Closing Wales’s statistics gap: why reform is needed

Dr Huw Evans

Wales should have its own dedicated statistics and research body as part of the devolution settlement.

That body should bring together four core functions: producing and publishing official statistics; carrying out or commissioning research; registering births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships, divorces, and adoptions (life events); and conducting a Wales-only decennial population census.

This article builds on two earlier articles: one by the author on the case for a Wales-only census, and another by Simon Hobson on the shortage of reliable Wales-specific data.

Official statistics and their purpose

The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 may not seem the obvious starting point, but it provides a useful foundation for understanding why official statistics matter and how they should serve society.

The 2007 Act stresses the importance of producing and publishing official statistics that serve the public good. It highlights two main purposes: informing the public about social and economic matters, and supporting the development and evaluation of public policy.

The Act defines official statistics broadly as statistics produced by the UK Government, the devolved governments, and related public bodies. In Wales, that includes statistics published by the Welsh Government and organisations such as the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Natural Resources Wales, Transport for Wales and the Welsh Revenue Authority (see the Official Statistics (Wales) Order 2017).

Reliable official statistics are valuable because they support informed public discussion, evidence-based policy-making, and democratic accountability. A clear example is health policy: decisions about priorities and spending should be guided by robust data on health needs. This applies as much in Wales as elsewhere in the UK.

Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

To assess Wales’s current capacity to produce official statistics, it is helpful to compare its arrangements with those in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

As in Wales, statistics produced by the governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and by related public bodies, are classed as official statistics. However, both nations have additional institutional arrangements that are not present in Wales.

In Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency is part of the Northern Ireland Executive. It is responsible for registering life events, conducting the Northern Ireland decennial population census, and publishing official statistics.

In Scotland, the National Records of Scotland, part of the Scottish Government, has similar responsibilities: registering life events, conducting Scotland’s decennial population census, and publishing official statistics.

In Wales, by contrast, registering life events remains combined with England and is handled by the General Register Office, which is part of His Majesty’s Passport Office. The main legislation is the Registration Service Act 1953.

Wales also has no separate decennial population census. Census arrangements are combined with England and led by the Office for National Statistics under the Census Act 1920.

The Welsh Government publishes statistical information and data about Wales under the StatsWales brand. However, unlike Northern Ireland and Scotland, Wales does not have a single national body that brings together responsibility for registering life events, the census, and the production of official statistics.

The case for reform

Wales should match Scotland and Northern Ireland in this area. That would require a dedicated statistics and research body with responsibility for registering life events and a Wales-only decennial population census. Such a body would strengthen the reliability, coverage, and accessibility of Wales’s official statistics.

If registering life events was devolved, Welsh data would sit clearly within the Welsh Government’s remit, be more readily available, and no longer need to be extracted from combined England-and-Wales datasets.

A Wales-only census would offer similar advantages and create more freedom to design questions around Welsh circumstances and policy priorities.

An expanded StatsWales would be a natural foundation for such a body and could be better equipped to produce more relevant statistics for Wales, either directly or through commissioned research.

The case for reform can also be framed in terms of freedom of expression as a human right. Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas.

This right extends beyond expressing views. It also protects access to the information people need in order to form informed opinions and share them meaningfully.

Freedom of expression therefore depends not only on the ability to speak, but also on access to the information needed to understand public issues and take part in democratic debate.

The legal position

There are legal hurdles. As discussed in my previous article, there is an argument that the power to conduct a Wales-only census has already been devolved. In practice, however, it continues to be treated as a UK competence. Registering life events has not been devolved.

Taken together, this means that explicit legislation from the UK Parliament would be needed to deliver these changes.

Unfinished business

Even with a dedicated statistics and research body, Wales would still need better data in non-devolved areas such as justice and policing, where statistics remain framed on an England-and-Wales basis.

In its 2024 report, the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales said this gap hinders accountability and performance in Wales for justice and policing. Devolution would be the clearest fix, but in the meantime a well-resourced Wales statistics and research body could work with UK departments to improve Wales-specific statistics.

Why this reform makes sense

Creating a dedicated Wales statistics and research body would be consistent with the logic of devolution. It would also improve how devolved government works by giving policymakers and the public better access to reliable, Wales-specific statistics and, in the language of the 2007 Act, strengthening the provision of official statistics that serve the public good.

In principle, the proposal should not be controversial. A practical way forward would be to build cross-party support, secure backing from the Welsh Government, and use that consensus to press the UK Government for the legislation needed to make reform possible.