ARIES programme: high-level roadmap

In this section

  1. Background
  2. Projects contributing to the ARIES programme
  3. High level programme roadmap
  4. Future Plans
  5. Final monitoring and evaluation plan

1. Background

  • Throughout 2021 to 2022, the Ambitious, Radical, Inclusive Economic Statistics (ARIES) programme addressed an ambitious agenda of statistical development, which focused on further improving the quality of important economic measures; this included the introduction of new methodology to produce double-deflated National Accounts, while remaining responsive to user needs at a challenging time for the UK economy.  

  • In April 2022, the ARIES programme was extended to become an in-depth three-year change programme. This programme of change supported the new and emerging needs of stakeholders, responding to the Comprehensive Spending Review (SR21).  

  • The programme's main purpose is to sustainably improve the quality, timeliness and granularity of our statistics through best use of available data and technology, therefore meeting the needs of our users.  

  • In the financial year 2022 to 2023, the programme focused on both making changes to some of our statistics and undertaking in-depth discovery work on others; notable successes included substantial improvements to inflation, public sector finances and business statistics, as well as including a large amount of learning across all projects, which has been used to shape future delivery.

  • In the financial year 2023 to 2024, the programme successfully began migrating priority surveys from legacy systems; also, substantial improvements continued within public sector finances, healthcare metrics within National Accounts, business statistics and Consumer Price indices.

  • In the financial year 2024 (to date) further improvements to Public Sector finances have been delivered ready for inclusion within National Accounts; we have published updates on the Labour market transformation overview, building on previous engagement on the transformed Labour Force Survey.

  • Learning through the first two years across the programme along with recognition of financial and recruitment challenges shaped the remaining scope and plans; this has allowed ARIES to maintain focus on delivering maximum value and impact for our stakeholders, balancing affordability and quality.

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2. Projects contributing to the ARIES programme

  • Throughout 2021 to 2022, the Ambitious, Radical, Inclusive Economic Statistics (ARIES) programme addressed an ambitious agenda of statistical development, which focused on further improving the quality of important economic measures; this included the introduction of new methodology to produce double-deflated National Accounts, while remaining responsive to user needs at a challenging time for the UK economy.  

  • In April 2022, the ARIES programme was extended to become an in-depth three-year change programme. This programme of change supported the new and emerging needs of stakeholders, responding to the Comprehensive Spending Review (SR21).  

  • The programme's main purpose is to sustainably improve the quality, timeliness and granularity of our statistics through best use of available data and technology, therefore meeting the needs of our users.  

  • In the financial year 2022 to 2023, the programme focused on both making changes to some of our statistics and undertaking in-depth discovery work on others; notable successes included substantial improvements to inflation, public sector finances and business statistics, as well as including a large amount of learning across all projects, which has been used to shape future delivery.

  • In the financial year 2023 to 2024, the programme successfully began migrating priority surveys from legacy systems; also, substantial improvements continued within public sector finances, healthcare metrics within National Accounts, business statistics and Consumer Price indices.

  • In the financial year 2024 (to date) further improvements to Public Sector finances have been delivered ready for inclusion within National Accounts; we have published updates on the Labour market transformation overview, building on previous engagement on the transformed Labour Force Survey.

  • Learning through the first two years across the programme along with recognition of financial and recruitment challenges shaped the remaining scope and plans; this has allowed ARIES to maintain focus on delivering maximum value and impact for our stakeholders, The ARIES Business Case is made up of six main projects.  

Prices

Incorporating alternative data sources for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and indices for rents, both making use of improved systems and methods. ​

Labour market

Establishing the Transformed Labour Forces Survey (TLFS) as the primary source of data for labour market statistics​.   

Legacy reduction​

Reducing the reliance on legacy technologies and targeted system risk reduction within National Accounts.​   

Business statistics transformation​

Improving the quality and granularity of our business statistics, focusing on our research and development suite of statistics. This includes developing a strategic roadmap for longer-term transformation of business statistics.  

Public sector

Transforming important public sector systems, reducing the reliance on legacy technology, ​and providing more granular statistics on the UK's fiscal position and the activities of the UK non-market services sector. 

Financial sector account and international development

Use alternative data sources to enhance the Financial Services Survey, improving the quality and granularity of financial sector statistics. Achieve all Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus requirements by the end of the 5-year transition and raise the IMF's Data Gaps Initiative 2 assessment to at least amber on all measures.

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3. High level programme roadmap

Progress to date

Development of and engagement on Ambitious, Radical, Inclusive Economic Statistics (ARIES)  statistical and systems improvements were underway through the entirety of the Programme. The following are the main value-releasing outcomes of the ARIES programme as of February 2025.

