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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, following errors identified in the Labour Force Survey, whether the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) UK Statistics Authority made an assessment of the accuracy of Office for National Statistics statistics.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, following errors identified in the Labour Force Survey, whether the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) UK Statistics Authority made an assessment of the accuracy of Office for National Statistics statistics.
In April 2025 following concerns about the accuracy of the Labour Force Survey and other ONS statistics the UKSA Board and the Cabinet Office jointly commissioned Sir Robert Devereux to independently review the performance and culture of the ONS. His report was published in June 2025. On the same day the ONS published an ONS Survey Improvement and Enhancement Plan. Subsequent updates were published in December 2025 and April 2026 and will continue to do so quarterly.
All of ONS’ statistics are assessed against the standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR, which is part of the UK Statistics Authority). In 2025, the OSR published both an interim and final Systemic Review of Economic Statistics produced by ONS. The final report set out OSR’s expectations for further progress and its planned approach to the future regulation of ONS.
Attached is a letter from the Director General of OSR which sets out more information to part (b) of your question.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Transformed Labour Force Survey records secondary occupations or ongoing professional identities when someone has more than one type of work; and what assessment they have made of how recording only a person’s main job may affect sectors where many people have portfolio careers, such as crafts...
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Transformed Labour Force Survey records secondary occupations or ongoing professional identities when someone has more than one type of work; and what assessment they have made of how recording only a person’s main job may affect sectors where many people have portfolio careers, such as crafts...
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Freybeg
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
02 March 2026
Dear Lord Freyberg
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking whether the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) records secondary occupations or ongoing professional identities when someone has more than one type of work; and what assessment they have made of how recording only a person’s main job may affect sectors where many people have portfolio careers, such as crafts and the visual arts (HL14678).
The TLFS does collect information on a respondent’s secondary occupation. Where the respondent has a portfolio career such as those mentioned, they can self-determine this as their main or second job. The data collected includes for example, whether this is in an employed or self-employed capacity, the hours usually and actually worked, the pay received and the industry and occupation code of the position. This data is used for a variety of statistical, legislative and policy purposes by a broad range of stakeholders.
Information is collected for up to two jobs. There has previously been a question as to whether information on more than two jobs should be collected. However, there must be a careful balance achieved between data users need, and the respondent burden caused by survey length. While we are not currently in a position to capture more than two jobs, this issue will be thoroughly explored within future developments of the TLFS.
The TLFS also collects data on casual working roles so that those in more informal situations are also captured.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to improve the coverage, accuracy and reliability of the Labour Force Survey, and what progress they have made in those improvements.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to improve the coverage, accuracy and reliability of the Labour Force Survey, and what progress they have made in those improvements.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Baroness Carberry of Muswell Hill
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
22 October 2025
Dear Baroness Carberry of Muswell Hill,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what steps the ONS have taken to improve the coverage, accuracy and reliability of the Labour Force Survey (LFS), and what progress the ONS have made in those improvements (HL11013).
Our recently published plans for economic statistics and survey improvement and enhancement reinforce the importance of, and our commitment to, delivering high-quality labour market statistics.
The LFS remains the lead measure for data on the supply of labour while further development of the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) takes place.
Over the last two years, we have taken several actions to address quality concerns with the LFS. These include:
reinstating the sample boost
returning to face-to-face interviewing
increasing incentives
the ongoing recruitment of additional interviewers
These interventions have now fed through all five waves of the survey. Response levels and rates have shown clear improvement because of these actions, with Wave 1 response levels now very close to their pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic level. The composition of respondents according to different characteristics has also shown some improvement since late 2023; however, representativeness is lower than before the pandemic and has not improved for all characteristics.
These improvements have been welcomed by the Stakeholder Advisory Panel on Labour Market Statistics, as they increase confidence that the LFS can be fit for purpose until the transition to the TLFS takes place.
We are increasing interviewer capacity for Waves 2 to 5 to further improve response rates, as these currently remain lower than their pre-pandemic level. We continue to closely monitor LFS data quality and regularly update users as part of our LFS quality articles, which assess the impact of recent changes on the statistics, response levels and rates, and respondent characteristics.
