Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2025 to question 50264 on General Practitioners: Pay, whether the methodology of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings been updated since its introduction in 2004.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) was introduced in 2004, replacing the New Earnings Survey. Since its introduction, some changes have occurred, the key ones being:

• improvements to the questionnaire and the way in which geographic results were compiled, in 2005 and 2006;
• the introduction of automatic occupation coding and changes to stratum classification, that led to changes in the weights, in 2007;
• changes to the Standard Occupational Classification in 2010 and 2020;
• changes to the Standard Industrial Classification in 2007;
• a reduction in the sample by 20% in 2007 and 2008, followed by the full 1% sample being reinstated in 2009, following consultation with users as to the impact of the sample cut;
• response rates being decreased to between 140,000 and 150,000 from 2020 to 2022, due to the impact of COVID-19, although they started to recover in 2023 and returned to normal levels of response in 2024; and
• the introduction of methodological improvements to bring in more observations left in error, particularly for high earners in 2024.

Further information can be found in the ASHE’s methodology and guidance webpage, which is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/methodologies/annualsurveyofhoursandearningsashemethodologyandguidance

In addition, information on the ASHE’s data sources and quality, along with the latest publication, is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2024#data-sources-and-quality