UK National Statistician

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Biography

Professor Sir Ian Diamond is the UK’s National Statistician.

He was the chair of the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) from August 2018 to August 2019.

Sir Ian, who was knighted in 2013 for his services to social science and higher education, was the Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen until 31 July 2018.

Photo by fergusburnett.com

UK National Statistician

Roles

The National Statistician is the principal adviser on official statistics to the UK Statistics Authority and the Government.

The National Statistician is Head of the Government Statistical Service and the Government Analysis Function.

The National Statistician is also a member of the UK Statistics Authority Board as Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary.

Main responsibilities

  • Planning of the development of statistics across government.
  • Supporting statisticians and other officials to comply with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics.
  • Advising ministers, the Cabinet Secretary and other senior officials on the production, dissemination and use of statistics across government.
  • Professional leadership for all statisticians producing official statistics, as Head of the Government Statistical Service.
  • Strategic oversight of the Office of National Statistics.
  • Maintain strong relationships with devolved administrations; respecting their specific needs for devolved and other statistics while ensuring as far as possible harmonisation, coherence and consistency in UK statistics.
  • Act as head of the UK’s National Statistical Institute, promoting UK interests as well as contributing to higher standards in statistics across the world.

Contacting the National Statistician

Email: national.statistician@statistics.gov.uk

Address:

National Statistician UK Statistics Authority Statistics House Cardiff Road Newport South Wales NP10 8XG

UK Statistics Authority, Office for National Statistics, Government Statistical Service, and Government Analysis Function

Previous roles in government

  • Chair, SSAC
    • 2018 to 2019