'Toxic culture' is blamed for crisis at ONS

By the Editorial Team · Friday, September 11, 2026

A parliamentary committee has blamed a “toxic culture” and resistance to scrutiny among senior staff for the Office for National Statistics’ decline in data quality, particularly concerning labour market statistics. The report highlights ongoing efforts by the ONS, UK Statistics Authority, and Cabinet Office to improve leadership and restore confidence, even as delays in releasing new datasets and low survey response rates continue to challenge the agency.

A parliamentary committee has attributed the recent crisis at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to a “toxic culture” within the organisation and resistance among senior officials to being challenged. In a report released on Friday, the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee criticised the ONS and its governing body, the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), for allowing the quality of official data to deteriorate unchecked until it reached a critical stage.

The committee highlighted factors including inflexibility among senior staff, a diminished focus on producing key statistics such as labour market data, and a failure to appoint strong leadership as central to the agency’s challenges. These issues, the report states, have caused significant reputational damage to the ONS.

Simon Hoare, the Conservative MP chairing the committee, described the decline in standards as “deeply regrettable” but noted signs that the ONS, UKSA, and the Cabinet Office were now taking decisive steps to address the problems and restore confidence.

One major concern cited was the steady erosion in the reliability of the monthly labour market figures produced by the ONS. Response rates to the key underlying survey hit a record low of 12.7% three years ago, undermining the accuracy of the data. This decline led senior policymakers, including Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, to view the statistics with considerable scepticism. Although response rates have improved since, they remain well below levels seen a decade earlier. Bailey has previously described the data issues as a “substantial problem” for monetary policy decision-making.

The transition to the ONS’s new jobs market dataset, the Transformed Labour Force Survey, has also been criticised. The committee noted persistent delays to its initial release, which was originally slated for spring 2024 but may now be postponed until 2027. These setbacks suggest the process of adoption has not been managed effectively.

The report is the latest in a series of critical assessments of the ONS’s handling of data problems. Last year, former senior civil servant Sir Robert Devereux described the agency as suffering from “deep-seated” cultural issues. The current inquiry also coincides with the announcement that André Loranger, Canada’s chief statistician, will succeed Sir Ian Diamond as the UK’s National Statistician. Diamond stepped down over a year ago citing health reasons.

Parliamentarians also noted that the ONS faced challenges from government departments unwilling to share data, along with media coverage that was sometimes “not well-informed or constructive.” Penny Young, interim chair of the UK Statistics Authority, acknowledged progress since the committee began its inquiry last year. She reaffirmed the authority’s commitment to oversight and to supporting the ONS’s recovery, with an emphasis on transparency, data quality, and renewed leadership throughout the statistical system.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.