Office for National Statistics

Lord West of Spithead Excerpts

Monday 10th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Lord raises a genuinely important point about the quality and calibre of our data and how we collect it. As the world moves on, so has our need for data, and how we use and collect it. We expect the ONS to be using all available resources to it. We also need to make sure of the value—especially with regard to the census, for example—of survey-based data, because it is some of the most effective and efficient available to us.

[Lord West of Spithead (Lab)]

My Lords, my noble friend the Minister will be aware that when I was First Sea Lord, I used to encourage my sailors to all be on board the ships when they were working.

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord West of Spithead (Lab)]

Why should the Civil Service work to a different pattern? Admittedly it has few ships, but I would be very interested to know.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, as an honorary captain in the Royal Navy, I would never want to disagree with a much more senior officer. The noble Lord raises a genuinely important point. While people who do not necessarily have to be deployed also have the 60% target for being in the office, there is an issue here about making sure that we have people in the right place at the right time, especially when we are trying to effect cultural change. That is what is clearly required at the ONS, according to both the reviews that have been undertaken.