The cross-party Treasury select committee has asked Prof Sir Ian Diamond to appear before it, after the ONS conceded in December that it might not be able to launch a new series to replace the problematic labour force survey (LFS) until 2027.
Speaking specifically about the living cost and food (LCF) survey, the spokesperson added: “While the LCF feeds into headline household expenditure estimates, its findings are triangulated with other sources, such as business surveys and trade data, to create a robust picture of household spending patterns.
Diamond will appear on Tuesday, days after it emerged the Office for Statistics Regulation – the watchdog that monitors the ONS – has widened a review of economic data to cover other series aside from the LFS.
A spokesperson for the ONS said: “We have been addressing the challenge of falling survey response rates in a number of ways, including increasing sample sizes and reintroducing face-to-face interviews.”.
Economic policymakers have repeatedly raised concerns about quality issues with ONS data, in particular the LFS – with the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, calling it a “substantial problem”.
