In a valedictory counterblast, outgoing senior labour market statistician Richard Clegg shreds the myths about the ONS jobs figures.
Read more on My final word on those employment stats fantasies
New insights on the scale of childhood bereavement, the jobs at risk of automation and how inequality is affecting life expectancy have all come from ONS Public Policy Analysis this year. Following the publishing of the second edition of our quarterly review, Liz McKeown looks back on some of these findings and discusses how you can also input to this review.
Read more on New public policy analysis quarterly review published: The year so far
No longer will stats users looking for insight on public sector efficiency have to consult multiple data sets from different government bodies. Sophie Davies unveils the new ONS Public Service Data Dashboards.
Read more on Don’t dash off – check out our Public Service Data Dashboards!
As well as the money it raises in direct and indirect taxation, the Government receives income from providing services for its citizens. Company registrations, passport and driving licence applications are all examples of fees charged by government bodies. But when does a charge levied on the public stop being a “fee” and become a tax instead? David Beckett explains the criteria the ONS uses to make that decision and why that determines how the money can be used.
Read more on Taxing decisions: How the ONS tells the difference between taxes and fees – and why it matters
The ONS produces an annual assessment of how the UK’s tax and benefits system impacts the incomes of UK households. Measuring the incomes of the whole population presents particular challenges and recently our findings have come under scrutiny. Here Richard Tonkin explains how the ONS estimates are produced and the improvements under way to make sure they remain reliable.
Read more on Closing the income gap: how we estimate the impact of taxes and benefits on household incomes