We Asked, You Said, We Did

The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) is a recognised framework that enables all UK occupations to be classified according to skill level and specialisation. SOC is essential in the creation of occupational statistics which, in turn, are used to inform policy and the public. There are also many examples of how SOC is used outside of the statistical environment including matching job seekers to vacancies and in the identification of skills gaps and training needs.   

We asked representatives from a variety of businesses and organisations whether they thought the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) required more detail than is currently available, and if so, what additional detail was required.

We asked:

• Whether and how often they used SOC
• Whether the current version of SOC was detailed enough for their needs
• Whether they felt their occupational area was sufficiently represented within SOC
• Which areas of SOC would benefit from more detail
• Examples of the additional detail required
• Examples of job titles within their occupational area

We received 170 responses to our survey. A wide range of occupational areas were represented in the results, including a variety of Public Sector representatives, Universities and educational organisations. We also heard from a large number of overarching bodies representing specific industry sectors. Coverage of the framework was high, with all SOC Major Groups being represented in the results. 

Overall, there was support for adding greater detail to SOC. Around half of those responding were already users of SOC with specific requirements whilst the remainder wanted to help ensure that their own occupational area was accurately represented within the extended classification.

Around two thirds indicated that there are areas where they would like to see greater detail added. Examples of where respondents requested greater visibility and detail with the classification included amongst others: event planning, mediation services, bloggers/social influencers, engineering and the craft industry

A full report of the survey results will be available on this page shortly.  

The feedback we received highlighted occupational groups within the classification which would benefit from an additional breakdown and what this breakdown could look like. Using your feedback, we have begun drafting a structure for the SOC extension. Draft structures for each of the areas the classification will be made available on the GSS website in due course for you to view and provide feedback (link below). To provide feedback, or if you have any questions about the project, please contact SOCExt@ons.gov.uk

What is your general view on the proposed definition of avoidable mortality?

Do you have any concerns with ONS implementing the proposed definition?

Will the proposed change to the definition affect your future use of these statistics?

Overall, respondents were supportive of ONS implementing the new definition of avoidable mortality.

Some users highlighted limitations of implementing the new avoidable mortality definition from 2014 onwards, requesting a longer time series to be considered. The appropriateness of restricting the new definition to under 75 years was also raised, as well as inconsistences in the drug-related death International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes and the treatment of sequelae ICD codes.

We spoke to our avoidable mortality stakeholder interest group and the OECD working group about the validity of extending the time series back to 2001, rather than the more contemporary 2014. There was agreement across both groups that there would be benefits to having a longer time series; however, this does require an assumption to be made that the causes of death considered avoidable included in the definition were authentically avoidable over a lengthy time period.

ONS are aware of the need to provide information on avoidable mortality in over 75-year olds and this is something we will be looking at in the future.

We have discussed with the OECD working group the inconsistencies in some of the cause of death coding. As a result, OECD have agreed to update their avoidable mortality definition to correct these inconsistencies.

In February 2020, we will publish the Avoidable mortality in the UK release under the new definition for years 2001 to 2018. In May 2020, we will publish the Socioeconomic inequalities in England and Wales release under the new definition for years 2001 to 2018.

The Office for National Statistics is working in partnership with the Centre for Homelessness Impact (CHI) to create an indicator framework to show progress towards ending homelessness sustainably across the UK. In our consultation, we asked for your views on: 

1. What we should measure 
2. How we should present the indicators 

We would like to thank everybody who took the time to respond to our consultation. It is really important to us that we listen to and consider your views in the development of the indicator framework. We want to be confident that we are measuring the right areas relating to homelessness. We are keen to use the full range of data available while ensuring that data are fit for purpose. We also want to make information on homelessness indicators accessible and ensure that the reporting platform meets your needs.

We received 94 responses to the consultation from a wide variety of respondents representing local and central government, charities, academia, media and business. We also spoke to over 400 stakeholders at the four CHI Impact Forums, held in the 4 nations, in June and July 2019. 

We have used your responses from the consultation to develop the indicator framework covering a wide array of topics relating to homelessness, ranging from housing supply and employment to connectedness and relationships. The indicator framework will be developed over time; we are currently in the process of refining the data sources for these indicators, and will be reaching out to various stakeholders to gather more views in the next few weeks. We want to ensure the indicator framework is as comprehensive as possible, and where gaps may be identified, outline plans to address these gaps where possible.

A full report containing a list of the indicators and data sources will be published in Autumn 2019 by CHI on the CHI website.

Alongside this, CHI are developing an interactive reporting platform to disseminate these indicators and associated data. CHI designers are creating and user testing the platform, while ONS are producing new data and collating existing data for the platform. CHI plan to launch the platform by the end of 2019.  

We will take onboard your suggestions and feedback as we continue to produce data tables, explore data gaps and our approach to reporting.

