Research and analysis

Life sciences competitiveness indicators 2024: statement of voluntary application of the Code of Practice for statistics

Published 11 July 2024

Introduction

The life sciences competitiveness indicators (LSCIs) are a set of high-level indicators, published by the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), jointly part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The LSCIs measure the performance of the UK’s life sciences sector by benchmarking the UK against comparator countries. The indicators are brought together from a range of different sources, including data already in the public domain, and commercially sourced data published for the first time via this report.

These research and analysis reports are published annually by OLS. To further build confidence and trust in our statistics, OLS has published this statement to outline the steps we have taken to voluntarily apply the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The Code is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars:

• trustworthiness – having confidence in the people and organisations that produce statistics and data
• quality – data and methods that produce assured statistics
• value – publishing statistics that support society’s needs for information

The following describes how the pillars of the Code have been applied in a proportionate way. This statement is intended to outline where there is assured quality within the LSCIs publication, to outline any intentions to improve over time, and to highlight where and why there are necessary deviations from processes recommended in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Trustworthiness

The statistics are compiled by members of the government analytical professions within OLS, under the guidance of the Heads of Professions for Statistics in both DSIT and DHSC. Decisions on the reporting and methods are agreed within this group, led by the needs of users and by building up expertise on the most suitable sources and methods. This ensures decisions about the statistics are made by team members with appropriate professional capability, who can provide independent decision making and leadership.

As part of the decision to accompany the LSCIs with the statement of voluntary application, OLS will now restrict early access to the statistics outside of the statistical production team to ensure a fairly and orderly release of statistics. Ministers will only be sighted on the publication content 24 hours prior to release.

From the 2024 report and onwards, the LSCIs will no longer contain a ministerial foreword to ensure the report is presented impartially, without political interpretation.

The LSCIs reports are also accompanied each year by a user guide. This outlines the chosen sources and methods used for compiling the LSCIs and is publicly available for all users. OLS aims to provide/signpost to any relevant metadata/quality considerations where possible. This is to allow users to understand how the data can and cannot be used and what interpretations can be made. Whilst OLS aims to provide as much information as possible on the relevant sources, sometimes the available information is less detailed than what would be expected to meet the standards outlined in the Code of Practice for transparency. For example, for many metrics it is possible to provide detailed information on UK data and the context in which it is collated, but it is more difficult to provide the same level of information for other countries. OLS is transparent about where this is the case in the publication documents, and explains how this might impact interpretation of the analysis.

Quality

The LSCIs pull together statistics from multiple data sources. Some of this data is already in the public domain and some is collected on behalf of OLS and made public for the first time through the LSCIs. The full list of sources used in the LSCIs is outlined for each metric in the accompanying user guide each year.

OLS works closely with suppliers for these data sources to ensure they are suitable for international comparisons and what interpretations can be made. There are often alternative domestic (UK only) sources for metrics within the LSCIs; whilst these are often higher quality and allow a wider range of statistics to be produced, these would not allow an international comparison. The LSCIs are created to allow an overarching view of how the UK sector is performing and using sources that can provide a standardised method to compare countries is key for its purpose. Where there are deviations between the LSCIs data sources and other key sources of data for the UK, these are highlighted in the accompanying user guide.

Despite the sources having been assessed as suitable for the purpose of the LSCIs, the underlying quality may not always comply  with all aspects of the Code of Practice needed for official statistics. International competitiveness analysis is complex, and finding a methodology to enable meaningful and standardised comparisons between different countries’ performance can be very challenging. OLS cannot always guarantee that the statistical methodologies chosen to examine competitiveness between countries enable a true like-for-like comparison of each country’s performance. This is because it is not always possible to design a methodology which considers the complexity of each country’s life sciences sector and healthcare systems and the unique challenges they face. Despite this concern with international data, OLS considers all sources with regards to potential biases (in any direction) to the UK and highlights these where known. This assessment of bias is not applied to the same extent for other countries given OLS’s more limited knowledge of their sectors and data systems. We continue to engage with key stakeholders and users of the publication to collaboratively identify the best data available for each metric, and to provide any additional information that users should be aware of when making interpretations from the data.

