Welsh Statistical Liaison Committee, 5 February 2026: minutes

Abigail Cole (AC), Carmarthenshire County Council 

Alwyn Williams (ALW), Isle of Anglesey County Council 

Andy Wilson (ANW), Torfaen County Borough Council 

Brenna Organ (BO), Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) 

Bryn Jeffries (BJ), Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough 

Caitlin Theodorou (CT), Ceredigion County Council 

Eifion Rees (ER), Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue Service 

Greeta Kerai (GKE), ONS Local 

Geraint Morgan (GM), Powys County Council 

Helen Jones (HJ), Senedd Research 

Henry Knowles (HK), Natural Resources Wales 

Janine Edwards (JE), North Wales Regional Partnership Board

Johnathon Radcliffe (JR), Sport Wales 

Kay Palmer (KP), Audit Wales 

Kelly Edwards (KE), Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Lara Phelan (LP), ONS 

Leanne John (LJ), Swansea Council 

Lesley Rees (LR), Carmarthenshire County Council 

Lee Clarke (LC), Cardiff County Council 

Lloyd Fisher (LF), Vale of Glamorgan Council 

Lowri Wyn Morton (LWM), Cyngor Gwynedd 

Manon Fflur Pritchard (MFP), Cyngor Gwynedd 

Megan Williams (MW), Welsh Government 

Morgan Lowden (ML), Isle of Anglesey County Council 

Paul Jones (PJ), Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council 

Peter Davies (PD), Senedd Research 

Stef Taylor (ST), Welsh Government 

Steve King (SK), City and County of Swansea 

Tamsin Long (TL), Public Health Wales 

Varsha Roy (VR), Vale of Glamorgan Council

Speakers

Andy O’Rourke (AO), Welsh Government 

Anja Knox (AK), Welsh Government 

Bec Marshall (BM), Welsh Government 

Chris Ravenscroft (CR), Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)

George Kamau (GKA), Welsh Government 

Hayley Randall (HR), WLGA 

Joe Jenkins (JJ), ONS 

Lloyd Harris (LH), Welsh Government 

Martin Parry (MP), Welsh Government 

Nia Jones (NJ), Welsh Government 

Orlaith Fraser (OF), ONS 

Roisin Roberts (RR), WLGA 

Stephanie Howarth (SHO), Welsh Government 

Stephanie Harries (SHA), Welsh Government 

Steve King (SK), City and County of Swansea 

Vicki Doyle (VD), Caerphilly County Borough Council

Minute takers

Jasmine Sears (JS), Welsh Government

Oliver Jameson (OJ), Welsh Government

Apologies

Phillip Barlow, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park

Adam Crocker, Pembrokeshire County Council

Brett Davis, South Wales Police

Tyla Fuller, Estyn

Anna Howell, Wrexham County Borough Council

Eleri James, Welsh Language Commissioner

Kate Jones, HM Prison and Probation Service in Wales

Richard Jones, Monmouthshire County Council

Nathan Lester, Public Health Wales

Neil Townsend, ONS

Nia Wyn Vaughn, Cyngor Gwynedd

SHO opened the meeting, welcoming members, and particularly new attendees. She noted that simultaneous translation was unavailable because the meeting did not meet the 10% Welsh language threshold. 

No comments were raised on the previous minutes, so the minutes were accepted. 

HR update on the joint wellbeing dashboard was completed in this meeting

Welsh Local Government Association update

HR highlighted that the sector‑led improvement board remains in place. Work is ongoing on the Nationalisation Survey, targeted for September 2027, and training remains available. The road safety dashboard and MSMS safety tool are now active.

MP provided updates on local authority and housing population statistics, small area population estimates, quarterly population updates due this month, and ONS national population projections planned for April.

Statistics Wales quarterly update

SHO drew members’ attention to a number of items from the quarterly Statistics Wales update paper, and provided more recent information on the StatsWales service:

• A consultation on statistics outputs will close on 11 February. WSLC members are encouraged to respond, if they have not already.
• For labour market statistics, quality is improving but remains short of pre‑pandemic levels.
• Multipliers for economic output, GVA and employment have been published under the Input‑Output Tables project.
• Housing estimates published; housing need estimates due the following week.
• Design confirmed for the next Welsh Housing Survey (2027-28), aiming for regional estimates.
• Significant improvements underway in StatsWales3, including bug fixes, taxonomy and sorting improvements, the search function being released and a “create a table” feature expected by March. The closure of the old StatsWales site is confirmed for 2 March 2026.

Regarding the consultation, JE emphasised the importance of highlighting distinctive Welsh characteristics and insights in Welsh Government summaries of (e.g.) ONS outputs, noting that these can be lost within broader UK data and are particularly valuable for Wales.

Discussion on StatsWales included questions from JE and CR on access to archived versions of the old StatsWales site. It was confirmed that the Wayback Machine only stores static versions and cannot archive interactive elements.

Clear guidance will be available for accessing old data no longer available on the site, as well as redirections to the new StatsWales. The table builder feature is aimed to be very simple to use and there are currently no plans regarding pre-built tables being available on the site, but user needs will continue to be monitored and shape future improvements.