In parallel to these LFS improvements, progress with the TLFS continues. The short Core Survey (a streamlined, longitudinal, labour-market-focused questionnaire that takes 15 minutes per household to complete on average) launched in July 2025, with a Wave 1 sample size of 90,000 households per quarter across Great Britain. The new TLFS design is expected to reduce respondent burden, improve completion rates and representativeness, and enhance the overall data quality of the headline labour market indicators.
We continue to keep users informed of progress with the transformation of our labour market statistics through our quarterly Labour Market Transformation articles, with the next update scheduled for November 2025. We would be happy to send you a copy when published.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
3. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/labourforcesurveyqualityupdate/september2025
4. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/labourmarkettransformationupdateonprogressandplans/july2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Office for National Statistics on the potential impact of trends in participation rates in the Labour Market Force on the accuracy of its estimates of the number of young people who are not...
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Office for National Statistics on the potential impact of trends in participation rates in the Labour Market Force on the accuracy of its estimates of the number of young people who are not...
Official statistics on the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training aged 18-24 years old are estimated using the Labour Force Survey – a large, nationally representative household survey.
These official statistics publications include:
- DfE NEET 16 to 24 year olds in England, which include NEET estimates for 18-24 year olds for England.
- ONS Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK - Office for National Statistics, which includes NEET 18-24 year old estimates for the UK.
DWP uses NEET Official Statistics estimated using the LFS alongside other data sources - such as administrative data from the benefit system like the youth claimant count and administrative data from the PAYE system of employees on payroll – to form a view of what is happening with young people in the labour market.
The ONS have faced challenges collecting data via the LFS. These challenges means that LFS-based labour market statistics are currently badged as Official Statistics in Development. As a result of the smaller survey participation rates, additional caution should be taken when interpreting results from the LFS since late 2023. This is transparently explained in Official Statistics publications from DfE and the ONS.
The ONS introduced an LFS recovery and sustainability in 2023/2024 and a wider Survey Improvement and Enhancement Plan in 2025 to improve responses across the survey resulting in significant improvements to numbers interviewed since 2023. The latest update on actions taken by the ONS to recover the LFS sample and the latest response rates/sample sizes can be found in the following publications - Labour Force Survey quality update - Office for National Statistics and Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring reports - Office for National Statistics. These show that sample sizes have started to recover as a result of actions taken by the ONS.
At official level DWP regularly engages with ONS and DfE colleagues to help understand their data collection and statistics production; and to help improve the quality of the data and ensure it is useful for DWP’s business needs.
The ONS are transforming how they collect and produce LFS data to improve the quality of these statistics. One key aim of the TLFS is to develop it as an online-first multi-mode survey, to ensure it is as easy as possible for respondents to engage. Further information on the TLFS can be found here: Labour market transformation – update on progress and plans - Office for National Statistics. The publication of TLFS headline labour market statistics is currently scheduled for November 2026, although this may extend into 2027 if assessment of TLFS data quality requires more data to be collected and assessed before transition to using TLFS data as the basis from Labour Market Statistics.
DfE and ONS plan to continue using LFS/TLFS data to estimate the number of young people categorised as NEET.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to continue to use the Labour Market Force survey as the basis for estimating the number of people categorised as NEET.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to continue to use the Labour Market Force survey as the basis for estimating the number of people categorised as NEET.
Official statistics on the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training aged 18-24 years old are estimated using the Labour Force Survey – a large, nationally representative household survey.
These official statistics publications include:
- DfE NEET 16 to 24 year olds in England, which include NEET estimates for 18-24 year olds for England.
- ONS Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK - Office for National Statistics, which includes NEET 18-24 year old estimates for the UK.
DWP uses NEET Official Statistics estimated using the LFS alongside other data sources - such as administrative data from the benefit system like the youth claimant count and administrative data from the PAYE system of employees on payroll – to form a view of what is happening with young people in the labour market.
The ONS have faced challenges collecting data via the LFS. These challenges means that LFS-based labour market statistics are currently badged as Official Statistics in Development. As a result of the smaller survey participation rates, additional caution should be taken when interpreting results from the LFS since late 2023. This is transparently explained in Official Statistics publications from DfE and the ONS.
