Overview
Gross value added (GVA), the amount by which the economy grows due to the production of goods and services, can be measured using three different approaches, known as the income approach, the output (or production) approach, and the expenditure approach. In the UK Regional Accounts we currently measure regional GVA using both the income and production approaches. We don’t use the expenditure approach because it includes the imports and exports of goods and services, which are difficult to measure between regions.
Using two different methods to estimate regional GVA gives us two different answers to the question of what is GVA in any given region, which can cause some confusion as people lack any clear basis for choosing between the two. We have therefore developed a ‘balancing process’ to take the strongest parts of both existing measures and use them to create a single balanced estimate of regional GVA, which represents our best estimate of the true value of GVA in any region.
The method we have used is ground-breaking. To the best of our knowledge nobody has ever done this before, using weighted quality metrics to inform an automated balancing process. The improvement in the reliability and stability of regional GVA estimates underpins an expansion in the level of industrial detail for which we can provide estimates, and as a by-product of this development we have also improved by one year the timeliness of our provision of ‘real’ GVA indices with the effect of price inflation removed.
Why we are consulting
This development uses a new process that has never been used before. While we believe it to be a good method, we want to give others the opportunity to give us feedback on the method and its results. In this way we hope to learn about people’s concerns so that we can guide our development effort to addressing any issues people raise. We produce these statistics to meet user needs, and this is a way we can identify how well those needs are being met.
Below you will find an article describing the method we have used and outlining our current plans for what we intend to publish from December 2017. You can also find some files containing the test results obtained from running the balancing process on last year’s GVA income and production estimates. Please read the article and take a look at the test results before completing the online survey.
The feedback we receive will be used to inform the decisions we take about what we publish in December and the priorities of our future development programme. We will publish a response to this consultation in October to let people know what we intend to do.
Thank you for your help.
Introduction
Thank you for agreeing to contribute to our consultation.
This consultation aims to gather your views on the new development that the Office for National Statistics has created to produce balanced estimates of regional gross value added (GVA), and for the future of those estimates. We will ask about you,about your use of our outputs, the methodology being used, and your views on the presentation of these statistics.
To show that we are being open and honest, responses to this consultation will be made public. This will include the name of your organisation, but not your contact details.
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About you
In this section, we would like to know a little about you. We would like to know who is using our outputs to improve our approach to publication, and understand whether different groups of users have similar or differing views.
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1. What is your name?
Name
Can we publish your name as part of the responses to the consultation?
YesNo
2. What is your email address?
If you enter your email address then you will automatically receive an acknowledgement email when you submit your response.
Would you like us to send you email updates on future developments to Regional Accounts statistics?
YesNo
3. What is your organisation?
Organisation
4. What is your job title, or role?
Description of your job title or role
5. What type of role do you have?
AcademicAnalyst (private sector)Analyst (central government)Analyst (local government)Business ownerJournalist, reporter, or other media professionalPolicy-maker or planner (central government)Policy-maker or planner (local government)Councillor, Mayor, MP, or other political leaderOther
6. Are you answering on behalf of yourself, or your organisation?
(Required)MyselfMy organisationAnother organisation
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Questions
7. What do you use regional GVA statistics for?
8. Are there any things you'd like to be able to do but cannot at present with the statistics we produce?
9. Do you think having a single balanced estimate of regional GVA is a good idea?
YesNo
Please explain the reasons behind your answer.
10. Are you satisfied that the method we are using for producing balanced estimates is sound?
YesNo
Please tell us about any concerns or doubts you have over the method.
11. Are you satisfied that the balanced test results appear to reflect economic reality in your region(s) of interest?
YesNo
Please tell us about any concerns or doubts you have over the test results.
12. Does our plan for the presentation of balanced regional GVA statistics meet your needs as a user of the data?
YesNo
If not, what else would you like us to publish to better meet those needs?
13. Assuming we go ahead and publish balanced regional GVA, would you still like to have access to the unbalanced GVA (income) and GVA (production) estimates?
YesNo
If so, please tell us what you would use these for.
14. Are there any other things, such as supporting analyses or complementary/contextual information, that you would like us to publish alongside our regular regional GVA bulletin?
15. Do you have any other comments to make about our proposals?
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You are about to submit your response. By clicking 'Submit Response' you give us permission to analyse and include your response in our results. After you click Submit, you will no longer be able to go back and change any of your answers.
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If you provide an email address you will be sent a receipt and a link to a PDF copy of your response.
Email address
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