FOI reference: FOI 2025-2919
You asked
Please advise:
1. How much funding, by financial year, has the ONS received for the Integrated Data Service Programme (IDP) from inception up to and including 2024-25?
2. As of end-March 2025, how many staff were working on the Integrated Data Service Directorate?
3. As of end-March 2025, how many active IDS users were there? Please provide a breakdown by ONS/external users.
4. Please provide a copy of any external reviews, evaluations, assessments or reports on the Integrated Data Service Programme or part therein.
We said
Thank you for your request.
For the financial years 2020/2021 to 2024/2025 inclusive, the total budget of the Integrated Data Service Programme (IDP) was approximately £240.8 million. During the same period, the total expenditure of the IDP was approximately £223.7million.
For the financial year 2020/2021, the total budget of the IDP was approximately £20 million. During the same period, the total expenditure of the IDP was approximately £15.5 million.
For the financial year 2021/2022, the total budget of the IDP was approximately £42.4 million. During the same period, the total expenditure of the IDP was approximately £38.8 million.
For the financial year 2022/2023, the total budget of the IDP was approximately £62.3 million. During the same period, the total expenditure of the IDP was approximately £56 million.
For the financial year 2023/2024, the total budget of the IDP was approximately £60.8 million. During the same period, the total expenditure of the IDP was approximately £59 million.
For the financial year 2024/2025, the total budget of the IDP was approximately £55.3 million. During the same period, the total expenditure of the IDP was approximately £54.4 million.
It should be noted that the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) is yet to publish its audited year-end financial statements and therefore the figure for 2024/2025 is as yet "unaudited".
As of July 2025, there were 186 full-time equivalent staff in the IDPS directorate, which delivers the IDP and runs the live IDS service, including 66 full-time equivalent staff delivering the Secure Research Service.
As of July 2025, there were 29 live analytic projects in the IDS, which had hosted 205 analytic users. Of these users, 105 were analysts from the ONS, 80 were analysts from other government departments, and 20 were non-government researchers.
In relation to the fourth part of your request, concerning all external reviews, evaluations, assessments or reports that have been conducted on IDS, we hold 12 reports in scope.
Four reports were produced by the Government Digital Service (GDS), three of which are published:
The fourth has been provided in the associated download named IDS Service Assessment Report Apr24. Personal data have been redacted from the report under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
One report produced by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and six reports produced by National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), formerly Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), will be published in the future. The first will be published on the ONS website, with a link added to the Evaluation TaskForce Evaluation Registry. The other six will be published as part of a wider evaluation report, incorporating lessons learned, planned for next year. As such, Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.
A further report, produced for the Inter-Ministerial Group for Digital, is being used to assist with decision-making regarding the development and formulation of wider government policy on data sharing, including by the National Data Library (NDL). As such, the contents of this report are exempt from disclosure under Section 35(1)(a) of FOIA.
Both of these exemptions are subject to a public interest test. We appreciate there is public interest in disclosure so the public can understand more about the status of the Integrated Data Programme. However, we must also consider the public interest in allowing time and space for quality decision-making regarding the future of the IDS itself and wider data sharing practices, both in the ONS and across government. This space is necessary to facilitate open debate regarding next steps and to appropriately manage relationships and communications with affected stakeholders. Prejudice to this space would reduce the efficacy of this policy formulation process, which would not be in the public interest. The weight therefore falls in favour of withholding the information at this stage.
Lawrlwyth cysylltiol ar cais
- IDS Service Assessment Report Apr24 (288.9 kB pdf)