The ONS introduced an LFS recovery and sustainability in 2023/2024 and a wider Survey Improvement and Enhancement Plan in 2025 to improve responses across the survey resulting in significant improvements to numbers interviewed since 2023. The latest update on actions taken by the ONS to recover the LFS sample and the latest response rates/sample sizes can be found in the following publications - Labour Force Survey quality update - Office for National Statistics and Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring reports - Office for National Statistics. These show that sample sizes have started to recover as a result of actions taken by the ONS.
At official level DWP regularly engages with ONS and DfE colleagues to help understand their data collection and statistics production; and to help improve the quality of the data and ensure it is useful for DWP’s business needs.
The ONS are transforming how they collect and produce LFS data to improve the quality of these statistics. One key aim of the TLFS is to develop it as an online-first multi-mode survey, to ensure it is as easy as possible for respondents to engage. Further information on the TLFS can be found here: Labour market transformation – update on progress and plans - Office for National Statistics. The publication of TLFS headline labour market statistics is currently scheduled for November 2026, although this may extend into 2027 if assessment of TLFS data quality requires more data to be collected and assessed before transition to using TLFS data as the basis from Labour Market Statistics.
DfE and ONS plan to continue using LFS/TLFS data to estimate the number of young people categorised as NEET.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the (a) response and (b) participation rates of Labour Market Force surveys.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the (a) response and (b) participation rates of Labour Market Force surveys.
The DWP monitors a wide range of internal and external data – from management information, a range of surveys and administrative data sources - to inform its policymaking.
Actions taken to improve the quality of the ONS LFS data can be found here - Labour Force Survey quality update - Office for National Statistics
And information on the improvements to the sample size and response rate can be found here - Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring reports - Office for National Statistics
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK’s Labour Force Survey is providing correct and current data.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK’s Labour Force Survey is providing correct and current data.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the noble Lord Taylor of Warwick’s Parliamentary Question of 10/02/25 is below and attached.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician
The Lord Taylor of Warwick
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
19 February 2025
Dear Lord Taylor of Warwick,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what steps the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are taking to ensure that UK’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) is providing correct and current data. (HL4910).
In my previous letter to you in February 2024 (HL2453) I included details on the comprehensive recovery plan[1] rolled out by the ONS in the last quarter of 2023 to improve the GB sample of the LFS. Since that letter, we have seen the implementation of further measures[2] introduced in the second half of 2024 to ensure the continued sustainability of the LFS.
These measures cover a combination of improvements to both data collection and methods which help make the survey estimates more representative of the UK population. We have continued measures introduced under the 2023 recovery plan, such as the reintroduction of in-home interviewing, the increased incentive, and the sample boost. We have also recruited and trained additional interviewers to increase the resource assigned to LFS. Interviewers were previously focused primarily on the wave 1 sample of the survey, with waves 2-5 being picked up by field interviewers as a lower priority. Since our letter to the Treasury Select Committee in December 2024[3], which included detail on our planned interviewer up-lift, we have increased the number of interviewers working on waves 2-5 by 50 so far.
As part of our continued efforts to make the survey estimates more representative, the ONS have reweighted[4] the LFS data periods back to 2019 using more recent population information published in January 2024. This reweighting exercise resulted in increased levels’ estimates across most of the labour market series, with rates and averages seeing little change, and reduced the gap between the LFS employment data and payroll estimates of the number of employees. This partial reweighting exercise has also been extended to the two-quarter longitudinal outputs, which we released on 18 February 2025. Further work is under way looking at the implementation of a more comprehensive full reweighting of our data when new population projections are released later this year.
There are ongoing work streams aiming to understand the statistical quality, such as attrition, mode effects and bias in the longitudinal and cross-sectional samples. In addition, we are conducting a number of research projects exploring our approaches to communication with respondents and the incentives to participate in our surveys. These projects will also help us to understand how we can optimise the response to our surveys. As part of our agreed user and methods assurance, we continue to engage with our Stakeholder Advisory Panel and external methods advisors, Ray Chambers and James Brown, to discuss and invite feedback on all work stream developments.
To date, the aforementioned sustainability improvements have had a positive impact. In July to September 2023, the quarterly LFS data included 44,238 individual responses across the UK[5]. By the October to December 2024 quarter this had increased to 63,069 individual responses for the UK[6]. With the additional interviewer resource enhancing our data collection efforts over coming months, we expect the achieved sample and dataset size and its representativeness to improve further.
