Summary

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has completed its consultation on the proposed third edition of the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The responses showed strong overall support for the proposals but also highlighted important areas for further strengthening and clarifying the Code.

OSR will now use the feedback we received from the consultation to complete the refresh of the Code. We aim to release Code 3.0 in autumn 2025.

Introduction

The Code of Practice for Statistics is a set of standards for the production of statistics. Statistics are a public asset: when produced in line with the Code, they serve the public good and inspire public confidence. The Code is managed and maintained by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Code has been firmly embedded in the work of analysts producing official statistics across government. However, in recent years, there have been substantial changes in the data landscape for statistics producers highlighted in our State of the Statistics System Report for 2024. These include the rapid growth of new technologies, an increased desire for statistics from users, and developments in the ways statistics are produced and disseminated.

It is important that the Code remains relevant and evolves to support producers in this changing context. So, OSR launched a review of the Code (edition 2.1) in September 2023 to hear from stakeholders across a wide range of settings about the current suitability of the Code and how it can be adapted to meet the coming challenges and opportunities for data and statistics. After our extensive engagement and call for evidence over 2023 and 2024, we concluded that we should draft a new edition of the Code.

In line with the requirements of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, OSR held a Code consultation to test a proposed refresh of the Code of Practice (Code 3.0). The consultation ran for 16 weeks and closed on 14 February 2025.

This paper summarises the feedback that OSR received through the consultation and how we are further refining the Code accordingly.

The proposed draft Code 3.0

The proposal for Code 3.0 (illustrated below in Figure 1) preserves the core concepts of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value (TQV) that form the three pillars of the current Code, while making material changes to its content and presentation. The full detail of the proposals can be seen on the Code consultation webpage on the OSR website, as well as on the test webpages on the Code website.

Figure 1. The proposed Code Hub, which includes the Code of Practice for Statistics edition 3.0 and accompanying guidance.

We proposed that Code 3.0 would comprise three key elements:

1. Understanding the Code and how it supports the public good

The TQV framework is explained in a new introduction, ‘Understanding the Code and how it supports the public good’, which communicates OSR’s position on what TQV is and why this framework is important for statistics and other types of analysis and evidence.

2. Guiding Principles from the Code

Beneath the introduction sit the guiding principles from the Code, which explain how anyone working with data can put TQV into practice, in a wide range of settings.

3. The Code Standards

Code 3.0 has two sets of standards which are relevant to public bodies:

• • Standards for Official Statistics

The Standards for Official Statistics set out specific statistical practices that those producing official statistics must follow. These standards are most equivalent to the current Code 2.1. We proposed a shift from the current Code, which has 14 supporting principles and 84 practices, to a set of 10 standards of practice. We believe these revised standards set out clearer and more-actionable requirements for official statistics producers, to better support them in producing and disseminating statistics that serve the public good.

• • Standards for Intelligent Transparency

The Standards for Intelligent Transparency set out what anyone communicating statistics in public bodies needs to do to ensure an open, clear and accessible approach to the publication and communication of data, statistics and wider analysis.

We proposed that the Code be set within a ‘Code Hub’ on OSR’s website, which would also include guidance on how to understand and use the Code