Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) accounts since establishment

FOI REF: FOI/2023/4999

You asked

Please can you publish the annual accounts of the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE), since its establishment, and show any financial or in-kind contributions made by UKSA?

We said

Thank you for your enquiry.

The Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) is a brand-name attached to a contract let by the Office for National Statistics in 2016 to a consortia led by National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR), following a competitive procurement process. This consortia includes a range of academic institutions and covers the period 2017-2023. It is not a legal entity in its own right and thus does not publish its own accounts.

We make contractual payments to NIESR as the prime contractor, who then hold a network of contracts with other bodies included in the consortia and makes payments to them in respect of work undertaken. We pay on receipt of deliverables. The annual schedule of payments is as follows:

In 2022 this contract was re-procured via a competitive tender process. From April 2023 a new consortia led by King's College London will take over delivery of the contract.