ONS suffering from staff departures amid concerns over data – reports

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The figures come at a time when the ONS is facing questions about the accuracy of its data, in particular its flagship Labour Force Survey.
The figures come at a time when the ONS is facing questions about the accuracy of its data, in particular its flagship Labour Force Survey.

Reports have suggested that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been suffering from high staff turnover at a time when question marks are growing about the accuracy of its data.

According to a freedom of information request submitted by the Financial Times, 958 people left the ONS in the year to March, more than double the number of those who joined.

This meant a fifth of the workforce left the statistics agency in the year to March, up significantly on pre-pandemic levels. In 2018-19, 694 people left the ONS.

The paper reported that around 40 per cent of the departures were in mid-level roles where staff had expertise and technical skills, up from 34 per cent the previous year.

Grant Fitzner, ONS chief economist, noted that the agency faced difficult decisions as it is facing a real-term funding cut of more than five per cent to its 2024-25 budget.

“We have to prioritise and at times that does require some difficult choices, but I don’t think that’s any more true at the ONS than it is elsewhere in government,” he told the FT.

“One of the consequences of the budget challenges we faced last year is the headcount did come down,” he added.

The FOI also showed that ONS recruitment has fallen sharply, with only 38 per cent as many new hires in the year to March as the previous year.

The figures come as the ONS has faced questions about the accuracy of its data, particularly its flagship Labour Force Survey.

Response rates to the survey have been on a downward trend since the pandemic but have recently fallen to such an extent that last autumn, the ONS opted to publish “experimental” estimates for the labour market.

This has left policymakers at the Bank of England unsure about the level of unemployment, a crucial indicator of how their interest rate hikes are filtering through into the economy.

The ONS has promised to get a revamped Labour Force Survey up and running by September, having already pushed back its introduction from March this year.