May 2014 Improving the accessibility of Official Statistics: HMRC’s uktradeinfo website

May 2014 Background HMRC publishes a broad range of National Statistics, from tax receipts to child trust funds HMRC’s Trade Statistics unit collects and publishes UK import and export trade-in-goods data as the Overseas Trade Statistics (OTS) and Regional Trade Statistics (RTS) UK trade-in-goods statistics are collected from UK Customs declarations (Non-EU trade) and the Intrastat survey of businesses (EU trade) OTS & RTS releases and detailed trade data are published via HMRC’s dedicated trade statistics website uktradeinfo.com

Timeline: uktradeinfo May 2014 Timeline: uktradeinfo 2000 launched as a paid-for subscription site for niche users 2006 became free to use, with registration access to detailed data 2011 broad programme of customer engagement to update requirement 2012 re-launched with open access, with 25,000+ unique monthly visitors

May 2014 Drivers for change EU procurement rules dictating need to re-tender site contract Code of Practice for Official Statistics challenging data dissemination and presentation standards Increasing user expectation and demand from new technology Downward pressure on budgets, need to deliver cost savings

Trade statistics user engagement May 2014 Trade statistics user engagement Wide range of users across government, commercial, academic, financial, press and public sectors Online survey of data users Registered data users targeted News items Email Alert Service Email responses with survey promotion signatures Harvesting of customer enquiry, feedback and complaint information

Trade statistics user engagement…continued May 2014 Trade statistics user engagement…continued 1:1 engagement with key stakeholder users via dedicated Client Managers Opinion sought from the International Business Statistics User Group Questions inserted in formal Intrastat Triennial Review survey Annual review of non-web output customers UKSA Code of Practice compliance assessment observations

User Engagement Outcomes May 2014 User Engagement Outcomes Quicker access to detailed data required Registration requirement useful to HMRC but barrier to casual users But…frequent users want ability to save self-built detailed data tables Users want EU and Non-EU data presented together More data fields e.g. port Metadata not easy to find Ability to build time series essential Multiple download options requested

What did we deliver? 1 New website with 20% cost reduction May 2014 What did we deliver? 1 New website with 20% cost reduction Requirement to register to access detailed data removed Homepage dashboard to provide quick access to latest National Statistics releases Social media sharing links Dynamically updated monthly trade bar chart on homepage with 1 click access to detailed trade data Dedicated consultation area on homepage alongside latest news Feedback link on every page

May 2014 What did we deliver? 2 Dedicated release areas for OTS and RTS products with metadata content in tabs alongside Pre-prepared ‘cuts’ of the data in downloadable spreadsheets based on previous popular requests Quick line graph visualisation of the latest monthly data Simplified, downloadable commentary with enhanced data graphics Quick links from the monthly release to the detailed underlying data interactive tables Easy archive access for past releases

May 2014 What did we deliver? 3 SQL trade database presenting EU and Non-EU data in same table Monthly updated data in time series from 1996 to current year Detailed data simultaneously published with National Statistics aggregate release Improved disclosure control meaning more data legitimately published Additional data field – UK ‘port’ added for Non-EU trade for all years

May 2014 What did we deliver? 4 Easy access to metadata, simple charts and trade maps Save table view – allowing built tables to be stored (3 months) without registration and URLs shared via email/social media etc. Long-term table storage and Alert Service choices via combined voluntary registration Drag and drop data field manipulation Spreadsheet, CSV and PDF export facility

May 2014 What did we deliver? 5 Downloadable versions of the complete monthly dataset in open- data machine readable format 7 year downloadable data archive Latest month available for self- service download within 30 minutes of National Statistics release Reduced customer enquiries and data handling overhead as a result of user self-service Improved site usage metrics and analytics allowing improved understanding of customer journey

What do our users think? 2013/14 annual web survey results indicate: May 2014 What do our users think? 2013/14 annual web survey results indicate: 27% are very satisfied 52% are satisfied 15% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 4% are dissatisfied 1% are very dissatisfied 1% don’t know

Developments underway May 2014 Developments underway Simultaneous release of Non-EU and EU OTS National Statistics (currently approx. 1 week apart) Collaboration with BIS and ONS to develop pre-prepared, media- friendly trade map visualisations Publication of interactive table building tutorials on YouTube DevExpress software upgrade (now IE6 no longer supported) allowing improved functionality Building engagement via the ‘Business and Trade Statistics’ community on StatsUserNet

Feedback always appreciated! May 2014 Feedback always appreciated! Thank you for viewing this presentation. Feedback to the presenter can be provided by emailing: richard.batterham@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk Feedback on the uktradeinfo website or HMRC National Statistics by: uktradeinfo Customer Feedback Form email to uktradeinfo@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk contacting HMRC National Statistics Producers joining the Business & Trade Statistics community at StatsUserNet Or use the individual page feedback links at the bottom of all uktradeinfo pages. THANK YOU