Government Analysis Function > Government Statistical Service and Statistician Group > GSS governance > GSS committees and groups > Business Registers Group

Business Registers Group

The Business Registers Group oversees the use and development of the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) which is a comprehensive database of UK businesses often used as a sampling frame for business surveys.

The group is chaired by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and is made up of representatives from across government.

Aims

  1. To develop and monitor IDBR management policy, including charging policy and service level agreements with users, ensuring that mechanisms are in place to monitor the effectiveness of the policy and the quality of the IDBR.
  2. To extend the use of the IDBR within government, promoting standards for coordination of statistical inquiries and data analysis, and advising on data sharing issues.
  3. To support the development of understanding how the IDBR can be used as a tool for analysis, to identify the limitations of this and identify actions for communicating this to users.
  4. To identify opportunities and actions to improve IDBR content to better support analytical uses.
  5. To provide a forum to discuss business register quality issues, including those related to the assessment function of the UK Statistics Authority.
  6. To provide oversight of arrangements for wider access to IDBR through the Secure Research Service.
  7. To report to the Statistical Policy and Standards Committee, where there are issues requiring discussion or support.
  8. To provide a forum to discuss and be updated on the development of the Statistical Business Register.

Contact

Mark Williams – Head of Business Register Unit at the Office for National Statistics
Phone: 01633 456728
Email: mark.williams@ons.gov.uk