Posts by Iain Bell

How the Office for National Statistics is responding to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic

The Office for National Statistics is gathering vital information on the social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and feeding it into the government to help planning, protect lives and reduce the impact on the economy. Here Iain Bell explains the work ONS are doing to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on our society and economy and what the initial results show.

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How ONS plans to provide new analysis on the core issues facing our society

The ONS’ Population and Public Policy team has delivered many new insights over the past two years on the key issues facing our society today. Here, Deputy National Statistician Iain Bell reflects on some of the progress made and sets out his priorities for the coming months, which includes important work on towns and cities, further analysis of our ageing population and the continued modernisation of surveys.

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The young ones: how do young people’s lives now differ from previous generations’?

From the time you start work to getting married and starting a family, how do today’s young people’s lives differ from their parents’ and grandparents’? Iain Bell discusses how ONS has been contributing more insights on the emerging generations, providing better data for policy makers to make the right decisions.

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Ripe for development: Building better housing statistics for the UK

Few issues are more important than housing. Now statisticians from across government have begun a new initiative to bring harmony and coherence to figures currently published by more than seven different departments and public bodies. As Iain Bell explains, the new approach is designed to put the needs of users first. 

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