Most of the data within the LSCIs is not owned by OLS and therefore is not collected for the purpose of the LSCIs. As a result, OLS often relies on published documentation or information relayed by the data suppliers to understand the relevant sources’ methodology and quality considerations. Because we are not always able to thoroughly validate this data due to a lack of information on how it was collated, or a lack of alternative sources to cross reference against, we cannot always guarantee that these sources meet the standards expected in terms of quality and transparency of methods for official statistics outlined in the Code of Practice. OLS aims to assess and gather as much metadata on the used sources and articulate anything users should be aware of when disseminating the data within the accompanying user guide. Detailed metadata is not always available for some sources, but OLS aims to provide signposting to any relevant documentation that is available. Where there are any concerns about a specific source, OLS aims to validate the data by using domestic sources (where available) to assess any differences for the UK and provide a description of any known disparities that users should be aware of.

The LSCIs select a series of comparator countries to compare to the UK as an indicator for performance. These comparator countries currently vary between metrics and are chosen based on which countries are key performers in the relevant areas and on data availability/quality. OLS is intending to review the methodology for selecting comparator countries and will be gathering views of users for the 2025 publication and beyond. Users of the LSCIs who are not currently in touch with OLS and are interested in feeding back views on this can reach out via the contact details on the LSCIs landing page.

All the content for the LSCIs is compiled by members of the government analytical profession and goes through a quality assurance process before publication. OLS regularly consults with data providers and analysts covering the relevant policy areas to build up the relevant knowledge on the sources and what needs to be disseminated back to users.

Value

The LSCIs are produced with the aim of providing an objective overview of the performance of the UK’s life sciences sector. The chosen metrics are the result of a user engagement exercise over 2021 and 2022 and measure aspects of the ‘life sciences ecosystem’. These are the components OLS has defined as necessary to contribute to a successful life sciences sector.

The LSCIs are used  by policy makers within OLS, other government departments and external stakeholders to better understand the UK’s strengths and weaknesses in life sciences.  The publication contributes to departments’ evidence base on the sector’s performance, which in turn is a factor in policy developments and funding decisions.

The OLS maintains a list of known users of the publication to circulate correspondence and updates on the publication. An extensive user engagement exercise was conducted over 2021 to 2022 with the aim of reviewing what metrics users need and how to present/interpret the data. This involved a series of workshops with publication users (both internal and external to government) and written feedback from users who were invited to contribute their views on the published LSCIs. This resulted in an extensive overhaul in the chosen metrics used to measure the UK’s performance, the choice of data sources, and the methods used to present the data.

OLS is intending to carry out further user engagement in 2024 and onwards to incorporate further feedback and ensure the publication continues to meet user needs and retains its value. The 2024 report is accompanied by a further call out on the LSCIs landing page for additional users to get in touch  so OLS can ensure a wider user base is reached. OLS will also consider other methods to expand the user list and capture a wider audience to engage with going forward.

The publication aims to report on the key metrics (when available) that measure aspects of the life sciences ecosystem. Due to data availability, there are instances where no metrics are available to meet some known user needs. OLS regularly reviews whether new data has become available and receives feedback from users about potential known data sources. There are, however, often wider barriers to collecting robust international data due to different definitions, data collections and standards across countries.

The LSCIs compile data from many different sources, some of which are already publicly available. The LSCIs provide additional value by collating these sources in one place and building up a picture of the UK’s performance in various aspects of the life sciences ecosystem. Whilst these original sources often contain further detail on the specific topics than is covered in the LSCIs, the LSCIs aim to pull out the key high-level information on the UK’s trends over time and performance compared to other countries. This makes it easier for users interested in these topics to find this information and frame it in the context of other aspects of the life sciences ecosystem. The LSCIs also publish some data for the first time via these reports, and by doing so complement the existing evidence base to provide a fuller narrative on UK competitiveness. All sources used in the LSCIs are outlined in the accompanying user guide along with further background and how they have been used.