Organisations

The UK Statistics Authority's remit extends to a whole range of official statistics produced by a wide spectrum of organisations in the public sector, the majority of which are Crown bodies.

The majority of key official statistics are produced by statisticians operating under the umbrella of the Government Statistical Service (GSS), working in either the Office for National Statistics (the UK Statistics Authority's executive office), other UK government departments and agencies or one of the three devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. More recently, the boundaries of the GSS were extended to cover the Information Centre for Health and Social Care, which is a Special Health Authority.

Every public body with a significant GSS presence (in terms of statisticians involved in the production or use of official statistics) has its own designated Head of Profession for Statistics, as do each of the three devolved administrations. The Heads of Profession and their staff in each organisation are accountable to the National Statistician/Head of the Office for National Statistics, acting in her capacity as the Head of the GSS.

The majority of official statistics produced through the GSS (80 per cent) are categorised as 'National Statistics'. This signifies that they are produced in accordance with a professional Code of Practice. The related links show each of the organisations producing 'National Statistics'.

In accordance with Section 6(1)(b) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, Government ministers can determine that some or all of the statistics produced by a range of non-Crown bodies should also be described as 'official statistics' and come within the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. These bodies must be listed in secondary legislation. To date, ministers have made two such Orders: 'The Official Statistics Order 2008' and 'The Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008'.