The Office for National Statistics is part of the UK Statistics Authority, which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was set up in 1996.
It runs the census every 10 years.
The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007[1] is intended to show that it is independent. It has been described as world-leading because it produces reliable and consistently good data with fewer limitations on what it can ask about than similar organisations in other countries.[2]