Statistical consultation: possibility of ceasing publication of HMRC's Personal Wealth National Statistics
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Detail of outcome
A consultation proposing to cease production of further updates of HMRC’s Personal Wealth Statistics ran from 22 July 2015 to 14 October 2015. This proposal reflected HMRC’s view that there are issues with the methodology used to produce these statistics which may mean they are not suitable for reliably assessing the distribution of wealth in the UK. We suggested that the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Wealth and Assets Survey would be a more useful source of information for potential users.
Most respondents accepted our view that there were reasons to be concerned with the current methodology, but were unanimous in disagreeing with the proposal to cease publication. Given this interest, we think it is appropriate to continue to publish National Statistics on the Distribution of Personal Wealth and add further investment where possible to address the existing issues. The statistics covering the period 2011 to 2013, which would have been published in September 2015, will now be published on 30 September 2016.
This report summarises the results of the consultation.
Original consultation
Consultation description
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) currently publishes a series of Personal Wealth National Statistics tables and an accompanying commentary document.
The next updates covering the period from 2011 to 2013 have been scheduled for publication in September 2015.
We are consulting on a proposal to not publish these or any further updates to the HMRC Personal Wealth National Statistics. The reasons for this are set out in the attached document. The purpose of this consultation is to seek the views of our users before any decision is made. If you would like to make any comments on it please do so via the details below by 14 October 2015.
Documents
Last updated 9 August 2016 + show all updates
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Published summary of responses
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First published.