Guidance

MHCLG Statement of Code compliance

Published 27 August 2026

Introduction

This statement outlines how the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s official statistics are produced in line with the core principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics: Trustworthiness, Quality and Value.

Earlier in 2026 we ran an internal assurance exercise to assess our statistics series against the principles and practices in the Code of Practice. Our senior statisticians have reviewed and discussed the findings and agreed cross-cutting priority areas to focus on as statistical leaders. We will look to run a similar exercise in future, including using the Evaluation Tool developed by OSR to help identify areas for further development. 

Trustworthiness

Show integrity – Our official statistics are produced by trained government analysts, generally professional statisticians, who work closely with policy colleagues to understand their needs while ensuring the production process is entirely independent from political influence. Results are presented in an objective, impartial way and misuse is challenged, in collaboration with the Office for Statistics Regulation where appropriate.

Lead responsibly – We have a clear governance structure for official statistics, overseen by the Head of Profession for Statistics (HoP), with all statistics releases signed off by the HoP or a nominated senior statistician. The senior statisticians group, including the heads of statistics producing teams, meet regularly to discuss cross-cutting issues an to share best practice and ideas for statistics development. To help inform our cross-cutting priorities for further development, we have run an internal assurance exercise to assess our statistics against the principles and practices in the Code of Practice, and we’ll look to run similar exercises in future.

The HoP has overall responsibility for the frequency, content and timing of all official statistics. They work closely with colleagues across the department including policy teams, Private Offices, other senior analysts and senior communications colleagues to promote the appropriate use of statistics as well as ensuring suitable resources are allocated to statistics production in the department.

Be transparent – Our release practices are set out in our Release policy. We pre-announce statistical publications in our release calendar. We publish all statistics at 9.30am on the day of release. Our statistics releases include details on methods, strengths and limitations to assist interpretation by users and in some cases, detailed technical reports to support those making onward use of the statistics.

Manage data responsibly – Our Data management policy and Confidentiality policy set out the standards we abide by when handling data, including for data storage, treatment of sensitive data, disclosure control and data sharing.

Quality

Prioritise quality – We have set out our approach to quality in our Quality management  policy, including the dimensions of quality we use in MHCLG.

Be rigorous – We ensure our statistics production processes are robust against errors using a range of approaches, including peer-review, automation of manual processes and using best practice guidance when developing statistical models. We have developed and are currently embedding a ‘Statistics Play Book’, intended to set clearer direction for good statistical practice across the department, including on the use of AI and RAP, Quality Assurance, and wider expectations of how we design and deliver high-quality statistical work. 

Be open about quality – We publish background information on all our official statistics to aid user interpretation. This often includes detailed methodology documentation for technical users. We give notice and an opportunity to comment on planned material changes to our statistics. Where revisions to statistics are required, we abide by the policy set out here.

Value

Be relevant – Our approach to User engagement is to ensure our statistics remain relevant and useful. We work closely with policy colleagues and other key stakeholders to ensure we take account of their needs and the evolving policy context. We have also published ad-hoc statistics in response to FoI requests on high profile topics such as homelessness.

Be clear – We aim to publish our statistics with plain English and accessible explanations, alongside clear information on the limitations of the statistics. Each publication provides contact details for the team responsible and user feedback is encouraged.

Be accessible – We provide free and equal access to our statistics, publishing in line with gov.uk accessibility guidance and in some cases, using dashboard tools so that users can explore and build their own datasets. Disaggregated versions of some of our statistics are available publicly via trusted data platforms and in the case of more sensitive data, via data sharing agreements where appropriate.

Beyond official statistics

A number of our outputs, including some management information which are not Official Statistics, have adopted the voluntary application of the Code of Practice. More details can be found in the OSR Register.

Feedback

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards, via enquiries.officialstatistics@levellingup.gov.uk.

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.