Office for National Statistics: Regional Presence

Office for National StatisticsThe Office for National Statistics (ONS) regional presence in the West Midlands has been hosted at the West Midlands Regional Observatory since April 2007.

ONS are here to provide data, analysis and advice specifically for the West Midlands and aim to be the first point of contact for statistical enquiries.

The West Midlands team is one of nine based in each of the English regions working in close partnership with the Regional Development Agencies and Regional Observatories, established following the Review of Statistics for Economic Policymaking carried out by Christopher Allsopp.

Several key functions for the Regional Statistics team include:

  • Providing a first point of contact for ONS users within the West Midlands.
  • Providing independent advice to regional users on ONS and wider Government Statistical Service (GSS) statistics, including advice on technical issues.
  • Providing wider access to ONS/​GSS data to regional partners.
  • Facilitating training for regional partners on, for instance, economic statistics.
  • Gathering intelligence to help improve the quality of ONS data and processes, particularly relating to regional Gross Value Added (GVA).
  • Assessing, or assisting in the assessment of, locally commissioned or locally held data.
  • Advising ONS in its decision-​making by acting as a focus to feed views through from regional bodies.

The team also devotes around a quarter of their time working with regional partners on collaborative projects.

Coinciding with the April 2007 launch, ONS published Changing Regional Economies (PDF, 686kb) reports for each English region. Each report provides a profile of the relevant region and presents a range of statistics that help to understand differences between regions.

Within regions, comparisons are made between sub-​regions and between rural and urban areas. Regional statistics in the context of the European Structural Funds are discussed, followed by a look-​ahead at the developments in regional statistics expected as a result of the Allsopp programme.

Meet the team                                                             Stuart Onyeche

Stuart Onyeche
ONS Regional Analyst

Email: stuart.onyeche@ons.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 0121 202 3257

Stuart is part of a small team working for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), co-​located at the Observatory. Prior to the ONS, he worked for the BBC producing research and statistics relating to the corporation's local and regional services. Stuart has a BSc (Hons) in Meteorology from the University of Reading, and a post-​graduate diploma in Urban & Regional Studies from the University of Birmingham.

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