Office for National Statistics Names Two New Deputies

In the UK, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has appointed Michael Keoghan as Deputy National Statistician for the Economic, Social and Environmental Statistics Group (ESEG), while Pete Benton moves to the role of Deputy National Statistician for Health, Population and Methods (HPaM).

Keoghan will join the ONS in the New Year from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), where until recently he was the Acting Director General for Business Sectors, as well as Chief Economic Adviser. Earlier he was Deputy CEO for the Institute of Apprenticeships, Department for Education; and Director, Skills and Apprenticeships at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

Benton will move from his current role as ONS Director of Transformation in the New Year. He brings a wide variety of experience in census, population and health statistics, and was responsible for the launch of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey and the delivery of the Census 2021 collection operation. He has also held several other senior roles during a twenty-year career at the ONS, including Interim Deputy National Statistician, and prior to that was an analyst in the NHS.

As well as continuing to measure the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, the pair will be tasked with guiding decisions on the future census recommendation in 2023, improvements to population estimates and the ways in which environmental statistics are measured to guide the government's ambitions on net zero. Commenting on the appointments National Statistician, Sir Ian Diamond, said: 'This is an exciting time to strengthen our senior leadership team as we drive forward with our ambitions for 2022 and beyond in delivering our strategy of statistics for the public good'.

Web site: www.ons.gov.uk .