Statistical planning and priority setting in the UK Central Statistical Office

Abstract

Good tools for statistical planning and priority setting are needed if official statistics are to fulfil their central role in the functioning of a democratic society. The United Kingdom Central Statistical Office has used strategic management as an important engine for change. It has developed an integrated approach to planning with a forward looking corporate plan, setting out directions for change, a rolling three-year forward work programme, matching action to resources, and an ongoing process for review and evaluation.

The corporate plan includes a mission statement defined in terms of the need to make sure that statistics are used “because our efforts are not worthwhile, however laudable they may be, unless decision making, research or debate is influenced”. The rolling three-year forward work programme provides for medium and short term planning and is continuously reviewed in a planning cycle, which begins more than a year in advance of the planning period. This ensures that questions of priority setting are considered at the appropriate time and that through planning every effort is made to fulfil the mission of the CSO. The planning process is at the heart of achieving a substantial shift in the role and performance of the organisation.