Research and analysis

DCMS Statistics Workplan 2020/21

Updated 21 March 2024

1. Introduction

This work plan outlines the priorities and plans for statistics in DCMS in 2020-21. These are based on user feedback and departmental priorities and aligned with the pillars of the Code of Practice for Statistics: trustworthiness, quality and value. A summary of key achievements and developments during 2019-20 is also provided.

Feedback on this work plan is welcome. Please contact the DCMS statistics team at: evidence@culture.gov.uk.

2. Priorities for 2020-21

The top priority for DCMS statistics for 2020-21 is to continue to provide robust, high quality and relevant statistics during a time of new and fast-emerging analytical demands. We expect our work to be heavily influenced by the need to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on DCMS sectors and DCMS-related activities. In designing our work programme and delivering outputs we will be guided by the following principles:

Trustworthiness: We will be open and transparent with users about our priorities and plans

Quality: We will strive to maintain and improve the robustness and quality of the statistics we publish

Value: We will make our statistics available to users in a timely manner and in an accessible format

3. Statistics at DCMS

DCMS employs around 12 statisticians who produce National and official statistics and support the department with a variety of advice, analysis and briefing. In line with colleagues across the Government Statistical Service (GSS) our mission is to provide “high quality statistics, analysis and advice to help Britain make better decisions”.

DCMS publishes about 12 statistical releases each year, produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. Around 140 Official Statistics are published throughout the year by DCMS Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs):

• Arts Council England
• British Film Institute
• Gambling Commission
• Historic England
• Ofcom
• Sport England
• VisitEngland

DCMS provides support and guidance to these organisations to help them meet their responsibilities under the Code of Practice. A calendar of all official statistics releases planned by DCMS and its ALBs can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics.

4. Achievements in 2019-20

Our key outputs and developments in 2019-20 are summarised below. In 2019-20 we:

• secured ‘National Statistics’ badging for DCMS economic estimates
• improved the information provided to users on the quality assurance and methodological approaches used to produce our statistics
• reviewed the methodology we use to significance test our statistics, to improve consistency and transparency
• added a statistics release on earnings to our suite of DCMS economic estimates, to enhance the range of information provided to users on DCMS sectors
• amended DCMS’s pre-release procedures to strengthen awareness of the conditions of pre-release access whilst maintaining efficient administrative processes
• worked with ONS and others to develop data access and methodological approaches to producing productivity estimates for DCMS sectors
• reviewed the methodology of the sport satellite account
• stayed abreast of the reviews of SIC and SOC codes and escalated potential issues to ONS, DCMS policy colleagues and key external stakeholders
• provided statistical input for many policy areas including: preparations for exiting the EU; measuring international trade in DCMS sectors; measuring the performance of our sectors; and understanding employment and participation diversity in our sectors
• published 13 Official Statistics releases including a ‘Focus on Volunteering’ release based on Community Life and Taking Part survey statistics
• continued to automate production of our outputs using R and Python
• shared developments and good practice with ALB statistics producers, including through shadowing and regular meetings
• reviewed the experimental approach to collecting longitudinal data for adults, youths and children in the Taking Part web-panel
• delivered quality training for statistics producers at DCMS and in our ALBs
• worked collaboratively with other analysts and departments to produce a robust evidence base on DCMS sectors to inform negotiations on trade
• reviewed our Data Access Agreements and Data Protection Impact Assessments to ensure access and privacy arrangements are fully documented and appropriate and to improve timeliness of publication
• extended the scope of the Taking Part questionnaire to reflect the growing number of policy areas covered by DCMS and achieve maximum value from the survey.

5. What we plan to do in 2020-21

5.1 High-level summary

The statistics team in DCMS has drawn up its 2020-21 workplan using its knowledge of existing and rapidly emerging stakeholder and DCMS analytical needs. It has been guided by the principle of making sure DCMS statistics are of high quality and available for general use.

The following summarises the key aims, partly reflecting analytical demands emerging from the COVID-19 response:

• Producing statistics from existing available data to inform modelling and understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on DCMS sectors and DCMS-related activities
• Designing and implementing new data collections to measure and monitor the impact of COVID-19 on DCMS sectors and DCMS-related activities
• Reviewing options for the Taking Part survey for 2020-21 and 2021-22
• Developing contingency plans for slimming down publications, if necessary to the bare minimum, so relevant statistics continue to be made available
• Ensuring our publications meet government accessibility standards fully by September 2020.

