FOI Reference: FOI/2022/4029
You asked
Would it be possible to get Total Fertility Rates By Country of Birth of Mother for all years that you have the data?
Table 5 in the 2020 spreadsheet here (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/parentscountryofbirth) has 2001 and 2011, but no other years.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Annual Total Fertility rates by county of birth mother is derived from Census data, which only takes place every 10 years.
The next data will be published later in the year using data taken from Census 2021.
The first wave of Census outputs is due for release in Summer of 2022.
As such, the information you have requested 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
Please see our Census Release Plans for further updates.