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60-555: In 2002, the data collected by the British Office for National Statistics revealed that about two-thirds of all UK gilts are held by insurance companies and pension funds . Since 2009 large quantities of gilts have been created and repurchased by the Bank of England under its policy of quantitative easing , and in recent years overseas investors have also been attracted to gilts by their "safe haven" status. In his 2019 book about

120-480: A non-ministerial department on 1 April 2008. ONS produces and publishes a wide range of the information about the United Kingdom that can be used for social and economic policy-making as well as painting a portrait of the country as its population evolves over time. This is often produced in ways that make comparison with other societies and economies possible. Much of the data on which policy-makers depend

180-595: A "national statistic", emphasising the Consumer Price Index instead. However, as of 2018, the UK Treasury still uses the RPI measure of inflation for various index-linked tax rises. RPI was first introduced in 1956, replacing the previous Interim Index of Retail Prices that had been in use since June 1947. It was once the principal official measure of inflation. It has been superseded in that regard by

240-487: A consistent historic inflation time series. The index factors continue to be used to adjust for inflation in the calculation of chargeable (capital) gains for inclusion in the tax computation for entities subject to corporation tax in the UK. In January 2018, Mark Carney , Governor of the Bank of England, said that RPI should be abandoned. In November 2021, inflation has risen faster than projected to its highest level in nearly

300-491: A consultation on options for improving the RPI, the National Statistician concluded that the formula used to produce the RPI does not meet international standards and recommended that a new index known as RPIJ be published. Subsequently ONS decided to no longer classify RPI as a "national statistic". However, ONS will continue to calculate RPI, among several versions of the inflation index, in order to provide

360-610: A decade, putting pressure on the Bank of England to increase interest rates. According to data from the ONS, the annual rate of the CPI increased to 4.2 percent in October, up from 3.1 percent in September. Inflation surpassed the Bank of England's target of 2% and was higher than the 3.9 percent predicted by experts. Higher rates for transportation, restaurants, and hotels mainly contributed to

420-451: A duty to assess all UK government statistics. Following Gordon Brown's announcement of new constitutional arrangements for public appointments, Sir Michael also became, on 18 July, the first such nominee to appear before the House of Commons Treasury Committee and to have his nomination subject to confirmation by the House. On 7 February 2008, following the first meeting of the shadow board, it

480-412: A future date—from five to thirty years—with interest. This form of government borrowing proved successful and became a common way to fund wars and later infrastructure projects when tax revenue was not sufficient to cover their costs. Many of the early issues were perpetual , having no fixed maturity date. These were issued under various names but were later generally referred to as Consols . These are

540-832: A head office in the city of Newport , Wales, and other offices in 2 Marsham Street in London and Titchfield in Hampshire. The Family Records Centre in Myddelton Street in Islington , London, moved to the National Archives in Kew in 2008. They also have an Archive Storage site located in Christchurch , Dorset. The London (Pimlico) office was the head office until April 2006 when the corporate headquarters

600-759: A small office is in London. ONS co-ordinates data collection with the respective bodies in Northern Ireland and Scotland, namely NISRA and NRS . The ONS was formed on 1 April 1996 by the merger of the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS). Following the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 , the United Kingdom Statistics Authority became

660-432: Is UK gilts, unless otherwise specified. Colloquially, the term "gilt-edged" is sometimes used to denote high-grade securities, consequently carrying low yields, as opposed to relatively riskier, below investment-grade securities. Gilt-edged market makers (GEMMs) are banks or securities houses registered with the Bank of England which have certain obligations, such as taking part in gilt auctions. The term "gilt account"

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720-552: Is also a term used by the Reserve Bank of India to refer to a constituent account maintained by a custodian bank for maintenance and servicing of dematerialized government securities owned by a retail customer. Following the 1688 Glorious Revolution , with the founding in 1694 of the Bank of England by Royal Charter, King William III borrowed £1,200,000 from the bank's 1,268 private subscribers to bank stock in order to fund

780-641: Is much criticism of the ONS's performance, particularly of the size and frequency of revisions, that this criticism is "not entirely justified". Following the review, the then-Chair of the Treasury Select Committee , Andrew Tyrie , criticised the ONS for being "out of touch". In 2019, the ONS admitted that EU migration to the UK may have been underestimated due to methodology of the International Passenger Survey. Retail Prices Index (United Kingdom) In

