Bringing together statistics from across the UK

In August 2024 we published a blog on building a better understanding of UK health data which summarised the recent collaborative work between the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the devolved governments and other health bodies to bring together different sources of health data from across the UK, to improve statistical coherence and help understanding for users.

Through this partnership, we have published: 

• an article describing the cross-comparability of Waiting times for cancer treatment across the UK, using data for both the 31-day and 62-day waiting times standard (where available)
• an article bringing together NHS planned care waiting time data from across the UK, which includes data from the ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey
• an article detailing the cross-UK comparability of NHS experience and satisfaction data, which includes data from the ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey
• an article describing official statistics on the healthcare workforce across the UK, and other related data sources, including non-official data, on specific healthcare professionals across the UK
• an article outlining Accident and Emergency (A&E) wait times from across the UK, including data from January 2013 to September 2023
• a summary of ambulance response time data in the UK, explaining how the categories differ between countries in the UK

In April 2024 we published a blog Understanding the new income statistics for local areas: Different measures for better insights which explained how different local income statistics compare and why they offer a complimentary picture of local areas. Alongside this, we also published updated coherence and comparison guidance for local area income statistics across the UK to help users understand the differences between income statistics produced by ONS, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The Government Statistical Service (GSS) is the community of civil servants working in the collection, production and communication of official statistics. Together, we have published guidance on several specific topic areas to support understanding of the different statistical outputs that are produced about the populations of the UK.

These publications bring together statistics published across the UK on the same topic. We aim to provide information to allow data users to compare UK data, where appropriate, and understand where comparisons cannot be made. We also explore the wider context influencing cross-country comparisons, including the impact of geographical and population differences.

Further work is taking place across different statistical theme topics to improve guidance information available. More information can be found from our coherence of statistics workplan webpage.

We have published several guidance articles on housing and homelessness statistics:

• How fuel poverty is measured in the UK
• The comparability and coherence of UK homeless deaths statistics
• Report on the latest trends from rough sleeping statistics across the UK and how existing statistics can be compared
• Assessment of the comparability and coherence of existing UK government data sources on homelessness
• Report on existing UK data sources on the private rented sector to assess comparability, coherence and data limitations

We have also published a User guide to regional trade which outlines the different measures of trade data and the methods used to produce them, enabling the user to decide which measure is suitable for their purpose. This guide was produced jointly by ONS, HMRC and the devolved governments.

For some topic areas, such as where policy is devolved, each nation may have several bodies responsible for producing statistics. This can make finding data on a particular topic difficult. We have several resources to help you find data that have been produced in government departments, devolved governments and public bodies across the UK.

Government Statistical Service (GSS) database

The GSS interactive tools available on the analysis function website allow you to search and filter a database of UK statistics on several topic areas, making these statistics more accessible to users. Additional guidance is also available through our data landscapes, glossaries and comparability tools, allowing you to explore concepts and definitions in each UK country.

Explore local statistics Beta service

Our Explore local statistics Beta service allows you to find, visualise, compare and download local datasets for areas across the UK, with a range of interactive tools. In the area journey, you can see at a glance how a geographical area is doing on a range of indicators, how things have changed over time, and how it compares to other areas or the rest of the country. You can even compare your area of choice to other statistically similar areas, as the service incorporates local authority clustering analysis. In the indicator journey, you can explore local statistics by indicator, giving you the option to delve into one topic across multiple areas, rather than focussing only on one area.

If you want to get involved or have questions about the work we are doing, please email gss.coherence@ons.gov.uk.