Redesign in a statistical office – sociodemographic statistics in the Office for National Statistics

Abstract

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has developed a Strategy setting out the areas in which it aims to make progress in the coming years in order to be well-placed to take advantage of the opportunities offered by technology and new data sources, and to meet the challenges of anticipated budget constraints and falling response rates. One key part of this is a project investigating options for future provision of population and small area sociodemographic statistics. I will outline the way the options in this project interact with ONS's existing social survey programme and the system for constructing population estimates as an example of how the strategy is leading the redesign process in the ONS.