National Statistical

Measuring the work of public services has probably never been as challenging as in recent months, with many services being reduced due to the pandemic while new services, such as track and trace, have been brought on stream to combat it. Here Jonathan Athow writes about how we have adjusted our previous estimates and how we expanding our statistics to include these new types of services. 

As we head towards the end of a very challenging year, analytical directors, Liz McKeown and Darren Morgan reflect on the huge efforts put in by colleagues at the ONS to maintain, improve and develop new high-quality statistics on a scale never seen before.

There has been much debate about ONS’s range of inflation indices and differing uses for them. One of the less talked about measures are the Household Cost Indices (HCIs), which show the impact of price changes on household budgets. Here Chris Payne writes about their development and what they can tell us.

It was only ten years ago today that the United Nations agreed there should be an “International Day of Older People”. While social care is not limited to older people, it is an issue of widespread relevance in an ageing population.  Here Sophie John, ONS Head of Social Care Analysis, explains the work being done to identify and address gaps in data that could help inform our understanding of adult social care.