We asked for people’s views on the proposal to stop publishing several low-level series for both Output and Input Producer Prices (PPI). This is due to changes to our current disclosure policy, which we plan to introduce later this year as part of the new modernised systems we are developing to support the publication of Business Prices statistics.

We provided an annex which contained a list of the indices we proposed to stop publishing, alongside possible “replacement” higher level indices which stakeholders and customers could use.

We also sought additional information on how our statistics are used, particularly our PPI input series.

Finally, we reminded stakeholders and customers that we will stop producing net-based series later in the year.

We received 8 responses from a variety of organisations, including government departments as well as non-commercial users.

Half of the respondents said they would have an objection to the low-level series being removed from the monthly PPI publication. The responses indicated that the type of indices that stakeholders did not want removed were those which would fall in the category of ‘construction materials and parts’.

Also, half of the respondents said they used the PPI input indices. These indices are used in a range of ways by our stakeholders. The majority of respondents commented on how well the indices fitted their needs.

Our plans moving forward:

• We plan to stop publishing 89 out of 112 of the low-level indices that were published in the consultation’s Annex A, where there were no objections from users.
• We will be contacting organisations we provide supplementary statistics to, including low-level indices, to discuss possible changes. These supplementary statistics include several bespoke datasets in Excel format that are set-up and maintained by the producer price index (PPI) team. The datasets contain a range of indices to customer specification and are delivered by email each month following publication of the figures.
• We will continue to publish the low-level indices that relate to construction materials.
• We are planning to implement these changes in early 2020. We will provide further advance notice of the exact timing in our PPI statistical bulletin.

We asked for people’s views on our experimental estimates of regional household expenditure for the NUTS1 countries and regions of the UK. This is the first time that regional estimates of household spending have been available for all UK regions in a form that is consistent with the UK National Accounts.

We wanted to confirm that there is demand for these estimates, and gauge what level of geographic breakdown users are interested in. We also looked to identify any concerns people have with our data sources and methods, and to confirm that the variables and level of commodity data provided are suitable for user needs.

We received 14 responses from a variety of organisations, including local and devolved governments and an academic institution, as well as from individuals.

Overall, respondents were supportive of further development in regional household expenditure estimates. For our experimental data, the responses indicated that the level of commodity detail and the variables presented broadly meet user needs. The majority of respondents were interested in having data at country, NUTS1, and NUTS2 levels, and all were interested in having Local Authority level data. We also received suggestions for potential improvements to data sources and methodology.

Our plans moving forward:

• We will publish revised regional household expenditure statistics for the NUTS1 countries and regions of the UK in summer 2019, as experimental statistics
• While developing this output, we will take into account the feedback obtained in this consultation
• We will investigate the alternative data sources suggested, along with the potential use of administrative data
• We will continue to consult with users and other stakeholders as we progress with improvements to our estimates
• Dependent on the success of the above, we will look to develop further geographic breakdowns starting with NUTS2 data
• We will not attempt to produce Local Authority level estimates until we have secured data of sufficient quality and coverage to provide reliable estimates at that level

We invited views on our initial proposed design of 2021 Census outputs and the dissemination channels for England and Wales.

The consultation covered all aspects of 2021 Census outputs. This included our plans for a flexible dissemination system to access the majority of census data, and the approach for statistical disclosure control for 2021 Census outputs. We also informed users of our plans for specialist products (including microdata and origin-destination products), geography and the use of administrative data to improve and supplement outputs.

We consulted with users to:

• obtain feedback on our proposed design and method of dissemination for 2021 Census data
• help us prioritise our future research and development of 2021 Census outputs
• inform the order in which we release our products after 2021 Census
• understand user requirements for a variety of census products

Gofynnon ni

Gwnaethom wahodd barn ar ein cynllun arfaethedig cychwynnol ar gyfer allbynnau Cyfrifiad 2021 a'r sianeli lledaenu ar gyfer Cymru a Lloegr.

Roedd yr ymgynghoriad yn cwmpasu pob agwedd ar allbynnau Cyfrifiad 2021, gan gynnwys ein cynlluniau ar gyfer system ledaenu hyblyg i gael gafael ar y mwyafrif o ddata'r cyfrifiad, a'r dull rheoli datgelu ystadegol ar gyfer allbynnau Cyfrifiad 2021. Gwnaethom hefyd roi gwybod i ddefnyddwyr am ein cynlluniau ar gyfer cynhyrchion arbenigol (gan gynnwys microdata a chynhyrchion tarddiad-cyrchfan), daearyddiaeth a defnyddio data gweinyddol i wella allbynnau a'u hategu.

Gwnaethom ymgynghori â defnyddwyr er mwyn:

• cael adborth ar ein cynllun a'n dull lledaenu arfaethedig ar gyfer data Cyfrifiad 2021
• ein helpu i flaenoriaethu ein hymchwil a'n gwaith o ddatblygu allbynnau Cyfrifiad 2021 yn y dyfodol
• pennu ym mha drefn y byddwn yn rhyddhau ein cynhyrchion ar ôl Cyfrifiad 2021
• deall gofynion defnyddwyr ar gyfer amrywiaeth o gynhyrchion y cyfrifiad

We received 196 responses to the consultation, with more than half of these from local authorities.