As we expect to continue seeing higher volatility in LFS data in the short term than might have historically been expected, we continue to advise users to apply caution when observing changes in the survey-based estimates. Users should also consider the commentary we publish alongside our statistical bulletins, as well as consulting the wider range of labour market data we publish when forming a view on the labour market.
In summary, progress has been made in recovering the LFS with the achieved sample now significantly higher and the incorporation of the latest population information into the estimates. The major changes we have made to the LFS will be fully included through all five survey waves by the first quarter of next year, which will inform the LFS estimates for publication in May 2025.
While we are working hard to improve our LFS-based data, our long-term solution for collecting labour market data is delivery of the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS). We conducted a range of tests towards end of 2024, investigating the effects of a shortened questionnaire and specific changes to the content. We are planning to up-date users on the next steps in Spring 2025.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[1] Labour Force Survey: planned improvements and its reintroduction, ONS article, 2 November 2023,
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/labourforcesurveyplannedimprovementsanditsreintroduction
[2] Labour market transformation – update on progress and plans: December 2024, ONS article, 3 December 024, https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/labourmarkettransformationupdateonprogressandplans/december2024
[3] UKSA Response to the Treasury Select Committee, UKSA letter, 3 December 2024,
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45859/documents/227537/default/
[4] Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: December 2024, ONS article, 3 December 2024,
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/impactofreweightingonlabourforcesurveykeyindicators/latest
[5] Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring report: July to September 2023, ONS article, 14 November 2023, https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/labourforcesurveyperformanceandqualitymonitoringreportjulytoseptember2023
[6] Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring report: October to December 2024, ONS article, 18 February 2025, https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/labourforcesurveyperformanceandqualitymonitoringreportoctobertodecember2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 19420 on Unemployment: Young People, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the ongoing data quality problems with the ONS Labour Force Survey on her Department's ability...
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 19420 on Unemployment: Young People, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the ongoing data quality problems with the ONS Labour Force Survey on her Department's ability...
The independent Office for National Statistics (ONS) are responsible for the LFS, which is an important source of labour market information for the Department. In order to monitor the department's progress towards an 80% employment rate we need a robust Labour Force Survey (LFS). As such, we are engaging regularly with the ONS on these data issues and supporting ONS to improve the quality of the LFS.
The Department for Work and Pensions also continues to make more use of statistics based on administrative data (for example, benefit caseloads or HMRC PAYE data) alongside LFS statistics to form the best labour market view.
The ONS are also working on the Transformed Labour Force Survey to replace the LFS. The Department are working closely with the ONS and other government to ensure it is fit for purpose and provides reliable estimates of labour market trends.
We remain focussed on getting more people into work to grow our economy and improve living standards across all parts of the country.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the outputs from the Transformed Labour Force Survey will be published.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the outputs from the Transformed Labour Force Survey will be published.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 20 November is attached.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11774 on Labour Force Survey, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the designation of Labour Force Survey data as official statistics in development on her Department’s policy-making.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11774 on Labour Force Survey, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the designation of Labour Force Survey data as official statistics in development on her Department’s policy-making.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) has observed falling response rates, resulting in increased volatility in labour market data [1]. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is undertaking work to address these quality issues and continuing to develop the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) as the long-term solution for collecting labour market data. In July 2024, the ONS have provided the latest update on its plans for labour market transformation [2].
While these improvements are underway, LFS estimates are currently designated as ‘official statistics in development’, and the ONS advise caution when interpreting changes in headline LFS rates.
In line with ONS recommendations [3], LFS estimates are used alongside a number of other ONS labour market indicators, including Workforce Jobs (WFJ), Claimant Count data, and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI), to support policy-making.
The ONS’ ambition for the TLFS is to allow a more adaptive and responsive survey to meet user needs, which will improve the quality of the labour market statistics [4] that the Department uses to support the development of policy.
[1] LFS performance and quality monitoring report: July to September 2024
[2] Labour market transformation – update on progress and plans - Office for National Statistics
[4] Labour market transformation – update on progress and plans - Office for National Statistics
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11774 on Labour Force Survey, when her Department plans to use Office for National Statistics Transformed Labour Force Survey data to inform its policies.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11774 on Labour Force Survey, when her Department plans to use Office for National Statistics Transformed Labour Force Survey data to inform its policies.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) has observed falling response rates, resulting in increased volatility in labour market data [1]. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is undertaking work to address these quality issues and continuing to develop the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) as the long-term solution for collecting labour market data. In July 2024, the ONS have provided the latest update on its plans for labour market transformation [2].
