Committee publication · Correspondence · 21 April 2026
Letter from James Benford, Director General for Surveys and Economic Statistics Group, Office for National Statistics on the ONS second quarterly progress update, dated 15.4.26
From: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Summary
The Office for National Statistics reports its second quarterly progress update on economic and labour statistics improvement programmes. The ONS has delivered two-thirds of planned 2025/26 milestones but shifted the transition to its Transformed Labour Force Survey from November 2026 to 2027, citing resource constraints and system integration challenges. A readiness assessment in July 2026 will inform final decisions.
Key findings
- 65 of 93 planned 2025/26 milestones delivered; remaining milestones delayed due to system integration challenges and resource mobilisation difficulties
- Labour Force Survey response levels now close to pre-pandemic levels; Transformed Labour Force Survey design changes implemented
- Headline labour market statistics transition deferred from November 2026 to 2027, pending July 2026 readiness assessment with limited data availability
- ONS introducing 'waiting room' approach to sequence transformation activity and protect delivery of critical improvements
- Five immediate priorities identified: sustainable economic statistics delivery, quality improvements, TLFS transition, Statistical Business Register, and new international macroeconomic standards implementation
Tone
FactualTopics
Key actors
James Benford, Office for National Statistics, Simon Hoare MP, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Dame Meg Hillier MP, Treasury Committee
Notable line
“We are choosing realism over ambition to protect delivery confidence in the most critical improvements.”
Key Quotes
“The past quarter has seen further tangible improvements to the quality of our economic statistics and a fall in the number of major errors made.”
“The remaining third have proved more complicated and difficult to achieve than anticipated, reflecting a mix of system integration challenges, the time taken to mobilise required resource, the complexity of sequencing transformation at pace, and competing demands including preparation for Census”
“A 2027 transition has always been part of our scenario planning and is considered the most likely outcome.”
“We recognise this has wider implications for our capacity to improve other statistics, given the resource burden of running two labour force surveys in parallel, and we are managing this actively.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