°Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï

1. IntroductionÌý

This policy documents theÌýapproach to quality management for officialÌýstatistics produced by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), in compliance withÌýtheÌýfollowingÌýstandards set out in theÌýÌý

• Standard 5: Producers must support a quality culture that promotes good practice and encourages learning and improvement, under the direction of the Chief Statistician/Head of Profession for StatisticsÌýÌýÌý

• Standard 6: Producers must use suitable data sources and sound methods, and assure the quality of the statistics across the production and release processesÌýÌýÌý

This policyÌýis designed toÌýensure that all DSIT official statistics publications use a transparent and consistent approachÌýto quality management. This will be reviewed at least annually.Ìý

This policy applies toÌýofficial statistics (includingÌýaccredited official statisticsÌýandÌýofficial statisticsÌýinÌýdevelopment)Ìýproduced in DSIT. It does not apply to releases of other forms of data and statistics (although it may be applied voluntarily in these cases).ÌýIt does notÌýapply to external research outputs, which instead follow the relevant professional guidance forÌýthose types ofÌýpublication. However, this policy is consistent with the approach to quality assurance that is set out in theÌýAqua Book: guidance on producing quality analysis.

2. QA logsÌý

Each publication isÌýrequiredÌýtoÌýmaintainÌýa quality assurance (QA) log.ÌýThe checklist items on this QA log areÌýtoÌýbe agreed after examiningÌýpreviousÌýQA logs and error logs, where these logs are available.ÌýThe checklist items should list all the QA steps that areÌýanticipatedÌýto beÌýrequiredÌýin the production of the statistics.ÌýÌý

Producers areÌýencouragedÌýto follow the Government Statistical Service (GSS) guidance onÌýÌýand theÌýOffice for Statistics Regulation (OSR) toolkit on theÌýÌýwhenÌýdeterminingÌýsteps to include in their QA logs.ÌýExamples of QA logs are made available to help producers with this process.Ìý

QA logsÌýshould record whoÌýhasÌýperformedÌýeach step on the QA. Where there is follow-up work after a particular QA step, a brief description of this work should be included in the log. ÌýChecklist itemsÌýare to be agreedÌýin advance so thatÌýan appropriate amountÌýof time for QA to be conducted can be accounted for as part of the overall production timeline.  Ìý

Where QA steps have beenÌýprioritised,ÌýwhichÌýQA steps have and have not been takenÌýplace are to be recordedÌýaccurately soÌýthat an informed decision can be made later as to whether sufficient QA has taken place. Ìý

3. Clearance statement for official statisticsÌýÌý

A clearance statement forÌýOfficial Statistics publicationsÌýis to be produced and signed off byÌýthe responsibleÌýanalyst before the statistics can be published.ÌýÌý

The clearance statement should:Ìý

• confirm that QA has taken place andÌýcontainÌý(orÌýcontainÌýa link to) a summary of the QA checks that have been conductedÌý

• highlight any key changes e.g. in scope orÌýmethodology,Ìýand weaknesses in or caveats to the final statisticsÌýÌý

The clearance statement does not need to be a comprehensive description of all the QA that has taken place but should give a fair and honest sense of the quality of the statistics and document key decisions taken.  Ìý

An approved clearance statement should then form part of the set of documents considered before final sign-offÌýbyÌýa senior statistician.Ìý

4. Error logsÌý

Each business area is encouraged toÌýmaintainÌýan error log, either for each publication or covering the work of the wider team. This log is to document errorsÌýidentifiedÌýin releases that have been published on °Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï.ÌýWhere errors arise, these willÌýbe handledÌýas described in theÌýDSIT Revisions and Corrections policy.Ìý

Errors are likely to be things which could be avoided with theÌýappropriate QAÌýstep. Therefore, when agreeing the QA checklist in preparation for a new edition of a statistical publication,Ìýproducers are advised toÌýlook at the current error log as well as theÌýpreviousÌýQA logs toÌýdetermineÌýwhether a QA step should be included in the new QA log. Ìý

A key part ofÌýmaintainingÌýan error log is documenting the learning process resulting from handling these incidents. The error log should therefore include details of the actions takenÌýin order toÌýrectify the error and lessons learntÌýforÌýfuture productions.  Ìý

An exampleÌýofÌýdataÌýfields that we would include in aÌýDSITÌýerror log is providedÌýbelow:

• statistical series
• output format (eg Official Statistics release, tables, PQ, open data, published ad hoc, internal ad hoc)
• date error occurred
• date identified
• lead statistician
• description of error
• how was the error identified?
• how significant was the error (reflect scale and impact)?
• what actions were taken to rectify the error?
• did the error require an unscheduled revision?
• if yes, when was the revision published?
• when were other actions to rectify the error completed?
• were the causes of the error investigated?
• main findings
• actions taken to prevent recurrence