ONS perm sec: New HR director will be 'catalyst for cultural change'

ONS is making progress on addressing issues with leadership, culture and quality of statistics, Tierney says
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The arrival of a new HR director from the Cabinet Office will be a “catalyst for cultural change” at the Office for National Statistics, its permanent secretary has said.

In a letter to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Darren Tierney said the ONS is “beginning to make progress” on “several challenges raised regarding leadership, culture and quality of our statistics” for which it has drawn fire in recent months.

The letter comes four months after an independent review of the organisation by Sir Robert Devereux, which found “deep seated issues” that required a restructuring of ONS leadership. 

Tierney said the ONS is “beginning to rebuild the culture of the organisation, to ensure staff in the ONS can have trust in the senior leadership that they will be listened to”.

“This will be an enduring effort that will require careful coordination and collaborative engagement with staff,” he added.

“Much of this work has begun, and I look forward to the arrival of our new director of human resources and estates, Henry Watson, from the Cabinet Office, whose appointment I am confident can be a catalyst for cultural change.”

Watson, who is director of functional strategy, performance and capability in the Government People Group, will join the ONS on an initial six-month loan following the departure of its director of operations, according to the perm sec.

Tierney also said the ONS is building a “productive, transparent relationship with Penny Young”, who became interim chair of the UK Statistics Authority this month.

“The successful working relationship between the ONS and the authority board will continue to be critical to confronting any challenges and obstacles that may arise as we produce high-quality, trusted statistics for the public good,” Tierney said.

Tierney also cited the splitting of the national statistician role and the appointment of James Benford as director general for surveys, economic and social statistics in June as examples of the ONS’s progress towards rebuilding its organisational culture.

Splitting the national statistician role into two – perm sec and national statistician – was one of the recommendations of the Devereux review. Tierney’s appointment was announced in August, two months after the review was published.

He said Benford’s appointment was made “to strengthen leadership at this critical time for our economic statistics”. Benford is leading a new group at the ONS that brings together “various components of the statistical production process for economic statistics” and relevant assurance functions, Tierney said.

The ONS has come in for particular criticism over the last year over worsening response rates to the Labour Force Survey

Signing off his letter to PACAC, Tierney wrote: “I want to use this opportunity to rebuild our reputation for producing high-quality statistics, but I recognise this will not happen overnight. My immediate focus is on ensuring the delivery of trustworthy economic and population outputs, through the implementation of our Plan for ONS Economic Statistics and the Survey Improvement and Enhancement Plan.” 

He promised to provide regular updates on progress “as I rebuild a stronger, more resilient organisation for our people, our users, and the public we serve”.

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