Bringing together statistics from across the UK

In November 2023, we published a blog on creating a coherent picture of health in the UK which sets out the work we are doing at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to partner with health bodies and improve statistical coherence in health data. 

Through this partnership, we have so far published:  

• a summary of ambulance response time data in the UK, which explains how the categories differ between countries in the UK. 

• an article bringing together Accident and Emergency (A&E) wait times from across the UK, this includes data from January 2013 to September 2023. 

• an article describing data on the healthcare workforce across the UK, this includes official NHS employment statistics and other related data sources, including non-official data, on specific healthcare professionals across the UK.

The Government Statistical Service (GSS) is the community of civil servants working in the collection, production and communication of official statistics. Together, we have published guidance on several specific topic areas to support understanding of the different statistical outputs that are produced about the populations of the UK.

These publications bring together statistics published across the UK on the same topic. We aim to provide information to allow data users to compare UK data, where appropriate, and understand where comparisons cannot be made. We also explore the wider context influencing cross-country comparisons, including the impact of geographical and population differences.

We recently published a summary of ambulance response time data in the UK, which explains how the categories differ between countries in the UK.

We have also published several guidance articles on housing and homelessness statistics:

• How fuel poverty is measured in the UK
• The comparability and coherence of UK homeless deaths statistics
• Report on the latest trends from rough sleeping statistics across the UK and how existing statistics can be compared
• Assessment of the comparability and coherence of existing UK government data sources on homelessness
• Report on existing UK data sources on the private rented sector to assess comparability, coherence and data limitations

For some topic areas, such as where policy is devolved, each country may have several bodies responsible for producing statistics. This can make finding data on a particular topic difficult. We have several resources to help you find data that have been produced in government departments, devolved administrations and public bodies across the UK.

Government Statistical Service (GSS) database

The GSS interactive tools available on the analysis function website allow you to search and filter a database of UK statistics on several topic areas, making these statistics more accessible to users. Additional guidance is also available through our data landscapes, glossaries and comparability tools, allowing you to explore concepts and definitions in each UK country.

Explore local statistics Beta service

Our Explore local statistics Beta service allows you to find, visualise, compare and download local datasets for areas across the UK, with a range of interactive tools. In the area journey, you can see at a glance how a geographical area is doing on a range of indicators, how things have changed over time, and how it compares to other areas or the rest of the country. You can even compare your area of choice to other statistically similar areas, as the service incorporates local authority clustering analysis. In the indicator journey, you can explore local statistics by indicator, giving you the option to delve into one topic across multiple areas, rather than focussing only on one area.

If you want to get involved or have questions about the work we are doing, please email gss.coherence@ons.gov.uk.