Overall, users agreed with our proposed output content and approach for disseminating 2021 Census data.

Users told us:

• they support our strategy to disseminate census data using a flexible dissemination system, and the associated statistical disclosure control approach
• there is a need to obtain census data from a single point of access and have an option for downloading large volumes of data through an Application Programming Interface (API)
• there is a clear need for receiving data about income derived from administrative data sources, especially at lower geographies to help users with analysis and service delivery
• there is an overwhelming need for timely and accessible origin-destination data

Dywedoch Chi

Cawsom 196 o ymatebion i'r ymgynghoriad, gyda mwy na hanner oddi wrth awdurdodau lleol.

Ar y cyfan, roedd defnyddwyr yn cytuno â'n cynnwys allbynnau arfaethedig, ynghyd â'n dull o ledaenu data Cyfrifiad 2021.

Dywedodd defnyddwyr y canlynol wrthym:

• maent yn cefnogi ein strategaeth i ledaenu data'r cyfrifiad gan ddefnyddio system ledaenu hyblyg a'r dull cysylltiedig o reoli datgelu ystadegol
• mae angen cael data'r cyfrifiad o un pwynt mynediad a gallu lawrlwytho symiau mawr o ddata drwy Ryngwyneb Rhaglennu Cymwysiadau (API)
• mae angen clir i gael data ar incwm sy'n deillio o ffynonellau data gweinyddol, yn enwedig ar lefelau daearyddol isel er mwyn helpu defnyddwyr i ddadansoddi a darparu gwasanaethau
• mae angen sylweddol am ddata tarddiad-cyrchfan amserol a hygyrch

We intend to:

• continue to develop the products we outlined in the consultation
• adopt the flexible dissemination system for census outputs and utilise its benefits beyond census and for other datasets
• aim for a fully functioning flexible dissemination system to be available before census day to allow user familiarisation with the interface
• continue to develop the statistical disclosure control methods and seek external assurance of our methods
• continue to closely engage with users throughout the duration of the design and dissemination of outputs

Gwnelon ni

Rydym yn bwriadu gwneud y canlynol:

• parhau i ddatblygu'r cynhyrchion a amlinellwyd yn ein hymgynghoriad
• mabwysiadu'r system ledaenu hyblyg ar gyfer allbynnau'r cyfrifiad a manteisio arni y tu hwnt i'r cyfrifiad ac ar gyfer setiau data eraill
• anelu at gyflwyno system ledaenu hyblyg gwbl weithredol a fydd ar gael cyn diwrnod y cyfrifiad er mwyn galluogi defnyddwyr i ymgyfarwyddo â'r rhyngwyneb
• parhau i ddatblygu'r dulliau rheoli datgelu ystadegol a cheisio sicrwydd allanol ynghylch ein dulliau
• parhau i weithio'n agos gyda defnyddwyr drwy gydol y gwaith o gynllunio a lledaenu allbynnau

This is the third consecutive year that ONS has published the Economic Statistics and Analysis Strategy (ESAS) for consultation. We sought your views on our priorities for Economic Statistics in 2018/19, and to feedback if they are consistent with their requirements. We are committed to review and annually update the strategy to reflect changing needs and priorities, to give a clear prioritisation of our development of economic statistics. 

We received feedback from a number of organisations. Respondents were happy with the strategy highlighting priority areas for Economic Statistics.

 Number of comments were added to the draft strategy which was then published on 26 April 2018. We would like to thank all respondents for taking the time to respond to the consultation.

We asked for your opinions on the proposed changes to certain labour market tables and related publications. In the consultation launched in February 2018 we proposed to cease publication of some supplementary labour market tables because they are either:

• based on old pension age breakdowns
• use variables which are known to have a low survey response rate, which can impact on the results when detailed breakdowns are produced; and/or
• have low user demand demonstrated by the low number of downloads of these tables from the ONS website.

We also proposed to publish some supplementary labour market tables without gender breakdown and to change the source of some tables from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to the Annual Population Survey (APS). As part of the latter proposal we will also move dissemination of these tables from the ONS website to NOMIS. The final proposal in the consultation related to changing the frequency of the Reconciliation of estimates of employment and jobs article from four times a year (March, June, September and December) to once a year (every March in order to compare estimates for the whole year).  The proposals in the consultation affected only the supplementary labour market tables, with no implications for the tables feeding into the labour market bulletin. The proposals related only to the published tables and at this stage there will be no impact on the LFS microdata used to produce these outputs.

We received some responses from a variety of organisations. We would like to thank all respondents for taking the time to respond to the consultation.

