Welsh Statistical Liaison Committee, 13 October 2026: minutes

Philip Barlow (PB), Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

Nigel Blewitt (NB), Audit Wales

Lee Clarke (LC), Cardiff City Council

Rachael Clifford (RC), MEDR

Abigail Cole (AC), Carmarthenshire City Council

Peter Davies (PD), Senedd Research

Paul Dingle (PDi), Welsh Government

Vicki Doyle (VD), Caerphilly County Borough Council

Janine Edwards (JE), North Wales Regional Partnership Board

Lloyd Fisher (LF), Vale of Glamorgan Council

Eleri James (EJ), Welsh Language Commissioner’s Office

Bryn Jeffries (BJ), Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council

Richard Jones (RJ), Monmouthshire County Council

Steve King (SK), Swansea City Council

Henry Knowles (HK), Natural Resources Wales

Anja Knox (AK), Welsh Government

Nia Lyle (NL), West Glamorgan Regional Partnership

Jodi Massey (JM), Welsh Government

Geraint Morgan (GM), Powys County Council

Martin Parry (MP), Welsh Government

Manon Fflur Pritchard (MFP), Cyngor Gwynedd

Jonathan Radcliffe (JR), Sports Wales

Caitlin Theodorou (CT), Ceredigion County Council

Cairan Williams (CW), Transport for Wales

Megan Williams (MW), Welsh Government

Notetaker

Luke Vincent (LV), Welsh Government

Speakers

Melanie Brown (MB), Welsh Government

Rich Davies (RD), Welsh Government

Ana Harries (AH), Welsh Local Government Association

Stephanie Harries (SHa), Welsh Government

Lloyd Harris (LH), Welsh Government

Stephanie Howarth (SH), Welsh Government (Chair)

Brenna Organ (BO), Welsh Local Government Association

Will Parrott (WP), Welsh Government

Rob Pascoe (RP), Welsh Local Government Association

Annie-Rose Pickup (ARP), Transport for Wales

Sam Willson (SW), Transport for Wales

Apologies

Gwyneth Ayers, Carmarthenshire County Council

Leanne John, Swansea City Council

Helen Jones, Senedd Research

Kate Jones, HM Prison and Probation Services in Wales

Neil Townsend, Office for National Statistics

Alwyn Williams, Isle of Anglesey County Council

Andy Wilson, Torfaen County Borough Council

Nia Wyn Vaughan, Cyngor Gwynedd

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting and noted that presentations would be published where speakers granted permission. Members were informed that a transcript was being recorded to support notetaking and would be deleted once the minutes had been completed. Simultaneous translation was not available as the participation threshold had not been met.

The Chair welcomed new attendees, including Nigel Blewitt from Audit Wales, who will attend future meetings in place of Kay Palmer.

Minutes and actions from previous meeting

No comments were received on the minutes from the previous meeting and they were agreed.

Updates were provided on actions from the June 2026 meeting:

• Discussions between Welsh Government and the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Office regarding Welsh language data collection had been completed.
• An update on the Local Government Data Audit had been included on the agenda.
• ONS confirmed plans to establish Census Advisory Groups by the end of 2026.
• ONS continue to develop work relating to administrative household income statistics and expect to provide a further update during the current financial year.

Janine Edwards expressed concern regarding the timescales for development of the 2031 Census and stressed the importance of ensuring user requirements and institutional knowledge continue to inform planning arrangements.

Stephanie Howarth acknowledged the concerns and confirmed Welsh Government would continue to monitor developments and include a future Census update on the agenda.

Members also heard that the Office for Statistics Regulation had begun work relating to its assessment of the 2031 Census and was seeking views from informed users.

Statistics updates were provided, including:

• Martin Parry’s appointment as Head of Health and Care Statistics.
• Publication of a forthcoming Statistics Work Plan.
• Recent education statistical releases.
• Developments relating to homelessness data.
• Recent Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation analysis.

Janine Edwards highlighted the relevance of homelessness data to Population Needs Assessments.

Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) update

Brenna Organ provided an update on WLGA activities and the Wider Data Programme following the merger with Data Cymru.

The programme is considering how support to local authorities can evolve while maintaining existing services including surveys, dashboards, benchmarking tools and data collections. Further engagement activity will take place through the Digital Advisory Group and forthcoming in-person discussions.

Members also heard about feedback from the recent WLGA Conference, where discussion focused on the use of data and evidence within local government and future support requirements.

An update was provided on the National Resident Survey. Seven councils were participating in the current survey round, and preparations were underway for future aligned survey activity. Work is being undertaken to develop a dedicated Welsh Language module and improvements to the survey dashboard.

