The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 created the UK Statistics Authority and empowered it to determine, and assess compliance with the 'Code of Practice for Official Statistics'.

ISD is designated by legislation as a producer of official statistics and is obliged to adhere to the Code of Practice and relevant legislation.

National Statistics

Compliance with the code allows official figures and statistical publications to carry the 'National Statistics' label and give recognition that our statistics meet the needs of users, are methodologically sound and of assured quality, politically independent and have been produced and explained to high standards.

Not all ISD publications fall under the Official Statistics banner. Where possible and appropriate, ISD will endeavour to treat such publications in the same manner as Official Statistics publications and for example, provide pre-announcement of publication dates.

ISD publications will be assessed by the UK Statistics Authority against the Code of Practice for Official Statistics starting 2010. Reports of the assessments will be available from the UK Statistics Authority and from here.

Requirements

In order to meet our obligations under the code of practice ISD provides the following:

• Timetable of all ISD Statistical releases due for publication in the coming months
• Information about users' experiences of statistical services in results from ISD's customer survey
• Details of any approved exemptions and exceptions to the Code.  Currently ISD has no exemptions or exceptions.
• Revisions policy - expected early 2010 - setting out ISD's policy on revising statistics e.g. changes in methodology, errors et cetera
• Confidentiality and disclosure control - detailing the guidance and practice ISD staff follow to ensure confidentiality and to assess the risk of disclosure of personally identifiable information
• Statement of administrative sources - expected early 2010 -  which ISD currently use to produce official statistics

More information on Official Statistics

• National Statistics Publications Hub - gateway to UK National Statistics
• The UK Statistics Authority - the Authority's statutory objective is to promote and safeguard the production and publication of official statistics
• Assessment and monitoring of National Statistics - official statistics can only be designated as 'National Statistics' following a formal assessment by the UK Statistics Authority
• Reports of each assessment carried out by the UK Statistics Authority - the list of UK Statistics Authority published reports