840-425: Is priced at a yield of about 0.9 percent. The money raised by the bonds are earmarked for environmental spending, such as on projects including flood defences, renewable energy, or carbon capture and storage. Until late 2014 there existed eight undated gilts, which made up a very small proportion of the UK government's debt. They had no fixed maturity date. These gilts were very old: some, such as Consols , dated from

900-485: Is produced by ONS through a combination of a decennial population census, samples and surveys and analysis of data generated by businesses and organisations such as the National Health Service and the register of births, marriages and deaths. Its publications, and analyses by other users based on its published data, are reported and discussed daily in the media as the basis for the public understanding of

960-641: Is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority , a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament . The ONS is responsible for the collection and publication of statistics related to the economy, population and society of the United Kingdom; responsibility for some areas of statistics in Scotland , Northern Ireland and Wales is devolved to the devolved governments for those areas. The ONS functions as

1020-669: Is the most comprehensive measure of inflation. It extends the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to include a measure of the costs associated with owning, maintaining and living in one's own home, known as owner occupiers'. CPI is usually lower, though this is due more to the differences in the calculation formulas for the indices than to the differences in coverage. The UK Government announced in the June 2010 budget that CPI would be used in place of RPI for uprating of some benefits with effect from April 2011. Regarding state pensions,

1080-460: The Consumer Price Index (CPI). The RPI is still used by the government as a base for various purposes, such as the amounts payable on index-linked securities, including index-linked gilts , and social housing rent increases. Many employers also use it as a starting point in wage negotiation. Since 2003, it is no longer used by the government for the inflation target for the Bank of England 's Monetary Policy Committee nor, from April 2011, as

1140-599: The General Index of Retail Prices (RPI). Ultra-long index-linked bonds, maturing in 2062 and 2068, were issued in October 2011 and September 2013 respectively, and a 2065 maturity is due to be issued in February 2016. As with all index-linked bonds, there are time lags between the collection of prices data, the publication of the inflation index and the indexation of the bond. From their introduction in 1981, index-linked gilts had an eight-month indexation lag (between

1200-605: The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 . In July 2007, Sir Michael Scholar was nominated by the government to be the three-day-a-week non-executive chairman of the Statistics Board which, with the intention of re-establishing faith in the integrity of government statistics, was to take on statutory responsibility for oversight of UK statistics in April 2008 and oversee the Office for National Statistics; also having

1260-484: The chancellor of the Exchequer to pay off the remaining loan. In 1927, then chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill issued 4% consols or securities, in part to refinance World War I National War Bonds originating from World War I. In 2014, when they were to be repaid, these consols were valued at £218 million. The government sells bonds in order to raise the money it needs, like an IOU to be paid back at

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1320-596: The war with France . This marked the inception of what became a permanent or perpetual national public debt with the Stock Exchange dealing in UK government securities. The Bank of England's debt securities were published as certificates with gilded edges. The next major public debt incurred by the government was the South Sea Bubble of 1720 . British citizens continued to pay interest on that debt in 2014, when low interest rates led George Osborne , then

1380-461: The 18th century. The largest, War Loan , was issued in the early 20th century. The redemption (payout of the principal) of these bonds was at the discretion of the UK government, but because of their age, they all had low coupons, and so for a long time there was little incentive for the government to redeem them. Because the outstanding amounts were relatively very small, there was a very limited market in most of these gilts. In late 2014 and early 2015

1440-487: The 2004 Big Brother Award for the "Most Heinous Government Organisation" from the campaigning organisation Privacy International for its Citizen Information Project . The project is one of several that led the Information Commissioner to warn that there is a danger of the country "sleepwalking" into a surveillance society . In December 2012 the organisation's new website to provide statistics to

1500-531: The Bank of England to raise interest rates despite disappointing projected GDP growth of only 1.6% in 2011. The September 2011 figure of 5.6%, the highest for 20 years, was described by the Daily Telegraph as "shockingly bad". After a thorough review, in 2012 the National Statistician's Consumer Prices Advisory Committee (CPAC) determined that due to the use of the Carli formula in certain subcomponents,

1560-585: The Exchequer, announced on 28 November 2005, that the government intended to publish plans in early 2006 to legislate that the ONS and the statistics it generates are independent of government on a model based on the independence of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. This was originally a 1997 Labour manifesto commitment and was also the policy of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties. Such independence