The main feedback was:

• All respondents agreed with the proposal to cease publication of tables A03 NSA and SA: Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for men aged from 16 to 64 and women aged from 16 to 59 if the historic series remained accessible after the discontinuation of the tables.
• Most respondents had no concerns about ceasing the publication of the tables listed below:

1. EMP11: Employment by socio-economic classification
2. EMP12: Part-time and temporary workers by socio-economic classification
3. EMP15: Job related training received by employees
4. EARN07: Gross weekly earnings by industry
5. EARN08: Distribution of gross hourly earnings of employees
6. UNEM02: Unemployment by previous occupation
7. UNEM03: Unemployment by previous industrial sector and
8. RED02: Redundancies by industry, age, sex and re-employment rates .

However, a minority of respondents had concerns over ceasing the publication of tables:

1. EMP11: Employment by socio-economic classification
2. EMP12: Part-time and temporary workers by socio-economic classification
3. EMP15: Job related training received by employees
4. EARN07: Gross weekly earnings by industry and
5. EARN08: Distribution of gross hourly earnings of employees.  

• Most respondents agreed with the proposal to produce the tables below without a gender breakdown:

1. EARN05: Gross weekly earnings of full-time employees by region and
2. EARN06: Gross weekly earnings by occupation .

• All of the respondents agreed in principle with the proposal to change the data source of the list of tables provided below from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to the Annual Population Survey (APS).

1. EMP04: All in employment by status, occupation and sex
2. EMP08: All in employment by occupation
3. EMP09: Employees and self-employed by occupation and
4. EMP10: Part-time and temporary workers by occupation .

• Most respondents agreed to the proposed change in publication frequency of the Reconciliation of estimates of employment and jobs article from four times a year (March, June, September and December) to once a year (every March in order to compare estimates for the whole year).

We reviewed the feedback provided by respondents and we are going to undertake the actions listed below:

• We will cease the publication of the tables listed below from August 2018 onwards but we will keep the historic time series on the ONS website:

1. A03 NSA and SA: Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for men aged from 16 to 64 and women aged from 16 to 59
2. EMP12: Part-time and temporary workers by socio-economic classification. Even though users had some concerns about ceasing the publication of this table they indicated that it is less vital for their work than table EMP11: Employment by socio-economic classification. This is the reason why table EMP12 is going to be discontinued.
3. UNEM02: Unemployment by previous occupation
4. UNEM03: Unemployment by previous industrial sector and
5. RED02: Redundancies by industry, age, sex and re-employment rates. However, ONS will consider reinstating these tables in the future if the size of the estimates increases.

• We will continue publishing the tables listed below as there is demonstrated user need for them:

1. EMP11: Employment by socio-economic classification
2. EMP15: Job related training received by employees
3. EARN07: Gross weekly earnings by industry and
4. EARN08: Distribution of gross hourly earnings of employees.

• We will produce the tables listed below only at the people level from August 2018 onwards:

1. EARN05: Gross weekly earnings of full-time employees by region and 
2. EARN06: Gross weekly earnings by occupation.

• We will change the data source of the list of tables provided below from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to the Annual Population Survey (APS) and we will move dissemination from the ONS website to NOMIS. Moreover, the estimates will be available for an annual period rather than quarterly. The data on NOMIS will be in a presentational format and we will add links on the ONS website to direct users to the new data homepage. An example of a table produced on NOMIS is available. The change in the data source for these tables will take place from February 2019 onwards.

1. EMP04: All in employment by status, occupation and sex
2. EMP08: All in employment by occupation
3. EMP09: Employees and self-employed by occupation and
4. EMP10: Part-time and temporary workers by occupation.

• We will change the publication frequency of the Reconciliation of estimates of employment and jobs article from four times a year (March, June, September and December) to once a year (every March in order to compare estimates for the whole year). This change will come into effect following the scheduled publication on 12^th June 2018.

We Asked

ONS currently produces Health State Life Expectancy estimates for local areas of the UK. These estimates at both national and subnational level are calculated using health state prevalence data available from the Annual Population Survey (APS). Stakeholders have wanted estimates of these summary measures of population health at a subnational level, and they are a national indicator in the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

We tested three alternative methods, designed to address the current weakness of small sample sizes producing somewhat erratic health state prevalence estimates across the age distribution in those areas with smaller populations. Each method modelled age-specific health and disability-free state prevalence using a least squares regression containing a quadratic line of best fit.

ONS wanted to ensure stakeholders had the opportunity to respond to the proposed change in methods, having had the opportunity to appraise its impact in the Proposed method change in UK health state life expectancies paper published in December 2017.

ONS wanted to elicit the opinion of key stakeholders on the proposed change, particularly regarding its complexity and ease of communication. We also asked whether other methods should be considered, whether they had any concerns with us implementing the method and whether implementation would impact on their use of these statistics.

You Said

We are grateful to everyone who took time to respond to the consultation. There were 5 responses received, but some of these were a collation from separate organisations although not all wanted to be identified. Those willing to be identified can be found in the final section of the consultation report titled ‘List of responding organisations’.