Ana Harries introduced the Welsh Local Government Outcomes Framework. The framework aims to provide a clearer and more consistent description of outcomes being achieved by local government and how progress can be measured.

Members discussed timescales, links to Public Service Board wellbeing assessments and the importance of accessible and timely data. An initial framework and associated insight tools based on existing data are expected to be developed during the current financial year.

Rob Pascoe presented findings from the Local Government Data Audit, conducted by WLGA.

The audit examined mandatory data reporting across Welsh local authorities, focusing on social care, education and planning. Evidence was gathered from 40 participants across 17 councils.

The audit found that:

• data collection and reporting activity remains valuable
• significant burden exists within current processes
• manual processing and duplication remain common
• validation and feedback processes can be slow
• good practice exists across local government and could be shared more widely

Recommendations included improved communication between Welsh Government and councils, rationalisation of reporting requirements, improved consistency, improved timeliness and strengthened support networks.

Members discussed links with the Welsh Local Government Outcomes Framework, opportunities to reduce duplication and challenges associated with extracting data from operational systems.

The potential value of sharing the proposed Data Return Catalogue with wider public-sector partners was also discussed.

Sam Willson and Annie-Rose Pickup provided an update on the Welsh National Travel Survey.

Members heard how the survey had been developed to address the evidence gap created following Wales’s withdrawal from the UK Department for Transport National Travel Survey in 2012.

Presenters outlined the survey methodology, development process and preliminary findings.

Main findings included:

• car travel remains the dominant mode of transport
• active travel accounts for approximately one-fifth of journeys
• public transport represents a relatively small proportion of journeys
• further outputs and analysis will be published following completion of the first full survey year

Discussion focused on:

• electric vehicle infrastructure
• accessibility of public transport
• challenges associated with transport within Valley communities
• effects of current South Wales Metro works
• opportunities for future geographic and demographic analysis

Members welcomed the creation of a significant new transport dataset and highlighted its future value.

Melanie Brown presented an overview of the latest Wellbeing of Wales report.

Overall progress remains mixed. Positive developments were identified in areas including greenhouse gas emissions, recycling and educational outcomes. Significant challenges remain in relation to poverty, healthy life expectancy, health inequalities and biodiversity.

Members were informed that of the twenty milestone assessments undertaken:

• 10 were improving
• 5 were worsening
• 5 showed no significant change

Lloyd Harris then provided an update on the Future Trends Report.

The report is scheduled for publication in February 2027 and will consider future analytical trends across the Well-being Goals. It will include evidence relating to a range of long-term challenges and opportunities facing Wales alongside findings from public engagement activities.

Members were informed that an embargoed data pack would be shared with Public Service Boards during autumn 2026 to support wellbeing assessment work ahead of publication of the final report in February 2027.

Discussion focused on local data availability, accessibility of information, opportunities for automation and report publication timescales.

Actions: 

• Welsh Government to review opportunities to update and share resources supporting access to wellbeing indicator data.

Stephanie Harries provided an update on the latest population estimates.

Wales’ population was estimated at approximately 3.18 million in 2025, representing a small decrease compared with 2024. The reduction reflected continuing negative natural change alongside lower international migration.

Members also heard about future plans relating to population projections, National Park projections and household estimates.

Will Parrott presented an update on estimates of additional housing need.

Members heard that:

• existing unmet need was estimated at 9,400 housing units
• newly arising need was estimated at approximately 8,700 units annually during the first five years of the projection period
• updated projection variants had been incorporated following recent revisions to household projections

Discussion focused on the implications of population decline, workforce availability and long-term planning assumptions.

Janine Edwards emphasised the importance of preparing for demographic change and considering the implications of an ageing population.

Richard Davies presented findings from recent user engagement work focused on the future development of StatsWales.

Feedback had been grouped into 4 themes:

• finding data more easily
• understanding context
• working with data confidently
• accessing data flexibly

Members heard about planned work relating to:

• navigation and search improvements
• metadata enhancements
• download and API improvements
• geographic consistency across datasets
• future user engagement activity

Discussion focused on how users would like to receive future updates and members welcomed continued engagement through WSLC.

The Chair formally thanked Janine Edwards for her longstanding contribution to Welsh statistics, local government analysis and the Welsh Statistical Liaison Committee.

Members recognised Janine’s significant expertise, constructive challenge and support over many years and wished her a long and enjoyable retirement.

Members were invited to suggest future agenda items through the Secretariat.

The next meeting will take place on 4 February 2027.

1. Welsh Government to include a Census update at a future meeting
2. Welsh Government to follow up with ONS regarding progress on Census Advisory Groups
3. Welsh Government to review opportunities to update and share resources supporting access to wellbeing indicator data