Latest news with #UKStatisticsAuthority
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK's Crisis-Stricken Statistics Body Faces More Funding Cuts
Britain's embattled statistics organization is facing more real-terms cuts to its core funding despite concerns that financial pressures were one of the main factors behind a crisis in the country's economic data. A 27% cash increase for the UK Statistics Authority next year masks a much tighter financial settlement in reality at a time when trust in official data used to set Treasury budgets and Bank of England interest rates has never been lower.
Daily Mail
28-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
More than 630,000 graduates are on BENEFITS amid fears over the rise of 'Mickey Mouse' degrees
More than 630,000 graduates are claiming benefits amid fears over the rise of 'Mickey Mouse' degrees, official figures have revealed. According to the first data of its kind released to Parliament, a total of 639,000 people with an honours degree or similar level qualification are claiming Universal Credit. This means that more than one in nine claimants (11.9 per cent) are graduates, just four per cent lower than the proportion with no qualifications (15.9 per cent), which came to 849,000 people. The data, from the Labour Force Survey for March to May this year, has been released to Parliament by the UK Statistics Authority, as the full-time employment rate for graduates has fallen from 61 per cent to 59 per cent. It comes as more graduates face earning the minimum wage, with the salary gap between the country's lowest earners and students leaving university becoming increasingly closer. The median real-terms salary for graduates aged under 65 was £26,500, the study found. This was an increase of £500 from the previous year. The survey did find that graduates were more likely to be in work than non-graduates, with 88 per cent of graduates in employment last year, compared with 68 per cent of non-graduates. However, the figures of the number of graduates on Universal Credit will fuel worry that so-called 'Mickey Mouse' degrees are seeing students leave university without the skills they need to find a job. Prof Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment research at Buckingham University, told the Telegraph: 'The kinds of things that are offered lead to degrees but don't qualify people for the kinds of employment that are available. 'Therefore, people work hard on degree courses for three years and then discover that they don't have much earning potential in the labour market.' Neil O'Brien, a Tory MP who obtained the data through parliamentary questions and is leading the party's policy development, said it revealed 'the serious problems with both welfare and low-value university courses'. 'Students are running up huge debts, being promised the moon, but ending up on benefits,' he added. Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, told the Times: 'Today's graduates face the triple jeopardy of low-value degrees, a labour market crippled by Labour's job taxes and competition with AI for entry-level roles. 'The Government needs to grip this challenge. Their failure to reform welfare and economic mismanagement threatens the future of a new generation. Meanwhile, the taxpayer is footing the bill for unpaid student loans and graduates on benefits.' A government spokesman said: 'We remain committed to our principles to reform the welfare system – those who can work should work and if you need help into work the Government should support you.' Last year, Daily Mail analysis revealed a wide range of 'novelty' courses were on offer for students who did not make their predicted grades on A-level results day. It found that the Ucas Clearing website showed 22 institutions offering courses in esports; nine in social media courses, three in digital content creation courses; and one had a 'rap and MC' course. But critics say that while the courses sound fun, they may lack academic rigour due to low entry requirements, and have only been created to increase funding, with universities facing tough financial challenges following tuition fees being frozen in 2017. Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education said: 'This is a money-making racket from cash-strapped universities. 'They are placing their own interests above the best interests of these young people and [it is] the taxpayer who has to finance student loans that, in these cases, are unlikely to be paid off. 'Universities have a duty of care towards young people. Instead, they are exploiting them... Mickey Mouse degrees are those invented to seduce young people into handing over large amounts of money to keep universities in business.' Tuition fees had previously remained frozen at £9,250 per year in England since 2017. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the House of Commons last November said the tuition fees cap was being increased by £285 per year due to the 'severe financial challenges' facing universities. She said there had been a 'significant real-terms decline in their income' due to rampant inflation in recent years.