Quarter 2 (July to Sept) financial year 2022 to 2023

The Labour Market Transformation project completed publication of the Over 50s Lifestyle Survey results.  

The Public Sector Transformation project has:   

  • published analytical outputs on the feasibility of improving our subnational estimates of UK public sector finance statistics  

  • completed research into data collection from local authorities 

Quarter 3 (Oct to Dec) financial year 2022 to 2023

The Business Statistics Transformation project enabled the publication of improved Research and Development (R&D) statistics, which provided better measurement of R&D levels (particularly small businesses) using a peer-reviewed uplift approach, and utilised a new alternative source to provide improved measurement of higher education research and development.

Quarter 4 (Jan to Mar) financial year 2022 to 2023

The Prices Transformation project completed publication of rail fares, using alternative data sources, in headline measures of consumer price statistics. For further details, see our Impact analysis on transformation of UK consumer price statistics: rail fares, February 2023 article.  

The Public Sector Transformation project has:  

Quarter 1 (Apr to June) financial year 2023 to 2024

The Public Sector Transformation project published a new public sector balance sheet in our Public sector employment, UK: March 2023 bulletin.  

Quarter 2 (July to Sept) financial year 2023 to 2024 

The Household Financial Statistics Transformation project ran a public consultation on household financial statistics transformation. This has given the Office for National Statistics (ONS) a better insight into user needs and priorities. The response to the consultation was published on 31 July 2023. For full information, see our Transforming the ONS's household financial statistics feedback web page.

Quarter 3 (Oct to Dec) financial year 2023 to 2024

The Legacy Reduction project has completed the migration of the Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) Survey from the previous Ingres based legacy system to the new strategic Statistical Processing Platform (SPP). 

Quarter 4 (Jan to Mar) financial year 2023 to 2024

The Prices Transformation project has: 

The Public Sector Transformation project has:  

The Business Statistics Transformation project has moved previous Ingres based legacy system to the new strategic Statistical Processing Platform (SPP). Business Enterprise Research and Development survey (BERD) has also undergone substantial changes resulting in transformed Research and Development statistics, published in our Business enterprise research and development, UK: 2023 bulletin. 

Quarters 1 and 2 (April to Sept) financial year 2024 to 2025

The Public Sector Transformation project has: 

  • made improvements to the non-market output measures of education, and primary and preventative healthcare, ready to be incorporated into the Annual National Accounts  

Quarter 3 (Oct to Dec) financial year 2024 to 2025

The Public Sector Transformation project has:   

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4. Future Plans

The Ambitious, Radical, Inclusive Economic Statistics (ARIES) programme Full Business Case covers the delivery of the following important elements between January 2025 and March 2025, inclusive.   

Quarter 4 (Jan to Mar) financial year 2024 to 2025

The Prices Transformation project will:  

  • publish consumer price statistics using a new cloud platform for data collected in-store (that is, "local collection")  

  • publish new private rental indices using new data sources and improved methods for Northern Ireland; these data will be used in headline measures of consumer price statistics and Price Index for Private Rents (PIPR)

Learn more about the future Consumer Price Inflation statistics plans in our Futureproofing our headline inflation statistics blog post.

The Legacy Reduction project will:

  • complete development of the Monthly Business Survey (MBS), Quarterly Business Survey (QBS), and Construction Survey in preparation for their migration on to strategic, sustainable platforms in Quarter 1 of 2025 and 26

The Public Sector Transformation project will:

  • deliver the first wave of improvements to the public sector systems estate, moving away from legacy technology and improving efficiency 

  • start implementing improved data from the Local Government Finance Review (LGFR) into public sector finances 

The Financial Sector Accounts and International Development (FSAID) project will: 

  • collect financial services sector (FSS) data online via a new survey and have approved methods and systems development on track ready for new and improved funds data to be integrated into National Accounts in Blue Book 2025 

  • achieve two Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus requirements, (sectoral balance sheet and debt securities) as published on our National summary data page

For Business Statistics transformation, the collection and processing of Private Non-profit research and development (R&D) statistics will move from legacy systems, delivering:

  • electronic data collection for respondents to ensure more timely collection

  • at-source validation to improve the quality of responses

  • open-source processing and results production for more sustainable processing

  • alignment to business enterprise R&D data collection, to align with best practice

The Transformed Labour Force Survey will proceed as set out within the published updates in our Labour market transformation overview article series.

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5. Final monitoring and evaluation plan

  • The Ambitious, Radical, Inclusive Economic Statistics (ARIES) programme will be evaluated upon completion in 2025 in line with the ONS Evaluation Strategy. 

  • Qualitative and quantitative data will be collected to assess whether ARIES impacts are as intended.

  • The final evaluation report for the ARIES Programme is currently scheduled for Summer 2025.

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