The key points to note from the responses to the consultation are:

• Further complexity to improve the model should not be undertaken at the expense of ease of communication of the statistics. It was thought the modelling approach was already somewhat complex and shouldn’t be made more so.

• Four respondents agreed that the method proposed to model health and disability state prevalence reduces the volatility in the estimates for sub-national areas and at the older ages, making comparisons over time easier.

• The proposed method complexity can be simplified by explicit explanation of the changes in methodology in plain English, which will mitigate the risk of figures being misinterpreted.

• Concerns were raised as to whether health and disability questions would be asked in the 2021 Census, and if they did, would they be comparable and would changes present challenges for using the new proposed method. Over longer time horizons, there was also a concern about the adequacy of data expected to replace the Census in 2031.

• ONS must ensure sufficient information is available to allow other departments and organizations to calculate figures and not be reliant on ONS calculating the health state life expectancy estimates using other sources or for different population sub-groups. This will also reduce the risk of users misrepresenting figures.

• There was a concern raised over whether the method will continue to be developed, as this would cause further breaks in the time-series. Another respondent expressed concern that the implementation of the method would put at risk a long, consistent time-series.

• One organisation has said they will implement the method that ONS decides to use, provided sufficient information is available to allow them to replicate the estimates. The proposed changes provide data for all subnational areas which would make the data more usable for one organisation’s purposes.

• Respondents said the health state life expectancy estimates feed into public health frameworks for England and Wales, which help understand how public health is being improved and protected. The estimates also have policy impact in that they are used in consideration of the State Pension age.

We Did

As a result of this consultation the following actions will be undertaken:

• We will implement our proposed method based on modelling health and disability-free state prevalence to calculate future health state life expectancy estimates and provide a back series;

• Our next publication for sub-national areas of the UK, due to be published in December 2018 will apply this method;

• Our publication measuring the socioeconomic inequality in health state life expectancy in England and Wales will be published in March 2019 and will also apply the new method.

• Subsequently, ONS will no longer publish statistics based on the previous method;

• The December 2018 and March 2019 publications referred to above will also take account of the revised mid-year population estimates for sub-national and small area populations in England and Wales and provide a back series from 2009 to 2011 for the former and from 2011 to 2013 for the latter;

• The December publication will include additional areas such as combined authorities (geographic codes E47) for England and Health Boards for Wales;

• The health state life expectancy template will be updated to align with the new method and aid users’ understanding and to help them to be able to calculate their own estimates;

• Will update the Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) report to communicate the method change concisely, the reasons for it, and its impact on the existing time-series;

• Facilitate further work with the devolved administrations to ensure understanding of the methodology to allow other departments to replicate the estimates and calculate their own estimates with other areas of interest;

• We will additionally undertake an evaluation of the method’s performance, comparing the 10-year trajectory between 2010 to 2012 and 2020 to 2021 using the new method and that using the censuses to interpolate census-based prevalence over the decade;

• ONS will ensure any changes brought about by what is learnt from the 2021 Census data will be implemented with a back series. If the 2021 Census contains health questions, ONS will wait until a formal evaluation and interpolation study has been conducted and published on. This is unlikely to be published until the late autumn of 2023.

ONS currently produces population estimates by marital status and living arrangements for England and Wales. Where possible an estimate of the population who are in a marriage between same-sex couples is provided separately. This is currently a number, not available by age or sex because of very small estimates of this population. Throughout the majority of the publication the population who are in a marriage between opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples are presented together as a total married population.

ONS were keen to learn whether the provision of a separate estimate of the population who are in a marriage between same-sex couples is meeting user need, allowing us to gain a better understanding of who uses these estimates and how they are being used.

The consultation questions were specifically aimed at gathering user need about the number (stock) of people by marital status living in England and Wales not the number of marriages being formed in England and Wales (flow), which ONS has asked users about in the past.

We are grateful to everyone who took time to respond to the consultation. There were a total of 354 responses received from a variety of organisations and individuals that monitor, formulate or influence policy and plan services both at the national and local level. We also received responses from academics, charities and religious groups. A full list of organisations that responded can be found in Annex A. The feedback we received is very valuable to us and has helped us to better understand our users and their data requirements.

The key points to note from the responses to the consultation are:

• 99.4% of respondents require estimates of the population who are married to be presented separately for same-sex couples and for opposite-sex couples.
• The majority (71.8%) of responses came from individuals; the next largest group of responses (16.1%) came from religious or church groups.
• Respondents require estimates of the married population to be separate to allow:
  • Analysis of family and relationship trends and diversity
  • Calculation of divorce rates which allows analysis of the differences in length of marriage
  • Equalities monitoring
  • Provision of a comprehensive picture of the resident population
  • Informed service provision
  • Monitoring of physical/ mental health and wellbeing outcomes
  • Support of evidence based policy making
  • Understanding of the impact and effect of the introduction of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
  • Historical and international comparisons of the population who are in a marriage between opposite sex couples.   

