Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service

Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service
Name	Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service
Formation	2013
Headquarters	Newport, Wales
Jurisdiction	United Kingdom
Parent agency	Office for National Statistics

Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service.

The Secure Research Service (SRS) is a controlled-access data service operated by the Office for National Statistics that enables accredited researchers to analyze de‑identified administrative, survey, and census data within a secure environment. It supports linkage across datasets from bodies such as the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, and NHS Digital while maintaining statutory safeguards under instruments like the Statistics and Registration Service Act and the Data Protection Act. The service underpins research used by policy bodies including the UK Parliament, the Cabinet Office, and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Overview

The SRS provides a virtual research environment where approved users can access microdata from sources such as the 2011 Census, 2021 Census, Annual Population Survey, Understanding Society, Hospital Episode Statistics, and tax records from HM Revenue and Customs. It was developed alongside initiatives like the Administrative Data Research Network and builds on work by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Medical Research Council to facilitate secure secondary analysis. The model parallels secure data services run by organisations including the US Census Bureau Research Data Centers, Statistics Canada, and Eurostat, while integrating legal frameworks similar to those in the European Union and overseen by bodies akin to the Information Commissioner's Office and the National Statistician.

Governance and Access Policy

Governance of the SRS rests with the Office for National Statistics corporate governance structures and advisory input from academic institutions such as the London School of Economics, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and University of Manchester. Access policy requires projects to demonstrate public benefit and comply with legislation including the Freedom of Information Act and the Health and Social Care Act where applicable. Ethical review may involve research ethics committees affiliated with the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, and the Economic and Social Research Council. Data sharing agreements and confidentiality undertakings reference precedents from bodies like the National Health Service, Department for Education, and Ministry of Justice.

Data and Services Provided

The SRS hosts linked datasets from agencies including NHS Digital, Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Transport, and the Home Office, alongside longitudinal sources such as the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society. Services include bespoke data linkage, curated harmonised datasets used by researchers at institutions such as Imperial College London, University College London, King’s College London, and the Universities of Leeds and Bristol, plus training and metadata provision informed by standards from the Office for National Statistics Centre for Applied Data Ethics. Outputs inform reports for organisations like the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Resolution Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and the Royal Society.

Security, Privacy, and Data Governance

Security measures combine physical and technical controls similar to those used by MI5 for classified handling and by the Bank of England for financial data resilience: secure remote access, two‑factor authentication, audit logs, and disclosure control on outputs. Privacy governance employs de‑identification approaches aligned with guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office and methods used in projects funded by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council. Legal compliance references the Data Protection Act and oversight by the National Statistician, with advisory input from entities such as the Royal Statistical Society, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, and the Ada Lovelace Institute.

Researcher Accreditation and Use Cases

Researchers from universities including the London School of Economics, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, and Queen Mary University of London must undergo accreditation similar to schemes run by the Administrative Data Research UK and the Office for National Statistics’ Secure Researcher Service predecessor programmes. Accredited projects have produced policy evaluations for NHS England, social policy analyses for the Department for Work and Pensions, labour market studies used by the Resolution Foundation and Institute for Fiscal Studies, and epidemiological studies informing Public Health England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Collaborative work has involved third‑sector partners such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and academic consortia funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Technical Infrastructure and Facilities

The SRS infrastructure uses secure data centres located in the UK with virtualization, role‑based access controls, and disaster recovery similar to best practice in cloud security employed by the Government Digital Service and the National Health Service Digital. Analytical tools provided include statistical packages used across universities and research institutes—such as Stata, R, and Python—within a controlled environment to prevent data export. Interoperability and metadata standards reference models from Eurostat, the UK Data Service, and the Research Data Alliance, and the platform supports linkage workflows comparable to those used by the Office for National Statistics’ Data Science Campus and academic research groups at Imperial College London and the Alan Turing Institute.

Impact, Criticism, and Future Developments

The SRS has enabled influential research cited by the UK Parliament, the Bank of England, and public bodies including Public Health England and NHS England, and informed debates within think tanks such as the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Resolution Foundation. Criticism has focused on access bottlenecks, accreditation times, and the balance between data utility and privacy raised by civil society organisations like Liberty and Big Brother Watch, and scrutiny by the Information Commissioner’s Office. Future developments discussed involve expanded linkage with local authority data, automation of disclosure control informed by research at the Alan Turing Institute and University of Oxford, and enhanced user experience informed by collaboration with the Open Data Institute and the National Physical Laboratory.

Category:Office for National Statistics Category:United Kingdom statistical organisations Category:Research infrastructure in the United Kingdom