Measuring National Well-being in the UK Stephen Penneck, Director General, Office for National Statistics 27 June

Background of the programme In the UK ONS has been reporting on developments in society for over 40 years in the Social Trends publication ONS started looking at societal well-being, examining existing datasets and how these could be used to help build a clear picture of societal well- being 2010 – Prime Minister David Cameron launched the ONS National Well-being Programme ‘today the government is asking the Office of National Statistics to devise a new way of measuring wellbeing in Britain’

What are we trying to achieve? An accepted and trusted set of National Statistics to help people understand and monitor national well-being. EconomySocial Environment & Sustainability The ‘triple bottom line’

What progress has been made? Estimates of human capital 6 month estimate of subjective well-being based on 4 questions added to largest household survey in April 2011 Proposed set of well-being domains and measures National debate on ‘what matters for well-being’ First quarterly household release include real actual household income A series of ‘domain’ articles: ‘Our relationships’ and ‘What we do’

What is national well-being?

What’s next? Environmental accounts First annual subjective well-being results Domain article ‘Where we live’ Local area maps Indicator set Response to consultation / gaps / plans Domain articles ‘The economy’, ‘Personal finance’ and ‘The environment’ Estimates of human capital ‘State of the Nation’ – 2 year report Analysis & development plans June - July Aug – Oct Nov

Why is stakeholder consultation important? ‘Statistics are the bedrock of democracy, in a country where we care about what is happening. We must measure what matters - the key elements of national well-being. We want to develop measures based on what people tell us matters most.’ Jil Matheson, National Statistician,

Why is stakeholder consultation important? The national debate Debate ran between November 2010 and April 2011, asking ‘what matters to you?’ 175 events held around the country attended by over 7,000 people Over 34,000 responses generated from online survey, forums and other channels Helped identify key areas that matter most Published National Statistician’s report on the national debate in July 2011

Why is stakeholder consultation important? Further consultation Consultation on proposed domains and measures: Excellent response - nearly 1,800 Broad support for domains Additional suggestions include: arts, culture, sport spirituality, religion, faith access to green space More detailed response July Consultation with Cabinet Office and policy departments Expert consultation on measures e.g. environmental accounts, subjective well-being

Why is stakeholder consultation important? e-Frame Work package 7: Guidelines for stakeholder inclusion in the development of well-being/ progress measures Collecting national and local experience of stakeholder inclusion Questionnaire: Which stakeholders have you engaged with? How? What was most effective? Workshop in June 2013 Contact if you would like to take