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Stats boss quits as minister says new leadership needed
Sir Robert Chote has resigned as chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, the body responsible for overseeing the troubled Office for National Statistics (ONS).Earlier this year, a highly-critical government review said the ONS had "deep-seated" issues which needed Bank of England has also criticised the agency for the reliability of its job market data, which the central bank considers when deciding whether to raise or cut interest Sir Robert's resignation, Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden said "new leadership was critical" to address "the challenges identified and rapidly restore confidence in the statistics produced by ONS that underpin decision-making". In a letter sent to Parliament's Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Cabinet Office's most senior civil servant Catherine Little said a new chair would be "in a more credible position" to act on the findings of the Robert, who joined the UK Statistics Authority in 2022, will now take up a position as president of Trinity College, Oxford in September.A senior Cabinet Office source denied the government had wanted Sir Robert to go and said it was his own choice to leave, but said it was "hard to make effective government policy if you don't have statistics that have integrity".They added that "if we can't know the true picture then it's more difficult to make policy, so that's why we're getting on with fixing it".This is the second senior resignation in recent months, after Sir Ian Diamond stepped down from his position as national statistician at the ONS in May due to health reasons. The ONS gathers and publishes data used by the government to make policy decisions in areas including state benefits, housing, migration and crime. In April, the government asked former senior civil servant Sir Robert Devereux to investigate the ONS after a series of issues. In his subsequent report, Sir Robert concluded "most of the well-publicised problems with core economic statistics are the consequence of ONS's own performance", in particular "choices made at the top of ONS, over several years."He cited an "interest in the new" that took attention from "less exciting but crucial task" of delivering core economic data that were good enough to guide quality to the review, acting national statistician Emma Rourke said she welcomed the report and "fully acknowledges the issues he has highlighted".
Bloomberg
08-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
UK Officials Kept in Dark About Problems Plaguing Economic Data
UK officials were kept in the dark over a crucial report detailing major cultural failings at the statistics body that contributed to the breakdown of official unemployment data. Robert Chote, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, said on Tuesday that he was not told about an internal probe into the concerns at the Office for National Statistics and only found out by chance more than a year later. The UKSA Board oversees the ONS, which produces the official economic data that have been plagued by a crisis of confidence in their accuracy.
Sky News
26-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News
ONS secures extra cash to restore confidence in UK's economic statistics
Why you can trust Sky News A further £10m is to be spent on fixing shortfalls in the core numbers produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) amid a continuing lack of confidence in their accuracy. The body is tasked with producing official figures covering key areas of the economy and societal trends. It has faced particular criticism over the quality of its Labour Force Survey (LFS) - used to calculate employment figures. The Bank of England, which needs accurate readings for its rate-setting committee to make informed judgements, is among institutions to have expressed frustration with the numbers since the COVID pandemic. The problems at the ONS are not all financial. The Newport-based body's challenges include in areas such as the LFS. It hopes to have made improvements by spring next year. That will be of little comfort to the Bank which needs to know how much inflationary pressure is lingering in the jobs market, through things like wage growth, as it sets interest rates. The ONS confirmed that plans were being enacted to "urgently" improve the quality of its work in two areas - that covering the economy and population and the other its household and business data. The extra cash, to be spent over two years, is to fund the recruitment of up to 150 more economic data specialists, it said in a statement. The ONS also said that the UK Statistics Authority and Cabinet Office had agreed with a recommendation to temporarily separate the role of national statistician from that of ONS permanent secretary. This was in order to provide a greater focus on improving the quality of its core statistics. The ONS did not rule out revisions to past data in the months ahead. Acting director general for economic statistics, Grant Fitzner, said: "The ONS's Plan for Economic Statistics aims to restore confidence and improve the quality of our core statistics. "It is open about where things stand today and where we need to do better - and forms a crucial part of our response to the recent Office for Statistics Regulation review into economic statistics. "The Survey Improvement and Enhancement Plan does the same for our household and business surveys."
