TfW Statement of Compliance

Transport for Wales (TfW) is named as a body that produces official statistics in The Official Statistics (Wales) Order 2017. Official Statistics are defined in Section 6 of the Statistics and Registration Services Act 2007.

TfW is an arms-length body wholly owned by the Welsh Government. We participate in the UK statistical system through the Welsh Government’s Chief Statistician and Head of Profession for Statistics.

TfW acts as an expert adviser and advocate for transport-related matters to the Welsh Government. We provide technical advice to inform and develop transport policy. We also perform a monitoring function, assessing progress towards transport-related targets outlined in the Llwybr Newydd: Wales Transport Strategy, Net Zero Wales Carbon Budgets, and the implementation of default 20mph speed limits on restricted roads. However, TfW is independent from setting policy and does not exercise any statutory functions.

The UK Statistics Authority publishes the Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code), providing the framework for publishing statistics that serve the public good.

As a listed producer of official statistics, TfW is committed to applying the Code as a framework for delivering high quality, robust and transparent statistics that inform public debate.

TfW plays a key role in monitoring the effects of the default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads. Additionally, in collaboration with the Welsh Government, we’re developing a National Travel Survey for Wales. To reflect the increase in TfW’s scope, we’re looking to develop our statistical reporting capacity guided by the Code’s principles.

Following the appointment of a statistician to act as the Lead Official for Statistics, we’re working to develop our reporting capacity. This includes:

• Publishing a statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.
• Developing and publishing a policy governing revisions and corrections for statistics.
• Developing and publishing a policy on data governance.
• Adopting and applying pre-release access policy on official statistics.
• Pre-announcing upcoming statistical releases on the Statistics Wales release calendar.
• Improving the accessibility and transparency of the reporting by:
  • Publishing reports in accessible data formats (for example,  HTML)
  • Publishing supporting raw data alongside reports (in OpenDocument Spreadsheet format)
  • Publishing shorter statistical bulletins alongside technical reports.
• Collaborating with stakeholders and data users to meet their needs.

Alongside improvements to the reporting capacity, TfW is applying principles of the Code in the work undertaken on 20mph monitoring and the development of the Wales National Travel Survey.

Monitoring the implementation of 20mph default speed limits on restricted roads

TfW is responsible for monitoring the effects of the 20mph default speed limits on restricted roads against a set of key performance indicators (KPIs).

The national rollout of the default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads in September 2023 generated substantial public interest. Following recommendations from the Office for Statistics Regulation on TfW’s reporting, we’ve reviewed our monitoring strategy and acted to improve the transparency and accessibility of the data. This includes:

• Publishing all technical monitoring reports in accessible format (HTML)
• Publishing short, statistical bulletins detailing key messages
• Publishing raw data tables to support the messaging from the monitoring reports.

Additionally, we have published a voluntary statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, detailing further how we align with the framework.

Wales National Travel Survey

We are working with the Welsh Government to develop a Wales National Travel Survey. This will collect data on travel attitudes and behaviours from people living within Wales, addressing key data needs identified as part of the Wales Transport Strategy Monitoring Framework.

We have appointed the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) as our delivery partner to develop the survey. The Code has provided a framework for how we undertake the survey development. For instance:

• Recruiting a statistician within TfW and engaging with experts to ensure that the survey is developed with suitable professional capacity.
• Working with subject experts to understand our data requirements.
• Considering a range of potential data sources, ensuring suitability and using internationally comparable methods.
• Collaborating with policy stakeholders, transport planners and external groups when developing and refining the content of the survey to ensure the statistics provide relevant and valuable insight to the users.
• Undertaking several rounds of qualitative testing to refine the questions and ensure the data is based on suitable sources.
• Launching a large, web-first pilot test to assess the quality of our questions against the data needs.
• Managing pilot data according to all statutory obligations in a secure manner.
• Engaging with stakeholders and potential data users by different means (such as the Economic Statistics User Group).

Subsequent rounds of qualitative testing, quantitative testing and stakeholder engagement are planned.

We will publish reports from the survey development and initial evaluation stages to demonstrate transparency in the development process.