9. Submissions on Behalf of the UK Statistics Authority by Mr Cohen

Mr Cohen: My Lady, I have some brief opening submissions on behalf of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Authority is an independent statutory body encompassing a number of other entities. It’s a non-ministerial public body reporting to the UK Parliament and to the various devolved legislatures. It has responsibility for the more widely known Office of National Statistics, as well as for the regulation of statistics in the form of the Office for Statistics Regulation, and next week, my Lady, you’ll be hearing from the National Statistician, Sir Ian Diamond, who oversees the Authority. My Lady, the Office of National Statistics have of course been very closely involved in understanding the cost and toll of Covid. They are keen that any contribution from them to this Inquiry should begin with an expression of their profound and sincere condolences to the bereaved, and their very great sympathy to all those otherwise adversely affected. The Authority understand how devastating Covid has been in many sectors of society, and they recognise that in all that they can say and do now.

I’m also asked, my Lady, to thank the public for their willingness to co-operate with Office of National Statistics’ attempts to gain information during the pandemic, as well as to thank the staff of the Authority for their work on behalf of the National Statistician.

My Lady, the Authority sees that it can assist this Inquiry, both because of the leading role it took in the development of insights and statistics during the pandemic and also because the Authority is determined to learn what happened and what could have been done better.

The recognition of the likelihood of future pandemics and other emergencies is central to the Authority’s position. They are determined that in the event and when those matters come to a head, they are better placed than ever before to address them.

My Lady, it may be of value to trace out in broad brush terms some of the work that was done during the pandemic.

The role that the Office of National Statistics had remained constant, but it of course occurred in a difficult and unprecedented environment. There were particular challenges in producing official statistics in relation to the accuracy and quality of data. It is very difficult to undertake survey data collection when social distancing is understandably in place, and where it is no longer possible to knock on doors and ask questions. However, the ONS did put in place significant measures to try and minimise those limitations, including by re-weighting results and finding new and innovative ways of collecting data.

This all occurred, of course, my Lady, in circumstances where the appetite and demand for official statistics was perhaps greater than ever before. That was partly because of a governmental need for more information and evidence to inform policy development, and also because of an understandable thirst from the wider public to understand the statistical picture and what was going on in the country.

In the light of that increased demand, the Office of National Statistics adapted and increased the level of insight provided within its standard releases such as those concerning mortality. A decision was taken that the data on mortality should be linked to different characteristics such as ethnic group, disability and occupation, in the hope that this could provide a new perspective and new levels of insight.

There was also, of course, significant new work being undertaken, such as through the development of the Coronavirus Infection Survey, a world-leading survey set up in exceptionally rapid time to measure Covid-19 infection as well as antibody rate in the wider population. At its peak, 400,000 samples were being collected each month by the ONS, and that formed part of the evidence base for the government’s surveillance of the pandemic, as was occurring in the United Kingdom, with data broken down across the four nations and also by age, region and other characteristics.

The ONS also deployed statistical experts in other government departments, the devolved administrations and public bodies, including finding new ways of sharing their expertise, providing support to other departments on how best to use statistics and to understand what was needed from statistics professionals across government.

The lessons that the Authority has taken from that exercise, my Lady, are, first of all, that the need for immediate statistical assistance by government in the light of any new emergency is paramount. It is vital that statistical professionals and the ONS in particular are involved in future health emergencies from the first.

In addition, the understanding should be retained that some of the insights that the ONS was able to gather during the pandemic, such as its use of regular flexible surveying and providing value in tracking societal and economic issues, shouldn’t be lost. There has been an amount of knowledge built up which is of importance.

Finally, my Lady, the Authority’s regulatory function – which is spoken to in a witness statement that is available, or will be available in due course – shouldn’t be overlooked. That is an important and responsible aspect of the Authority’s work, seeking to ensure that official statistics are presented fairly, properly and in a manner which is not misleading.

My Lady, as I say, the Authority is determined that any lessons that can be learnt from this Inquiry are taken on board, and stands ready to assist in any way possible, most immediately through the evidence of Sir Ian Diamond next week, but on an ongoing basis of course.

Lady Hallett: Thank you very much indeed, Mr Cohen.

Right, that completes the submissions for today. I’m very grateful to everybody. Nearly everyone stuck to the allotted time; some, I think, were even slightly shorter. So I’m really grateful to you all, and I appreciate how difficult it is to try and get everything in, and also then not to be criticised for speaking too quickly.

So we’ve done jolly well today, we’ve had a great deal of information and a number of very interesting submissions that obviously at some stage I’ll be considering with all the care that people would expect of the Inquiry.

10 o’clock tomorrow morning, please.

Mr Keith: Thank you.

(4.55 pm)

(The hearing adjourned until 10 am on Wednesday, 4 October 2023)