1620-873: The Home Office, the Department of Health , and the Department for Education and Skills . ONS is also responsible for the maintenance of the Inter-Departmental Business Register and the Business Structure Database . Before the establishment of the UK Statistics Authority , the statistical work of ONS, since June 2000, was scrutinised by the Statistics Commission , an independent body with its own chairman and small staff. This ceased to operate from 1 April 2008. The General Register Office and

1680-554: The ONS already acted independently, as per its own published guidelines, the National Statistics Code of Practice, which set out the key principles and standards that official statisticians, including those in other parts of the government statistical service, were expected to follow and uphold). The details of the plans for independence were considered in Parliament during the 2006/2007 session and resulted in

1740-587: The ONS. John Pullinger replaced Jil Matheson as National Statistician (and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority) in July 2014. Pullinger retired in June 2019 and in October 2019 professor Sir Ian Diamond assumed the role of National Statistician. The work of the ONS covers the collection of data and the analysis and publication of statistics covering the economy, population, and society of

1800-475: The RPI is biased upwards compared to other indices by a "formula effect" of roughly one percentage point. CPAC concluded that "the use of the Carli formula is no longer appropriate" due to the weak axiomatic properties of the Carli method. (The weak property is the fact that after a price bounce and a subsequent full return to original prices, the Carli method shows positive aggregate inflation.). In 2013, following

1860-478: The UK government confirmed in their autumn statement in 2011 that these would go up by the greater of the CPI, average earnings, or 2.5%. The variability of the change in RPI, due to fluctuations in mortgage interest rates, is shown in the graph on the right. This was one of the arguments used in favour of changing to RPIX. Variations on the RPI include the RPIX , which removes the cost of mortgage interest payments,

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1920-564: The UK. Where data is broken down by geographical area, this is usually done by the areas defined in the ONS geographical coding system . The principal areas of data collection include: Statisticians are also employed by many other Government departments and agencies, and these statisticians often collect and publish data. They are members of the Government Statistical Service and are the professional responsibility of

1980-480: The United Kingdom, the Retail Prices Index or Retail Price Index ( RPI ) is a measure of inflation published monthly by the Office for National Statistics . It measures the change in the cost of a representative sample of retail goods and services . As the RPI was held not to meet international statistical standards, since 2013, the Office for National Statistics no longer classifies it as

2040-435: The basis for the indexation of pensions of former public sector employees. As of 2016 , the UK state pension is indexed by the highest of the increase in average earnings, CPI or 2.5% ("the triple lock"). The highest annual inflation since the introduction of the RPI came in June 1975, with an increase in retail prices of 26.9% from a year earlier. By 1978, this had fallen to less than 10%, but it rose again towards 20% over

2100-785: The comparison is made over shorter periods, and the weights are frequently reassessed. Detailed information is published on the Office for National Statistics website. The RPI includes an element of housing costs, whereas the following items are not included in the CPI: Council tax , mortgage interest payments, house depreciation, buildings insurance, ground rent, solar PV feed in tariffs and other house purchase cost such as estate agents' and conveyancing fees. A further index, CPIH, has been published which includes housing costs but CPIH does not meet current international standards. The Office for National Statistics states that: The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH)

2160-1056: The country in which they live. The reliance on some of these data by government (both local and national) makes ONS material central to debates about the determination of priorities, the allocation of resources and for decisions on interest rates or borrowing. The complexity and degree and speed of change in the society, combined with the challenge of measuring some of these (e.g. in relation to longevity, migration or illness patterns or fine movements in inflation or other aspects of national accounts) give rise to periodic debates about some of its indicators and portrayals. Many of these rely on sources which are outside ONS, while some of its own sources need to be supplemented, for example between censuses, by updated but less rigorously obtained information from other sources. Consequently, unexpected or incomplete data or occasional errors or disputes about its analysis can also attract considerable attention. ONS data can also be used in epidemiologic studies such as survival analysis . Gordon Brown , then Chancellor of

2220-664: The economic and social policies and monitor the economic progress of the United Kingdom. It also allows international comparisons to be made. The Blue Book is published alongside the United Kingdom Balance of Payments – The Pink Book . The Office for National Statistics collaborates with the University of Southampton in the teaching of an MSc in Official Statistics; the programme has been running since 2003. The Virtual Microdata Laboratory (VML)