In addition all face to face survey work has been paused.

We had planned to carry out two major statistics reviews (one on ongoing improvements to our economic statistics and the other a review of evidence needs from DCMS surveys) and to develop small area estimates for the Community Life Survey and Taking Part survey, but these projects have been paused due to immediate priority analytical demands linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. It may be possible to progress some aspects of these projects later in the year.

5.2 Official Statistics releases

We are developing contingency plans to produce shorter publications this year, if necessary with minimal or no commentary, in order to ensure we have sufficient resource dedicated to COVID-19-related analysis whilst maintaining our aim of making statistics available. We plan to publish the following statistical releases:

DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates

• GVA
• Trade
• Employment
• Business demography (including new statistics on business births and deaths)
• Regional GVA
• Earnings (all sectors)

Taking Part Survey

• Annual adult release 2019-20
• Annual child release 2019-20

Community Life Survey

• Annual 2019-20 release & factsheets
• Focus reports on specific topics

Other

• Cyber Security Breaches Survey
• Quarterly DCMS-sponsored museum visits
• DCMS-sponsored museum performance indicators
• Charitable giving to museums indicators
• Sport satellite account (as part of the GVA release)
• Reported treasure finds

We also plan to work with ONS on the production of a tourism satellite account. We keep our publications under review and are always interested in feedback on any of our outputs at evidence@culture.gov.uk.

5.3 Improvements to statistics

The Code of Practice for Statistics is at the heart of the work of statisticians at DCMS, ensuring we produce statistics and analysis that are independent, robust and relevant to users. Our publications have been reviewed to ensure they align with these principles. In addition to our statistical releases, our areas for development for 2020-21 are set out below, under the three pillars of the Code.

Trustworthiness: “Confidence in the people and organisations that produce statistics and data”

We will:

• Ensure Data Protection Impact Assessments are in place and reviewed regularly for the surveys run by DCMS’s Central Analysis Team
• Review our Data Access Agreements to ensure access arrangements are fully documented and appropriate systems are in place to manage these

We will also:

• Where we produce ad hoc analysis for external users, we will publish it so it is available to all
• Inform users of the publication of our statistics via our Twitter account and user newsletters
• Improve understanding of our key outputs among DCMS policy teams by holding teach-in sessions after key publications, summarising the methodology, headline findings and strengths/weaknesses of the data
• Hold briefing sessions with DCMS press office, private offices and policy colleagues to remind them of the principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics and the risks associated with breaching the Code

This work plan is also a key element of our commitment to ensure our plans, priorities and progress are transparent.

Quality: “Data and methods that produce assured statistics”

We will:

• Continue to update and expand our quality reporting, providing clear, up to date quality information alongside all our statistical series.
• Keep our methodology and technical documentation under review, to ensure it is up to date and proportionate for all our statistical series.

In addition, we will:

• Work closely with other government departments to make best use of available data sources and facilitate a coherent approach to statistics on key themes including:
• Actively participating in cross-government work on economic and participation statistics
• Actively participating in GSS statistics harmonisation activities
• Supporting cross-government work on topics covered by the Community Life Survey, particularly with ONS and MHCLG in connection with community cohesion, community integration and loneliness, ensuring the Community Life Survey is used effectively to inform this work
• Be transparent about methodological developments including:
• Sharing lessons learned from methodological developments through publications and at events such as the GSS methodology symposiums
• Improve the quality of our outputs, in terms of accuracy, reliability, coherence and timeliness by:
• Increasing transparency about our QA and methodological approaches
• Exploring approaches to ensure QA is embedded into automation of processes for the production of statistics

Value: “Statistics that support society’s needs for information”

We will continue to work closely with policy teams and other users to ensure our outputs are prioritised to meet their needs and support key decisions. We anticipate that in 2020-21 this will largely consist of COVID-19 related analysis and may also include:

• Working with ONS and the Office for Civil Society (OCS) on measurement and analysis to inform the cross-government work on loneliness
• Using data from the Taking Part Survey, Community Life Survey and other sources to support the department’s place agenda
• Ensuring the Cyber Security Breaches Survey continues to provide value and inform decisions relating to the National Cyber Security Programme

We will improve accessibility of our statistics by

• Researching best practice for publications and striving to make our publications accessible, including addition of screen-reader descriptions, moving to html publication format and improving data table accessibility
• Prioritising, where possible, the archiving of survey data on the UK data service to enable researchers to undertake analysis, maximising the u