The Office for National Statistics, D&B and UK businesses
Partners in the provision of data to government and business

To make really big decisions, whether they are economic, social, business or political, requires the support of high quality, independent data and information. When it comes to official statistics about the UK, responsibility for data collection and publishing the data falls to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). From the rate of inflation and GDP to the ten-yearly Census and retail sales figures, the information provided by ONS is relied on by government, businesses, media, and the public alike.

Let's take government first. Information about UK businesses plays a critical role in government decisions about the economy. To make sure government departments have access to the data they need, ONS maintains and provides a comprehensive list of UK businesses: the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). Linda Scott, Head of Data Inputs at the Business Registers Unit of ONS, explains: "The register is a vital resource for government departments. It contains details of over two million businesses, giving us 99% coverage of UK economic activity. While the main user is ONS for its business surveys, many other government departments regularly use the register both for statistical analysis and for surveying businesses."

Under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947, UK businesses are obliged to respond to statutory business surveys conducted by ONS. Linda Scott continues: "We send out approximately 2.4 million business survey questionnaires per year. There are more than 80 statutory surveys undertaken by ONS. These are undertaken on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis. These all rely on the business register and it is vital that it is up to date and accurate.

ONS builds the IDBR from data it receives from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). This comes to ONS in two streams: financial and employment. "We get a daily feed from HMRC detailing business VAT registrations, deregistrations and changes," says Linda Scott. "This means that any new VAT registered businesses appear instantly on the IDBR and they are then available to be sent a business survey questionnaire. In addition, every quarter HMRC sends ONS information on turnover.

"On the employment side, whenever a business registers with HMRC for PAYE purposes, we receive details including the number of employees, gender split and whether jobs are full or part time. It's worth noting that all this information only tells us part of the story: it tells us about individual businesses but does not give us enough insight into the relationships and linkages between firms."

According to Linda Scott this is an essential component: "Once we've got all the information from HMRC we then use the Companies House register to match and link units using the unique company number. This means we can bring the financial and employment information for each business together. In order to get group structures on the IDBR, ONS works with D&B, buying data that clearly show how businesses are linked. Because the D&B D-U-N-S Number is a unique identifier it shows us the links between companies, identifies their parent companies and highlights any global relationships. This then enables us to create enterprise groups on the IDBR.

"These enterprise groups enable us to monitor many variables, for example employment changes, changes in ownership, and the level of foreign ownership of UK businesses. This is all important information for government when it comes to making decisions that affect UK businesses. The information from D&B is essential to build the group structures on the IDBR without this data ONS would have to contact businesses directly at a cost to both them and government. The relationship we've built with D&B over many years, including feedback on data quality issues and structures, enables the quality of the data to then be used for creating group structures on IDBR."