Transparency data

Statement of Compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

Published 3 September 2026

Defra’s Official statistics are produced in accordance with the principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code) and regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). The Code sets the standards of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value that all producers of official statistics must adhere to. This document outlines the ways in which we work under these 3 core principles.

You are welcome to contact us directly (at StatisticsHoPdefra@defra.gov.uk) with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

Trustworthiness

Building confidence in the people and organisations that produce statistics and data

Show integrity

Defra’s statistics are produced and/or overseen by members of the Government Statistician Group (GSG). GSG members work impartially and conduct objective analysis without political or other external influence.

Lead responsibly

Defra’s Head of Profession for Statistics is responsible for promoting and overseeing the production of official statistics in line with the Code, challenging any potential misuse of statistics and data. This post reports to Defra’s Director of Analysis on operational matters, but also directly to the National Statistician on matters relating to the production of statistics.

Defra’s Head of Profession and the OSR maintain regular communication and welcome regular audits by OSR of the Defra’s procedures and publications.

Be transparent

All Defra official statistics are publicly preannounced on the statistics release calendar. Statistics are scheduled for release as soon as is practical after the data is available to us. They are published on our website at 9:30am. All our releases contain contact information, should users wish to contact us. See our release practice policy for official statistics for more information.

Corrections and revisions are handled according to our revisions and corrections policy for official statistics, and published as promptly as possible.

Prior to public release, access to official statistics is strictly restricted to those directly involved in the production or quality assurance of the statistics. For a limited number of publications, 24-hour pre-release is also made available to eligible recipients (further information is available in our pre-release policy for official statistics). 

Defra statisticians work with Ministers, communications and policy officials to ensure that all statistics referenced in the public domain are appropriate and suitably referenced.

Manage data responsibly

We take various appropriate measures to protect data security and the confidentiality of data subjects. All  Defra staff, regardless of their contractual terms, will process personal data in alignment with the Data Protection Principles and Defra’s data security policy. We transparently publish our confidentiality and data management policy, making clear our data sources and commitments to handling data securely. 

All Defra staff are required to undertake annual training on data protection.

Quality

Data and methods that produce assured statistics

Prioritise quality

Our statistics production staff focus on understanding the nature of the data (including its potential caveats, limitations and sources of uncertainty) and carrying out a number of validation and quality assurance activities.

Our aim is to ensure that our statistics are accurate, reliable, coherent and timely. We consider the strengths and limitations of the data and methods used to produce our statistics in relation to the different user needs for our statistics. We aim to be as transparent as possible in our statistical releases regarding the quality of the data being used, including any limitations and potential or actual sources of uncertainty, and the likely impact these might have on the figures reported as set out in our Statistics quality statement.

Be rigorous

We apply high standards to our statistical processes and outputs, monitoring and measuring these against quality standards to ensure they are reproducible and high-quality. Methodologies, processes and practices are documented to the correct level of detail for their purpose, kept up to date and made publicly available where appropriate.

Be open about quality

Where errors occur, we will be up-front and transparent. We will publish corrections or revisions as soon as possible as set out in our revisions and corrections policy for official statistics, ensuring that any changes and reasons for those changes are clearly presented to users. 

We sometimes publish statistics as “official statistics in development” when using new methods or exploring new data sources. We clearly label these statistics as in development in order to be transparent about strengths and limitations, and to seek feedback from users. 

Value

Statistics that support society’s needs for information

Be relevant

As set out in our user engagement policy, we continually seek to improve our understanding of our users and their needs, so that we can improve the relevance of our statistics wherever practical and appropriate to do so. Feedback from users is encouraged as part of every release.

We encourage our statisticians to explore new data sources and opportunities for innovation, to improve production processes and published products.

Be clear

We will ensure that our statistics are clearly described and presented including relevant comparisons to other published data and that users are made aware of any uncertainty in the data, for example survey bias.

Be accessible

Our statistics are published on GOV.UK. We aim to ensure that all are published in an accessible format using best practice guidance. We make past publications available on our website unless there is a good reason for withdrawal.