FOI Ref: FOI/2021/3440
You asked
Please supply the latest data of "Births in England & Wales" for 2020 and 2021.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry regarding our births publications.
The latest data available is Births in England and Wales 2020 with an accompanying article explaining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has had on birth data and the difference between birth registrations and birth notifications.
Births 2021 is provisionally scheduled to be released in July 2022.
As such, the information you have requested about Births in England and Wales for 2021 is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
For further information please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.