As a result of this consultation, we:

• Have a better understanding of user need which allows us to make informed decisions about marital status data collection in the future.
• Will continue to provide separate estimates of the population who are in a marriage between same-sex couples and in a marriage between opposite-sex couples where possible.
• Will continue to monitor these data to see whether we can provide more detailed estimates in the future which could be of more use to our users.

Our aim was to gain a better understanding of price discrimination for export of services and how prices could be affected by exchange rates.

Information received varied across service sectors, consistent themes were identified.

Feedback obtained will be used to assist development of the Services Producer Price Index (SPPI).

We asked for people’s views on our new experimental balanced measure of regional gross value added (GVA). This new development is designed to provide a single best estimate of regional GVA, combining the best parts of the existing income and production measures.

We wanted to be sure that users of regional GVA statistics welcomed the single measure, and to identify any concerns that people have with the methods, test results and our proposed presentation of the statistics in future publications.

We received 23 written responses from a wide range of people representing central, local and devolved government, private companies and think tanks, universities and schools. In addition, we met with many other stakeholders to present our consultation and listen to their views, at events held in Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. The main feedback was:

• Respondents strongly supported the introduction of a single balanced measure of regional GVA, and some requested that we continue to publish the pre-balanced income and production measures, at least for the first few years.
• A majority of respondents were happy with the method we have used, and some offered suggestions for potential enhancements to the methodology.
• A majority of respondents were happy with the test results, and some offered suggestions for parts that could benefit from further attention.
• A majority of respondents were happy with our plans for the presentation of the data, and some offered suggestions for additional supporting information.

We intend to:

• Publish the first experimental balanced estimates of regional GVA on or around 13 December 2017.
• Publish the pre-balanced income and production estimates alongside the balanced estimates, at least while the balanced estimates remain experimental statistics.
• Publish nominal and real estimates of balanced GVA for 80 industries at the NUTS1 level, and 71 industries at the NUTS2 level.
• Publish real estimates of balanced regional GVA one year earlier than before.
• Publish the existing set of income components at all geographic levels from NUTS1 down to local authority district, consistent with the balanced GVA estimates.
• Consider the various suggestions made by respondents, with a view to introducing further improvements in future publications, as resources permit.

Whether you found the publications useful, the methodology appropriate, and whether you wanted the outputs to continue in future

That the new output was very welcome, the methodology was basically suitable but could use a few additions, and that it should continue to be developed

Started planning for the next round of outputs in 2018, and set our priorities for next stages of development work

To enable ONS to publish more detailed birth statistics for England and Wales than currently available, whilst also improving timeliness, we proposed to make explorable datasets for live births available in NOMIS from the 2017 data year. Consequential changes were also proposed to our annual publication tables, and some new tables were outlined. We consulted users with these proposals to ensure birth statistics continue to meet user needs as much as possible. 

• Respondents welcomed detailed birth statistics being made available as explorable datasets in NOMIS; however some were concerned about locating particular birth statistics in the future. 

• Four respondents were concerned over plans to combine i) births to married couples with births to cohabiting couples and ii) sole registered births with births jointly registered by parents who live at different addresses. They considered the distinction between these groups important for both demographers and policy makers interested in changing family forms and living arrangements. 

• Three respondents requested that much more detailed data be made available as explorable datasets; for example live births by single year of age of mother and father with other characteristics available for cross tabulation, or the addition of parity and exact multiplicity.

• One respondent noted that they would like to have parents’ occupation coded on 100% of live births, currently only 10% are coded.

• Two respondents indicated that they would like to have more timely data available on births, similar to our provisional figures on monthly deaths. 

• Three respondents noted that they used tables which were proposed to be discontinued.

• Make available the five explorable datasets on NOMIS , outlined in Annex B of our Response to the ONS consultation on proposed changes to birth statistics. We intend to make 2017 data publicly available in NOMIS in July or August 2018.

• Make changes to our published tables as outlined in Annex C of our Response to the ONS consultation on proposed changes to birth statistics. These changes are based on those originally proposed in our consultation but take account of the responses we received. 

We sought information, opinions and suggestions in relation to two broad themes:

• the Country and regional public sector finances bulletin first published in May 2017, containing data at the NUTS1 geographical level.
• the possible future publication of public finance data for local areas below the NUTS1 level, and the issues identified in producing such local area statistics, as described in the sub-regional public sector finances scoping study published alongside the consultation, in July 2017.

We wanted to be sure that the new Country and regional public sector finances publication was welcomed by users and investigate in what ways ONS could develop these statistics to meet the needs of users for local area public finance statistics.

We received 18 responses from three private individuals, and 15 on behalf of organisations with either a national, country/regional, or sub-regional purvey and perspective,

Feedback on the Country and regional public sector finances bulletin was overall very positive, and respondents provided many examples of how they had made use of the NUTS1 level estimates provided in the bulletin. Some suggestions for possible improvement were offered, including the inclusion of workplace-based estimates alongside the current residence-based estimates.