2280-795: The executive office of the National Statistician , who is also the UK Statistics Authority's Chief Executive and principal statistical adviser to the UK's National Statistics Institute, and the 'Head Office' of the Government Statistical Service (GSS). Its main office is in Newport near the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office and Tredegar House , but another significant office is in Titchfield in Hampshire, and

2340-534: The fact that few of the experienced staff working in these highly technical areas were expected to relocate to Newport, resulting in a substantial loss of expertise and a consequent threat to the continued quality of the statistics. In a submission to the Parliamentary Treasury Sub Committee, the Bank of England expressed concern over the relocation of the ONS to Newport , saying, that "the relocation programme poses serious risks to

2400-547: The first time since 1960. The change in RPI in the 12 months ending in April 2009, at −1.2%, was the lowest since the index started in 1948. Housing associations lobbied the government to allow them to freeze rents at current levels rather than reduce them in line with the RPI, but the Treasury concluded that rents should follow RPI down as far as −2% per annum, leading to savings in housing benefit . In February 2011, annual RPI inflation jumped to 5.1% putting pressure on

2460-461: The following two years before falling again. By 1982, it had fallen below 10% and a year later was down to 4%, remaining low for several years until approaching double figures again by 1990. Aided by a recession in the early 1990s, increased interest rates brought inflation down again to an even lower level. From March to October 2009, the change in RPI measured over a 12-month period was negative, indicating an overall annual reduction in prices, for

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2520-559: The gilt market from 1928 to 1972, William A. Allen described gilt-edged securities as "long‐duration liabilities of the UK government" that were traded on the London Stock Exchange Today, the term "gilt-edged security" or simply "gilt" is used in the United Kingdom as well as some Commonwealth nations, such as South Africa and India . However, when reference is made to "gilts", what is generally meant

2580-564: The gilt market in recent years have been: These account for around a quarter of UK government debt within the gilt market. The UK was one of the first developed economies to issue index-linked bonds on 27 March 1981. Initially only tax-exempt pension funds were allowed to hold these bonds. The UK has issued around 20 index-linked bonds since then. Like conventional gilts, index-linked gilts pay coupons which are initially set in line with market interest rates. However, their semi-annual coupons and principal payment are adjusted in line with movements in

2640-702: The gilt typically reflects the market rate of interest at the time of issue of the gilt, and indicates the cash payment per £100 that the holder will receive each year, split into two payments in March and September. Historically, gilt names referred to their purpose of issuance, or signified how a stock had been created, such as 10 + 1 ⁄ 4 % Conversion Stock 1999; or different names were used for different gilts simply to minimise confusion between them. In more recent times, gilts have been generally named Treasury Stocks. Since 2005–2006, all new issues of gilts have been called Treasury Gilts. The most noticeable trends in

2700-612: The government gave notice that four of these gilts, including War Loan, would be redeemed in early 2015. The last four remaining gilts, with coupons of 2.5% or 2.75%, were redeemed on 5 July 2015. In May 2012 the UK Debt Management Office issued a consultation document which raised the possibility of issuing new undated gilts, but there was little support for this proposal. Many gilts can be "stripped" into their individual cash flows, namely Interest (the periodic coupon payments) and Principal (the ultimate repayment of

2760-551: The head of the service, who is also the National Statistician. Each department has a statistical service Head of Profession . For example, data on Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry comes primarily from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . Along with economic data on which the Treasury and Bank of England rely for decision-making, many of the statistics that receive widespread media attention are issued by

2820-421: The investment) which can be traded separately as zero-coupon gilts, or gilt strips. For example, a ten-year gilt can be stripped to make 21 separate securities: 20 strips based on the coupons, which are entitled to just one of the half-yearly interest payments; and one strip entitled to the redemption payment at the end of the ten years. The title "Separately Traded and Registered Interest and Principal Securities"

2880-444: The maintenance of the quality of macroeconomic data. If substantial numbers of ONS staff are unwilling to relocate, the loss of skilled individuals could have a severe impact on a range of statistics." The director of ONS at the time vigorously defended the implementation of government policy on civil service relocation and the decision to concentrate staff in the three locations outside London. The Office for National Statistics won

2940-553: The month of collection of prices data and the month of indexation of the bond). This was so that the amount of the next coupon was known at the start of each six-month interest accrual period. However, in 2005 the UK Debt Management Office announced that all new issues of index-linked gilts would use a three-month indexation lag, first used in the Canadian Real Return Bond market, and the majority of index-linked gilts now in issue are structured on that basis. In

