Acting national statistician Emma Rourke is to leave post to take up a new job, the UK Statistics Authority has announced.
UKSA said Rourke would depart later this month ahead of starting work on the Whitehall in Industry scheme.
A recruitment campaign for a new national statistician ran last month, offering a salary of up to £200,000 a year. Interviews for shortlisted candidates are due to take place towards the end of next month.
Rourke was deputy national statistician for health, population and methods until May this year. She stepped up after Prof Sir Ian Diamond quit as national statistician, citing health grounds.
Diamond’s departure came weeks after a review of the Office for National Statistics was instigated following multiple concerns about the quality of survey data.
The review, led by former Department for Work and Pensions permanent secretary Sir Robert Devereux, subsequently found damning “deep-seated issues” in the organisation and proposed a restructuring of its top leadership.
One of Devereux’s principal recommendations was separating the role of national statistician from that of ONS permanent secretary to ensure focus on operational delivery.
In September, Darren Tierney was appointed as ONS perm sec for a fixed term of two years. Tierney had previously been director general of the Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Ethics Group.
Announcing her impending departure from ONS, Rourke said it had been an “immense privilege” to step into the position of acting national statistician and put in place “key capabilities of the role” for her permanent successor.
“I’m now thrilled to take up an opportunity as part of the Whitehall in Industry scheme in Manchester, the city where I live and am passionate about, fostering greater collaboration between the civil service and other organisations,” she said.
Penny Young, deputy chair of the UKSA board, thanked Rourke for “establishing a clear focus for the National Statistician’s Office, working system-wide with producers and users on harmonisation and coherence, building statistical and analytical capability across government functions, and shaping international best practice”.
She added: “I wish Emma every success in her next venture and the opportunity to contribute to her local area.”
Civil service chief operating officer Cat Little said she is “deeply grateful” for Rourke’s work to “lay the foundations” for the new national statistician role and “oversee change with considerable personal care and application”.
Supporting documents for last month’s national statistician recruitment campaign suggested that long-listed candidates would be selected this week and next week, ahead of shortlisting work commencing on 5 January 2026.
The UKSA did not detail any arrangements for who will serve as acting national statistician between Rourke’s departure and a permanent successor taking post.