The sub-regional scoping study was quite well received. Opinions were divided as to:

• how useful estimates of net fiscal balance would be at various sub-regional geographies
• the role that ONS might play in the production of public finance estimates for smaller geographies (i.e. below NUTS1 level).

As a result of his consultation we will take the following actions:

• continue publication of the Country and regional public sector finances bulletin.
• seek to further develop the content and presentation of the bulletin in the light of comments provided by respondents.
• continue to publish estimates of revenue and net fiscal balance derived on two bases, with revenues from North Sea activities estimated a) on a population basis, and b) on a geographic basis.
• undertake exploratory work on producing workplace-based estimates for certain tax revenues.

Given resource constraints and concerns over the robustness of such estimates, we do not intend to directly engage in the production of net fiscal balances for sub-regional geographies at this stage. However, we intend:

• to offer support and advice on methodologies and data sources to organisations and areas wishing to produce their own estimates.

We asked for your views on our assessment of estimating the number of rooms and bedrooms in the 2021 Census using Valuation Office Agency (VOA) data.

We wanted to understand how changing to an administrative data source to estimate number of rooms and bedrooms would affect users of this data.

We received 34 complete responses to the consultation from a range of local authorities, government departments, academics and agencies.

The main feedback in relation to number of rooms was:

• six respondents indicated that using VOA data would have a negative impact on their work
• nine respondents indicated using VOA data would have a positive impact on their work
• 12 respondents didn’t indicate an impact either way

The main feedback in relation to number of bedrooms was:

• nine respondents indicated that using VOA data to estimate number of bedrooms would have a negative impact on their work
• 10 respondents indicated using VOA data to estimate number of bedrooms would have a positive impact on their work
• 16 respondents didn’t indicate an impact either way

Some users highlighted areas for further research. These included investigating:

• the 34% increase in overcrowding (bedrooms) estimates from VOA data compared to using census data
• how frequently the VOA dataset is updated 

We have looked at:

• the differences between VOA and 2011 Census for occupancy rating (bedrooms) at local authority level and found the difference varies across the country 

ONS is required to report data for the UK against global sustainable development indicators and we asked for your views on:

1.   How ONS should report progress?

2.   Criteria for data selection.

3.   The approach to prioritising data development.

We want to make information available on global indicators available to all, we are keen to use the full range of data available and we want to be confident that our approach to reporting and prioritising areas for development is right. Therefore, it is important for us to listen and consider your views.

We would like to thank respondents for taking the time to respond to this consultation.

We received 111 responses to the consultation from a wide variety of respondents representing national and local government, charities and the voluntary sector; international organisations, the private sector and academia.

Some of the key findings:

·        Respondents were supportive of the proposed mechanisms on how ONS should report progress and went on to expand with further detail that aligns with the current programme of reporting and development work.  

·        Respondents suggested additional criteria that they thought should be considered for determining the suitability of data sources, some of which included looking at international comparability; looking at other frameworks; wider collaboration and the potential to look at hard to reach groups.

·        There were many initiatives respondents thought that could help with assessing progress towards global indicators, some for these included new data sources; suggestions of new questions for surveys; collaboration; harmonisation of questions and supporting frameworks.

·        Geographical breakdowns to the lowest level possible were highlighted as a priority for data development.

·        Respondents felt that evidence from user engagement and information gathering activities were important principles to use to develop data to plug gaps.

·        Some of the additional criteria that respondents suggested for prioritising data development centered around what was relevant and a priority for the UK, collaboration, internationally comparable indicators and to look at links across targets.

Progress so far:

We have developed an interactive reporting platform to disseminate (downloadable) data with charts which was launched on the 9^th November and is still under development.

We also published our first report on the 9^th November which looks at progress made towards measuring the global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators in the UK.

·        We have started to release a series of publications which have included a short piece on neonatal and under five mortality which looked at the UK in comparison with other European countries and a SlidesShare on renewable energy. We have also begun to highlight the importance of SDGs by aligning with significant outputs on relevant topics and communicating through social media. All of our publications are available on our reporting platform under a Publications tab.

We are working closely with various stakeholders to discuss the possibility of collaborating on outputs and have begun to collaborate with business. We have also been looking at the potential of using data from non government organisations.

We would like to thank everybody who took the time to respond to our consultation and ONS will take on board the suggestions and feedback provided as we continue to develop data sources, data gaps and prioritise our approach to reporting. 

This consultation proposed an alternative model for the publications of GDP estimates; the full details of the model can be found in the consultation document.

In summary, this model would give two estimates of quarterly GDP using data from all three of the Output, Income and Expenditure approaches around six weeks and 13 weeks after the end of the preceding quarter. This would be a change from three estimates of quarterly GDP, published four, eight and 13 weeks after the end of the preceding quarter.

In addition, the Index of Services publication would be moved two weeks earlier to become part of the Short Term Economic Indicator theme day, enabling the publication of monthly GDP estimates that would include both a three-month rolling estimate and an estimate for the latest month.

