Finance
UK statistics boss says he is hoping for labour data overhaul in 2026
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
The UK's statistical office plans a labour data overhaul by 2026, aiming to improve market insights with a new survey approach.
LONDON (Reuters) - The head of Britain's statistical office said on Tuesday he was "super-hopeful" that the shift to a new, improved labour market survey could take place next year and not in 2027 which has previously been mentioned as a possible roll-out date.
"I would very much like the number to end with a six," Ian Diamond, National Statistician at the Office for National Statistics, told lawmakers when asked when the Transformed Labour Force Survey might be introduced.
"My professional view is that I am super-hopeful," Diamond told parliament's Treasury Committee, adding he was encouraged by the results of the new approach to surveying which includes a shorter questionnaire.
The ONS said in December that the shift to its improved labour market survey might be pushed back to as late as 2027, a setback for the Bank of England which is trying to assess inflationary pressures in the economy.
The ONS has struggled to reach respondents for its surveys since the Covid-19 pandemic and is overhauling the way it measures the labour market with a focus on introducing the TLFS as a way to reach more people.
The Resolution Foundation, a think tank, has said the official labour market data may be failing to count almost 1 million people who are in work and overstating the number of people dropping out of the labour market altogether.
(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Suban Abdulla)
The article discusses the UK's plan to overhaul its labour data collection by 2026 to improve market insights.
It is crucial for assessing inflationary pressures and ensuring accurate employment statistics.
Ian Diamond is the National Statistician at the UK's Office for National Statistics.
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