Joint Wellbeing Dashboard (Public Service Board Dashboard)

RR presented the Public Service Boards (PSB) Dashboard, a collaborative effort between the WLGA team and Public Service Boards (Swansea, Newport, Neath Port Talbot & Cwm Taf Morgannwg). The dashboard provides a bilingual platform with curated datasets. It supports wellbeing assessments, internal reporting, and policy work. It presents PSB level data where possible.

CR demonstrated the functionality of the dashboard, showing category navigation, filter options, and metadata availability. It pulls together data from multiple sources and organises it into themed sections, each with its own default landing page and additional sub‑pages. The dashboard includes interactive visualisations such as time‑series line charts and bar charts of the latest data. Users can filter data and view specific values. Notes and data sources appear beneath each visualisation, and where possible, data for individual local authorities is also aggregated to show PSB‑level figures.

SK described the development process as positive and collaborative, emphasising ongoing improvements and shared learning across teams. Reflections were shared about the collaborative process of developing the dashboard with various organisations and PSBs. The project’s aim was to create a shared data portal to support wellbeing goals. Although launched in October 2025, further improvements are planned as part of a larger “iteration 2”. Work is ongoing to complete initial goals, and PSBs are coordinating to reduce costs and improve consistency. He described collaboration across PSBs and departments as very positive.

Discussion

BJ asked whether the dashboard team could collaborate with the Health Determinants Research Committee in RCT. HR welcomed such engagement and provided contact information.

JE asked about costs, timelines for adapting the dashboard for other PSBs and dependencies on StatsWales following consultation‑driven changes. HR explained that the dashboard exists as a master template that can be adapted, with cost depending on the number of participating PSBs. She and SHO confirmed that underlying data sources would continue to be available even if some outputs change.

VD highlighted challenges in Gwent’s approach, including missing environmental data in joint strategic assessments, prior barriers to developing a local data system, reduced capacity among PSBs, and the need for a Wales‑level data portal with analytical context—not just indicators. HR responded that data coverage will be maintained at a base level even though data may be sourced slightly differently over time and that timelines and national consistency issues are recognised but still being worked through

Future Trends Report

LH introduced the plans for the Future Trends Report, required under the Well‑being of Future Generations Act. The target publication date is December 2026, earlier than previous years. Quantitative work is expected to complete in late spring/early summer 2026. There is a strong emphasis on systems thinking and cross‑cutting linkages. Engagement with children and young people forms a major component.

BM presented an overview of the planned theme areas including climate change, economy, Welsh language, and more factors. She outlined the intended systems‑thinking visualisations and emphasised how many themes overlap in meaningful ways.

Discussion included comments welcoming the earlier delivery timeline and the utility of interim data drops.

NJ, AO, and GK presented the results of WIMD 2025 which was published on the 27 November. The presentation included the overall WIMD results, an overview of each domain and what has been published so far. AO also gave an overview of the future work plans and asked the group for suggestions on what should be prioritised. No questions or comments were received on the presentation. 

JJ presented the 2021 rural-urban classifications of statistical geographies. The presentation included an explanation of rural-urban classifications, a summary of the key differences between the 2011 and 2021 rural-urban classifications and an overview of the custom Welsh rural-urban classifications. AO showed the group the rural/urban splits using 25,000 and 30,000 population thresholds for built up areas and added that the Welsh Government is evaluating using the 25,000 option as it better reflects local context in North Wales. No questions or comments were received on this presentation.

OF presented an update on the 2031 census preparations. OF gave an overview of considerations being made for the 2031 census about addressing, effective targeting of paper questionnaires, effective use of field staff and user needs. ONS are working with the Welsh Government to ensure addressing meets the needs of Welsh residents. OF also explained the timeline for the 2031 census including the recent topic consultation, the census test in 2027 and a rehearsal in 2029. 

Discussion

VD provided feedback on the length of the topic consultation, suggesting it could be simplified to reduce repetitiveness for local authorities covering all 13 topics. OF agreed to pass on this feedback to the team.

MFP asked for more detail on addressing elements and how homeless people are also being considered. OF responded that considerations are being made to ensure the census works for people with both fixed addresses and non-fixed addresses including both homeless populations and other transient groups.

SHA and AK presented the 2022 local authority-based population and household projections which were published on 20 November 2025. SHA presented the local authority population projections. This included the factors used for the population projections, an outline of the background of the projections and a summary of the key results. AK presented the local authority household projections. This included an overview of the methodology of the projections and a summary of the key results. SHA then continued to explain the next steps, including publishing 2022 based national park population and household projections and a report on Welsh national population projections.

Discussion

JE suggested promoting the latest projections more with health colleagues. She also noted that the StatsWales datasets on projections were well designed and some of the easiest to use on the new service.

MP stated that the Offices for Statistics Regulation published an update to the code of practise for statistics at the end of 2025. The code places a greater emphasis on involving the public in statistical production, with a requirement to publish a public involvement and engagement strategy. The WG will update the current user engagement strategy to be in line with the new code of practise. MP asked the group to share examples of good public involvement in their work.

The next meeting will take place on 4 June 2026.

Action 1: All members that have fed back on the new StatsWales service to complete the StatsWales feedback form. 

Action 2: SHA to look into the different health networks and groups that the projections could be presented to.