Support the SRS - Annual user experience survey 2023
As a valued member of the research community, we appreciate your views on the service we provide by completing this short survey.
We established the Annual user experience survey to provide you with a direct opportunity to have your say on our service. This offers you a platform to provide anonymous feedback, which will enable us to implement future service developments to greater meet your needs.
If you have any questions about the survey, please contact: IDS.Impact@ons.gov.uk
If you would like to read more, please revisit our previous communications.
Important Changes to SRS Log-In Screen
As advised in previous communications, the security of the Secure Research Service (SRS) is being upgraded through the introduction of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
This change will be implemented through a phased roll out, where you will be emailed with full instructions when required to access using MFA.
To avoid any future interruptions to your access to the SRS, please ensure that you have registered the correct email address and mobile number in the Research Accreditation Service (RAS)
If you have any questions regarding this change please contact us srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk.
SRS Downtime
Please be advised that the SRS will be unavailable on the morning of Saturday 25 February for an update and essential maintenance.
This work will start at 07:00 and will be completed by 11:00. By carrying out this work on a weekend we hope to minimise disruption to users, but please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.
If you have any difficulties accessing the SRS beyond this time, or have any additional questions, please contact srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk.
Over the past few months we have shared with you feedback from our 2022 Annual User Experience Survey. The survey unearthed several questions about how processes in the SRS work, and why they work in the way that they do. The SRS Explained Series aims to give some context behind the inner workings of the SRS, describe our processes and procedures in detail, and highlight to users how they can utilise the SRS in the most efficient way to continue their important research.
The Safe Researcher Training (SRT) – a requirement of the Digital Economy Act (DEA)
In this article we consider the reasons why SRT is important, why it needs to be done first, and how it fits in with DEA accreditation
The first step to gaining personal accreditation under DEA comes from attending the SRT and passing the assessment. This is important because personal accreditation binds you to set of principles governing the disclosure of data set out in the DEA Code of Practice and Accreditation Criteria in the SRT. The main objective for SRT is to equip you with enough skills and knowledge in how to meet the conditions of your accreditation throughout your research journey.
ONS have been accredited as a DEA processor by the UK Statistic Authority and likewise, is also responsible for approving the SRT we deliver. To comply we must firstly ensure that the training itself focuses on the wider capacity of researchers to understand the purpose and significance of the accreditation conditions for themselves and their projects. Secondly, from a data capability perspective, we must ensure that the training covers areas such as:
- the importance of ethical, policy and legal considerations in research
- assessing and mitigating the risk of re-identification during analysis and outputs
- understanding the risks and benefits of using multiple datasets, introducing your own data, using open data and sharing code in a secure environment
- highlighting the importance of safe statistical outputs in publicly available statistical research
- explaining how researchers’ behaviours and actions can translate into security and ethical risks
- how researchers and other users can interact with SRS and the role of the accrediting body
Those of you who have attended SRT will recognise that many of these requirements are taught as part of the Five Safes Framework to protect data confidentiality. Our various support teams with the SRS also work within this framework to help and support you throughout your research journey.
New datasets in the SRS
YEF (Youth Endowment Foundation) Second ingest
This data forms part of the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) data archive. The YEF was founded by the Home Office to evaluate which interventions and services best prevent children becoming involved in violence. All YEF projects are independently evaluated. At the end of these evaluations, data on the children in YEF trials is archived with the ONS. It is combined with unique identifiers in Department for Education (DfE) data. This allows researchers to combine YEF trial data with education and other linked datasets to evaluate the long-term impact of the programs funded on education, offending and other outcomes.
Find out more on the Metadata Catalogue.
Resupply of Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) dataset in the Secure Research Service (SRS)
The new figures provide the best estimate of business enterprise R&D at the UK level and total UK estimates have been validated against other sources, however there is less data to validate against below the UK level which has led to some uncertainty in the more detailed breakdowns. As a result, only the total UK level estimate is now designated as a ‘national statistic’, all other breakdowns are classified as ‘official statistics’.
This work has impacted on the BERD microdata that is made available SRS for the periods 2018–2021. These datasets will only represent the actual survey returns made by businesses to the BERD survey and will be un-weighted which means researchers cannot equate data back to the levels as published in the statistical bulletin. The updated data will be resupplied and made available within the SRS as soon as possible.
The data will be replaced using the same file names and folder structure, so existing code will continue to work following the resupply. A new folder will be created for the additional data, so researchers will need to change the path at the top of the code to ensure this is included.
Further work is underway to fully transform the way that BERD data is collected and compiled. Once this work concludes we will again make these data available in the SRS. Please note that any data prior to 2018 are not in scope for this revision, and therefore the microdata remains unchanged but still accessible in the SRS.
From Monday 13 February, no pre-publication or publication outputs using BERD data will be permitted until further notice. For further reading, and to read more on the publications about BERD datasets, please see the below:
Funding opportunity coming soon: Operationalising scaled production and sharing of synthetic data
ADR UK and the Economic and Social Research Council will soon open applications for a funding opportunity of up to £375,000 (full economic cost) to explore the use and potential of synthetic data. Recipients of this grant will evaluate the current uptake, utility and governance of synthetic versions of datasets held in trusted research environments including the ONS Secure Research Service and UK Data Service. The grant holder will produce a report based on this evaluation, setting out recommendations for how synthetic data production and provision can be achieved at scale.
To find out more, register for an applicant webinar on Friday 3 March, 13:00 – 14:30.
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Dataset of the Month
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is the most comprehensive source of information about the levels, distribution and make-up of earnings and paid hours worked for employees in all industries and occupations. The ASHE contains estimates of earnings for employees by sex and full-time and part-time working.
The ASHE is completed annually by employers and is based on a 1% random sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Pay as you Earn (PAYE) records.
Estimates are available for various breakdowns including region, industry, occupation, age group and public or private sector within the UK. ASHE is used to produce hours and earnings statistics for a range of weekly, annual, and hourly measures. ASHE is the official source of estimates for the number of jobs paid below the national minimum wage and is also used to produce estimates of the proportions of jobs within workplace pension categories.
If you would like to access this dataset within the ONS SRS, please contact the SRS Customer Support team
Case Study of the Month
Scams and subjective wellbeing
Using secure data, researchers found that scam victims are associated with significantly lower levels of life satisfaction, lower levels of happiness, and higher levels of anxiety. With 3.7 million incidents of fraud experienced in 2019-20, the estimated total losses in wellbeing associated with fraud victimisation amount to £9.3 billion per year. This research helped Which? lobby successfully the UK Government to include online scam advertising in the Online Safety Bill.
To read the case study in full, please visit the ADR UK website.
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