3000-519: The past, the UK government issued many double-dated gilts, which had a range of maturity dates at the option of the government. The last remaining such stock was redeemed in December 2013. In September 2021, the UK held its inaugural " green gilt " sale, which was met with record demand. Investors placing over £100bn in bids. The UK's Debt Management Office (DMO) plans to sell £15bn of green gilts this year. The 12-year bond will mature in July 2033, and

3060-516: The post of Registrar-General for England and Wales ceased to be part of ONS from that date but remains subject to ministerial accountability within the Home Office . The annual United Kingdom National Accounts are published in an online publication (The Blue Book ) by the Office for National Statistics. It records and describes economic activity in the United Kingdom and as such is used by government, banks, academics and industries to formulate

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3120-526: The price increase in October. The United Kingdom RPI is constructed as follows: This enables the percentage change to be calculated over the desired time period. The RPI calculation employs a variation of the Carli method rather than the Jevons method employed in the calculation of RPIJ and CPI. The unweighted Carli method overstates inflation rates. However as stated above, the RPI calculation employs weights, which remove this overstatement. In practice

3180-545: The public was described as "a disaster" by members of parliament on the Public Administration Committee. The chair of the UK Statistics Authority said that significant improvements to the website were being made, but admitted that its state at the time made it "difficult to use, difficult to navigate and difficult to search". In 2016, professor Sir Charles Bean conducted an independent review of UK Economic Statistics. He notes that although there

3240-501: The simplest form of UK government bond and make up the largest share of the gilt portfolio (75% as of October 2016). A conventional gilt is a bond issued by the UK government which pays the holder a fixed cash payment (or coupon ) every six months until maturity, at which point the holder receives their final coupon payment and the return of the principal. Conventional gilts are denoted by their coupon rate and maturity year, e.g. 4 + 1 ⁄ 4 % Treasury Gilt 2055. The coupon paid on

3300-696: Was also sought by the Royal Statistical Society and the Statistics Commission . The National Statistician would be directly accountable to Parliament through a more widely constituted independent governing Statistics Board. The ONS would be a non-ministerial government department so that the staff, including the Director, would remain as civil servants but without being under direct ministerial control. The then National Statistician, Dame Karen Dunnell , stated that legislation would help improve public trust in official statistics (although

3360-638: Was announced that it would be known as the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). In 2012, Andrew Dilnot replaced Michael Scholar as chairman of the Authority. Since its establishment, ONS has had five Directors: professor Tim Holt ; Len Cook ; Karen Dunnell ; Jil Matheson ; and, from October 2012, Glen Watson . Len Cook was the first Director to hold the newly created role of National Statistician. The roles of Director of ONS and National Statistician were combined until 2012 when Jil Matheson continued as National Statistician while Glen Watson became Director of

3420-549: Was created as a reverse acronym for "strips". The UK gilt strip market started in December 1997. Gilts can be reconstituted from all of the individual strips. By the end of 2001, there were 11 strippable gilts in issue in the UK totalling £1,800 million. The maturity of gilts is defined by the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) is as follows: short, 0–7 years; medium, 7–15 years; and long, more than 15 years. Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics ( ONS ; Welsh : Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol )

3480-424: Was established in 2004 to allow researchers access to business data. It is a secure facility within the Office for National Statistics where both government officials and academic researchers can analyse sensitive, detailed data for statistical purposes. The researchers cannot download the data or take any copies out of the laboratory and the results of the analysis is checked for statistical disclosure. The ONS has

3540-538: Was moved to Newport following the Lyons Review on public sector relocation. Between 2011 and 2022 the London office was located on the 2nd floor of the former Drummond Gate headquarters; since 2022 the London office has been located in 2 Marsham Street. The ONS asserted that recruitment and training of quality staff in South Wales, where data collection and analysis already took place, would ensure that there

3600-502: Was no risk to the quality of its services and that it managed the risks associated with the changes. However, the plan to discontinue statistical activity in London proved controversial amid claims that the shift of functions from London and the closure of the London office would have serious implications for the future of certain sets of statistics. These include health statistics, National Accounts, Retail and Consumer Prices and Labour Market Statistics. These risks were stated to derive from

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