Understanding user needs

challenges and solutions

Dr James Tucker, National Statistician’s Office, United Kingdom

“There are some examples of good practice in taking into account users’ requirements...but they are few and far between” “It is not clear that sufficient efforts are made to support public understanding” “Private sector needs have low priority”

“Effective user engagement

should be a dialogue, not just a series of one-off consultations”

The ONS use the trade data in the preparation of the UK’s Balance of Payment figures. The statistics are regarded as an important economic indicator of the performance of the UK, and are of interest to HM Treasury, the Bank of England and House of Commons. Export data is used as an indicator of the state of health of the UK manufacturing industry.

The Welsh Assembly Government

(WAG) use RTS data as a component within its own trade bulletin, specifically highlighting Welsh exports.

BIS are the lead department for trade policy and key stakeholders for the OTS and RTS, of which they are the main Government user. The data contribute to BIS monitoring trade and trade policy for the UK, the UK Government Office Regions and devolved administrations. BIS also has its own trade publications under various classifications, to which HMRC data contributes.

HMRC data is used as an economic indicator by Eurostat (the EU Statistical Office) and the European Central Bank. Eurostat publishes EU trade balance indicators, and makes detailed EU Member States data available on their ‘Comext’ website.

Trade Statistics

DECC receives trade data specific to fuels and related commodity codes, using them to verify data they receive from trade sources for policy monitoring purposes. They also contribute to HMRC data quality assurance.

DEFRA uses trade in food, drink and animal feed data to inform their trade policy, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and animal health and welfare planning and decision making. The data are also a component of DEFRA’s main statistical document, ‘Agriculture in the UK’, which informs industry members and meets requirements under the Agriculture Act 1993.

The UN publishes trade statistics from approx. 200 countries (including the UK), on its Commodity Trade Statistics Database. OECD compare worldwide trade performance. Data Retailers use a variety of sources to provide commercial data services to a wide range of customers. Trade associations make industry specific trade data available to their members to monitor markets and performance. Academics use trend data to contribute to trade related research papers, and journalists identify ‘high-interest’ trade performance to feed current affairs news stories.

uktradeinfo.com receives 20,000 unique visits each month from government, financial, import / export, press, research, academic and general public sectors. Commercial uses of the data have included monitoring the UK for import penetration, identifying future overseas markets, and assessing lending and investment risk.

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“When I visit departments I see passion, innovation and commitment… yet the fact that much of this lies hidden is a great pity”

Jil Matheson, National Statistician

“A collaborative community”

British Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (BURISA) International Business Statistics User Group Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Health Statistics User Group Gender Statistics User Group Labour Market Statistics User Group Fire and Rescue Services User Group Housing Statistics Network Demographics User Group Financial and Economic Statistics User Group Output Area Classification User Group

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“… is conducting an analysis into the impact of stratifying elementary aggregates for clothing items by outlet type. The intention is to see whether this will reduce the heterogeneity of products within the elementary aggregates”