ONS

Rising to the challenge: How the ONS is developing inflation measures for the nations and regions

Categories: Data, Economy, Office for National Statistics, ONS

There is currently a lot of interest in how much prices are rising. Today we’re publishing inflation numbers for Northern Ireland. Here Chris Jenkins looks at our work to develop these figures with the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland as well as explaining why it’s not as easy to produce inflation data for the nations and regions as you might think.  

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The importance of UK-wide collaboration in monitoring COVID-19

Categories: Coronavirus, Office for National Statistics, ONS, Public Policy
A microscope and test tubes in a lab setting

The ONS-led COVID-19 Infection Survey (CIS) has been a vital source of data on the virus and its impacts, winning international recognition and several prestigious awards. Supporting the individual and combined needs of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, it has also become a leading example of collaborative working across the devolved administrations. In this post Esther Sutherland and Megan Crees show why that partnership has been central to the project’s success.

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Make life more inclusive: understanding disabled people’s access to activities, products and services

Categories: Coronavirus, Data, ONS, Public Policy, Wellbeing
An image of three people in a park

An important part of ONS’s work is to identify and provide insight into inequalities in society. One key area we are exploring is the lives of disabled people. We have recently published two new pieces of analysis looking at access to activities, products and services. Here, the ONS’s Beth Cook and Siannan Kerrigan explain more…

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Updating our estimates of the pandemic’s effects on the UK’s economy – the new ONS estimates explained

Craig McLaren
Categories: ONS

The ONS has published updated, indicative, estimates for how much the economy shrank in 2020, when COVID-19 first hit. These numbers look a little different to our earlier takes on this challenging period. Craig McLaren explains what’s changed and why. 

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The importance of ethics and privacy in producing statistics for the public good

Categories: Data, ONS, UK Statistics Authority
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At a time of exponential growth in data of all kinds, the potential for data science to improve public services and achieve better health outcomes has never been greater. But we also have a responsibility to ensure that those data are used ethically and protect individual privacy. Starting with the UK parliament’s objective for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to produce and publish statistics for the public good, the latest episode of ‘Statistically Speaking’ explores how this is being delivered in practice, while looking at the safeguards in place to protect personal data, and the public’s changing perception of acceptable data use.

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