SPE and Statistics
Economic (and increasingly perhaps social) statistics are key tools for business economists. The SPE seeks to play a role in commenting on the suitability and reliability of UK statistics, on behalf of its members. Over the last few years the ONS and related organisations have considerably extended communication about latest statistical developments.
A good source of the latest developments in economic statistics is the ONS Economic Statistics news, a monthly newssheet which you can subscribe to by contacting Leonie Roberts at leonie.roberts@ons.gov.uk
The Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) also has a good website about their latest research https://www.escoe.ac.uk which also covers presentations from their events.
At present two members of the SPE, Kate Barker and Ian Harwood, attend the Statistics User Forum (SUF) meetings when possible. The SUF is an umbrella body set up by the Royal Statistical Society to draw together representatives of a wide range of user groups.
More detail about the SUF, including minutes of the meetings, can be found on Stats User Net. The StatsUsersNet http://www.statsusernet.org.uk/home website is an imaginative and tremendously useful innovation which was launched by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) over 5 years ago and which is now hosted and maintained by the Office for National Statistics. The purpose of StatsUsersNet is to stimulate engagement and promote dialogue between users and producers of official statistics as well as between users thereof. The site carries news of interest to users, material relating to relevant events, discussion forums and other facilities. And, importantly, it facilitates on-line communication between members for discussing matters of common interest. Participation is open to anyone with an interest in statistics.
The RPI/CPI user group hosts some of the liveliest discussions on StatsUserNet. In addition, Kate Barker chairs the Consumer Prices Stakeholder Advisory Group, organised by the ONS. She would be pleased to hear any views from SPE members about the issues it discusses: kate.barker4@btinternet.com
Information about the Advisory Group can be found at: https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/about-the-authority/committees/advisory-panels-for-consumer-price-statistics/stakeholder/minutes-and-papers/
There is also an ONS Consumer Prices Technical Advisory Group which members might find of interest.
Many SPE members will be aware of the ONS Economic Forums: quarterly events in London where the ONS present on current issues from a statistics perspective. The slides from the presentations at these events are available on the ONS website (click for link).
In addition, the SPE has recently joined the Economic Statistics Working Group established by the RSS, Royal Economic Society and ONS. One of the key functions of this group is to organise a series of courses aimed at building statistical capability across government, business and academia. SPE members are entitled to a 33% discount on the course fee. We will advertise these courses in the monthly newsletter.