High-quality, timely and accurate population statistics are essential to make sure people get the services and support they need, both within their communities and nationwide.
Whether they provide evidence for policies and public services or help businesses and investors to deliver economic growth at a local level, it is vitally important our population statistics reflect the requirements of everyone in society.
Currently, the census provides the backbone of these statistics, with a rich picture of our society at national and local levels every 10 years.
However, these statistics become less accurate over the decade and local detail on important topics becomes increasingly out of date between census years.
This summer, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has launched a public consultation on our proposals to create a sustainable system for producing essential statistics on the population of England and Wales that is flexible and responsive to unexpected change.
I welcome views from across local government on your priorities for the future of population and migration statistics, so they can best meet the needs of everyone over the coming years.
Timely administrative data – information that we all provide when we access public services such as the tax, benefits, health, and education systems – could be at the heart of the new system.
This could be complemented by survey data, a wider range of other data sources, and statistical modelling.
If implemented, the proposed system would provide high-quality population statistics each year, and offer new and additional insights into the changes and movement of our population across different seasons or times of day.
For many topics, it would provide much more local information every year, exploring them in new detail and covering areas not recorded by the census, such as income.
The ONS is gathering feedback on how far the proposals are likely to meet user needs and where it should be prioritising future research.
Your input will be essential evidence for the National Statistician’s recommendations on the future of population and migration statistics, and the census.
To take part in the ONS consultation (available in English and Welsh), please visit https://consultations.ons.gov.uk/. It closes on 26 October.