While these improvements are underway, LFS estimates are currently designated as ‘official statistics in development’, and the ONS advise caution when interpreting changes in headline LFS rates.
In line with ONS recommendations [3], LFS estimates are used alongside a number of other ONS labour market indicators, including Workforce Jobs (WFJ), Claimant Count data, and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI), to support policy-making.
The ONS’ ambition for the TLFS is to allow a more adaptive and responsive survey to meet user needs, which will improve the quality of the labour market statistics [4] that the Department uses to support the development of policy.
[1] LFS performance and quality monitoring report: July to September 2024
[2] Labour market transformation – update on progress and plans - Office for National Statistics
[4] Labour market transformation – update on progress and plans - Office for National Statistics
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) accuracy and (b) utility of the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) accuracy and (b) utility of the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey.
Data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) remains subject to a number of quality concerns following a fall in response rates, which fell from 47.9% in June to August 2013 to 14.6% in June to August 2023.
The ONS is undertaking work to address these quality issues through improvements to its data collection and methodology. The ONS is also continuing to develop the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) as the long-term solution for collecting labour market data.
While these improvements are underway, LFS estimates are currently designated as ‘official statistics in development’, and the ONS advise caution when interpreting changes in headline LFS rates.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports of concern from analysts regarding the reliability of figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), what steps they are taking to ensure that the ONS labour force survey is reliable and accurate.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports of concern from analysts regarding the reliability of figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), what steps they are taking to ensure that the ONS labour force survey is reliable and accurate.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Lord Taylor of Warwick
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
21 February 2024
Dear Lord Taylor,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, following reports of concern from analysts regarding the reliability of figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), what steps they are taking to ensure that the ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS) is reliable and accurate (HL2453).
Following the suspension of publishing LFS estimates and micro-data in October 2023 because of quality concerns, the ONS put a comprehensive plan [1] in place to address these concerns and reintroduce LFS estimates and micro-data. The plan covers both data collection measures and methods used to make the survey estimates more representative of the UK population.
The planned improvements to data collection procedures were implemented in October/November 2023. These included the prioritisation of interviewer resource allocated to the LFS, the reintroduction of in-home interviewing, recontacting households that did not respond, and increasing the monetary incentive to participate. Furthermore, at the start of January we have increased the number of households we initially contact on the survey by 8,000 up to 25,800 for the quarter of January to March 2024. The combination of measures has already resulted in an increase in the achieved sample and we plan to maintain these measures for the foreseeable future.
As part of the improvements to our methods used to make the survey estimates more representative [2], the ONS have produced UK population projections specifically for the purpose of the LFS. This used 2022-based population projections for England and Wales combined with population estimates for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Additionally, we have reviewed and where appropriate adjusted the estimation method for the LFS to account for the challenges of low response levels in certain areas.
Both the improvements to data collection operations and methods to improve representativeness had a positive impact on the quality and reliability of the LFS data and enabled the ONS to reintroduce the publication of LFS-based estimates and micro-data from 13 February 2024.
As we expect to continue to see higher volatility in LFS data in the short term than might historically have been the case, we continue to advise users to apply caution when observing short-term changes in the survey-based estimates. As well as this, the commentary we publish alongside our statistics bulletins should also be considered.
While we are working hard to improve our LFS-based data, it remains our plan to make the transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) our main measure for the UK labour market. The TLFS is an online-first survey that asks many more people about their employment status. While early returns from this survey look positive, we need a longer consistent time series to aid interpretation before we share these data with users. We expect the TLFS to become the primary source for the labour market release in September 2024.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[1] Labour Force Survey: planned improvements and its reintroduction, ONS article, 2 November 2023,
[2] Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: 2024, ONS article, 5 February 2024,
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the ONS release Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023, dated 26 July 2023, what steps the ONS takes taken to help participants in the Labour Force Survey distinguish between (a) normal and...
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the ONS release Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023, dated 26 July 2023, what steps the ONS takes taken to help participants in the Labour Force Survey distinguish between (a) normal and...
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 5th January is attached.