Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of data collection across the UK in respect of COVID-19; and whether they have identified any regional variability in the quality of data collection processes.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Dear Lord Mawson,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessments have been made of the accuracy of data collection across the UK in respect to Covid-19, and any regional variability in the data collection processes (HL3420).

In my role as National Statistician, I have a responsibility to ensure the presentation of all data and analysis across Government is useful, transparent about its caveats, and of a high quality. Trustworthy, coherent and relevant data and statistics to support democratic decision-making is as important now as ever. As part of our response to Covid-19, we are working to ensure that the UK has the vital information needed to respond to the impact of this pandemic on our economy and society. I have been pleased with the response of colleagues in stepping up to that challenge by adapting data collection methods and sources, and publishing relevant, timely information. It is a strength of the UK statistical system that we provide equality of access to data on which important decisions will rely.

Data collection processes feeding into the production of evidence to support the response to COVID-19 are monitored, and any reports of differences in data collection investigated. Currently there are a very small number of those investigations ongoing. Those investigations would not have an impact on ONS weekly deaths statistics, which remain the most complete source of information.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has also been helpful in adapting processes for assessing accuracy and coherence of statistics during this crisis. These steps further enhance the trustworthiness of the statistical system’s response.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond