Further to WQ92004, will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the likely reduction in the sample size of the 2024-5 National Survey for Wales, the impact this will have on official statistics generated by this survey, and the ability of public bodies to make decisions based on robust data?
The National Survey for Wales is a key source of information for the Welsh Government and other public sector organisations, providing high-quality evidence on a wide range of topics. Since 2016, the survey has been jointly commissioned with three external bodies (Sport Wales, Arts Council of Wales, and Natural Resources Wales), replacing five surveys that were previously commissioned separately. The joint approach continues to provide value for money to all funders, saving around £2m a year compared with carrying out the surveys separately. The contributions of the three sponsored bodies who fund the National Survey in partnership with Welsh Government have not increased since 2016.
The National Survey is carried out to the highest standards, involving a randomly-selected sample of people to ensure that the results are as representative as possible of people across Wales. The sample size in 2024-25 will be smaller than in previous years while a new contract to deliver the survey beds in, as well as due to the inflationary and budget pressures which impact on the National Survey as they do for all areas of Welsh Government spending. This may affect the extent to which data can be broken down, either geographically or for some population groups. It won’t prevent the National Survey being used for the measurement of key indicators or policy monitoring such as the Wellbeing of Future Generation National Indicators, healthy behaviours, Welsh speaking, and fair work. However, the National Survey team are doing everything they can within the constraints of the available budget to mitigate the impact on the overall reduction in sample size.
Officials are exploring options for 2025-26 onwards to ensure that the survey continues to provide survey users with robust data to underpin decision-making.