The clear majority of respondents were in favour of the proposed changes to the GDP publication model, saying that the higher quality first estimate of GDP along with the early view of Income and Expenditure data will mean the figures are more reliable and helpful, and ultimately lead to greater confidence in the GDP estimates.

However, a small number of respondents expressed concerns over the loss of timeliness in the proposed first estimate of GDP.

Furthermore, some respondents expressed concerns over the implications of monthly GDP (based on the Output measure) estimates. For example, there were concerns that the availability of both monthly and quarterly GDP estimates could result in confusion, and that monthly GDP had the potential to be misinterpreted.

We will move to using the new GDP publishing model in 2018, with the first estimate of monthly GDP (for the reference month of May) being introduced in July 2018 and the first quarterly GDP estimate (for quarter 2 2018) under the new model being introduced in August 2018.

We will develop a package of products to be released as part of the new monthly and quarterly publications under the new model in collaboration with users, with the aim of providing a clear and coherent picture of economic activity.

We will take a number of steps to ensure that any negative impact on data content in the first estimate of GDP is minimised. For example, we will be reviewing our survey and broader data processing timetables as well as our estimation and forecasting methods.

We will publish an article in Spring 2018 explaining the changes to the publication model in more detail, the products that we will produce under the new model and a clear schedule of publication dates from the date of implementation.

We asked for people’s views on which causes of death are appropriate to include in the National Statistics definition of deaths related to the misuse of alcohol.

We hoped that the consultation would result in a harmonised approach, across government and the devolved administrations, to measuring deaths which are wholly attributable to the misuse of alcohol.  

We received 20 responses to the consultation from a range of organisations including academics, government departments and agencies, and charities. The main feedback was:

• respondents strongly supported the need for a harmonised approach across government to measuring deaths caused by alcohol misuse;
• the majority of respondents recommended that ONS use a revised indicator of alcohol-specific deaths;
• several respondents voiced concern with excluding unspecified hepatitis and cirrhosis and fibrosis of the liver from the revised indicator, noting that more UK based evidence on the aetiology of these deaths is needed before they are discounted entirely.  

We intend to:

• use a revised definition of alcohol-specific deaths from the date of our next publication. This definition will also be used respond to Parliamentary Questions, and to media and customer data requests;
• publish a brief article to communicate the definition change, the reasons for it, and its impact on the existing time series;
• in the first publication based on the new definition, include figures on the previous definition. Subsequently, ONS will no longer publish statistics based on the previous definition;
• in each statistical release we will report deaths from unspecified hepatitis and cirrhosis and fibrosis of the liver – for information. We will also signpost to published data which shows the wider burden of alcohol misuse on other causes of death;
• facilitate further work with public health agencies and the devolved administrations to ensure greater consistency in terminology.

We asked users of the business prices publications, Producer Price Index (PPI) and Services Producer Price Index (SPPI) to comment on some ONS’ proposed process improvements to the publication and consider any impact these improvements would have on their use of the statistics.

We consulted on five proposals:

• Removal of the net sector aggregate for both PPI and SPPI
• Aggregation and publication of PPI for both domestic output, exports and total output prices
• Inclusion of proxies in the aggregate SPPI to represent the whole service sector
• Review the demand for seasonal adjustment in the PPI and SPPI series’
• Streamlining data made available in PPI and SPPI statistical releases 

We received five written responses, three of which were completed online and two offline responses. These responses were from a range of external users of the business prices data. The comments included within the responses were extremely useful. The main feedback was:

• The net sector aggregate is used in calculations within some organisations that are main users of our data. These organisations require more clarity on the comparison between the current Net sector and Gross sector indices and any discrepancies between them, to consider their future use.
• All consultation respondents were interested in seeing a publication of the PPI with a domestic, import and export splits.
• Respondents were unsure about the inclusion of proxies to aggregate the whole service sector within SPPI, stating further information on what these are and whether there would be a marker to identify which of the indices are proxies would be useful.
• Seasonal adjustment of the outputs was not considered to be key, and there was not a great demand for any further seasonal adjustment.
• Streamlining the data and publishing at a higher level may cause problems for some users of business prices therefore further information on how this would be represented is needed.

To date:

• Met with two users of Business Prices based on their responses and discussed their requirements in more detail. We have also corresponded with a third respondent.
• Considered the use of seasonal adjustment alongside the International Monetary Fund (IMF) PPI manual.

We intend to:

• Conduct more correspondence with users of business prices on their requirements from the PPI and SPPI publications.
• Conduct events/interactions to keep users of business prices informed of progress on the process changes.
• Produce and communicate a plan and timeline for producing PPI on a domestic, import and export basis.
• Investigate if the use of proxies within the SPPI would add value to the overall aggregate and communicate further with users of business prices once the investigation is complete. 
• Work with users and stakeholders of business prices to develop the correct balance in what we are publishing.