualitative feedback, respondents also shared that statistics were being used to understand their local community, to disseminate information to colleagues and stakeholders, and as a means to develop best quality practices in methodology. The most common professional sectors for respondents were local government and business.

Feedback from respondents was broadly positive. We found that 84% agree the ONS is a trustworthy organisation, and 82% agree we produce statistics to a high standard. We also received positive feedback on how well we meet users’ needs on our range of statistical topics, and how we engage with users and stakeholders through our range of channels. 

We received constructive feedback on our range of programmes, including ONS Local, IDS, and ARIES. We also received useful feedback on what we are doing well as an organisation and where we can improve, such as continuing to ensure the ONS website meets user needs, ensuring user-friendliness of our statistical outputs, and doing more to promote our role as an impartial source of official statistics.  

We also received qualitative feedback on additional services or statistical products that would be of most use to users and stakeholders, including the increased use of application programming interfaces (APIs) for accessing data, developing more explainer pieces for lay users, and producing statistics at more localised levels.

The findings from the survey provides us with insight and helps us to continually improve our offer to users and stakeholders. The findings are shared widely across the ONS and have been discussed with individual teams for colleagues to consider as part of their work. We are progressing a series of recommendations as part of our wider stakeholder engagement work for 2024/2025, and the findings will complement these recommendations.

Thank you to all who participated in the survey. Your feedback is invaluable in driving positive change across the ONS, and ensures we continue to put user needs at the forefront of all that we do in serving the public good.

If you would like to discuss the findings of this report with the ONS External Affairs team, or have any questions about this research, please get in touch by email: external.affairs@ons.gov.uk.