Experience of Introduction of National Principles Governing the Activity of the State Statistics Bodies of Ukraine

The paper analyzes the role of the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics in the development of the Ukrainian statistical system and its adaptation to international standards. The adoption and implementation of the Fundamental Principles, their subsequent development in the European Statistics Code of Practice (2005) and explanation in the National Principles Governing the Acti­ vity of the State Statistics Bodies of Ukraine (2010) served as a clear benchmark for setting priorities in the state statistical activity. It should be noted tha t not all of the principles could be equally easy implemented in the existing statistical practice. Even today, two decades after the adoption of the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, there is still a number of debating points in their practical implementation. Special attention is given to the compilation of the National Principles Governing the Activity of the State Statistics Bodies of Ukraine that are based on the European Statistics Code of Practice and incorporate PARIS21 system of indicators. The principles have been developed and implemented with the goal to create the basis for further strengthening of the institutional capacity of national statistical office, to implement the best practices of the European statistics, and on this basis to enhance user confidence in the official statistics and ensure high-quality statistical information.

The State Statistics Service of Ukraine (hereinaf ter -SSSU) started to create national principles of ac tivity of the state statistics bodies in 2008 w ithin the scope of system work on adaptation of standard-legal base in the sphere of statistics to EU requirements.
It is necessary to note th at successful prepara tion of this fundamental docum ent was substantially prom oted by the whole complex of conducted actions which results became the reliable basis for working out of National Principles Governing the A ctivity of the State Statistics Bodies of Ukraine.
After approval of the European Statistics Code of Practice (hereinafter -C oP) by the Committee of EU on statistical programs in 2005, principles and indicators of this Code as well as the subsequent ac tions of Eurostat and the European statistical services had been analyzed in detail by the SSSU on its intro duction in practice, in particular carrying out of self assessments and peer reviews, organized by Eurostat.
Practically during the same time (over a period of [2007][2008][2009], the SSSU carried out the functional survey.This work was realized in two steps: the first step involved the central level -the SSSU, the se cond -its territorial bodies.Prim ary aim of func tional inspection of the SSSU was specification of its functions and revision of the Regulations of the SSSU activities.

© O. H. Osaulenko, 2017
Taking into account the results of the functional inspection of the SSSU in 2007, the Governm ent of Ukraine approved Regulations of the SSSU activities, and then the SSSU approved standard regulations concerning structural divisions of the Service.
Besides, in 2008, the SSSU interviewed the repre sentatives of the adm inistrative board and staff of the SSSU structural divisions about the set-up of their work, working conditions, quality of information services provided to users of the statistical data, etc. Simultaneously, in the process of interviewing, the of fers on improvement of the SSSU activity were put forward.
Results of functional inspection and questioning of staff were used in preparation of the Regulations of the SSSU, and also at forming basic docum entation of quality control system of the SSSU.The quality ma nual, including the list of key processes of the SSSU activity, were thus confirmed, people responsible for their functioning were identified as well as the list of services provided and categories of users.
W ithin 2009, the same functional inspections were conducted in territorial bodies of the state sta tistics.Based on received results, the SSSU approved the Standard docum entation of quality control sys tem, introduced some changes into the Standard re gulations and Standard provisions for territorial bo dies of the state statistics.
To develop the order of work on introduction of quality control system, the SSSU initiated self-assess ments of compliance of its activity w ith the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice.W ith th at aim in view, in 2008 in the SSSU, the working group on preparation and carrying out of self-assess m ent was formed, its plan-schedule was devised and provided the performance of the following actions: -creation of the national questionnaire on self assessment of compliance of the SSSU activity with the principles of the Code on the basis of the CoP Questionnaire; -set-up of appropriate training for the SSSU staff; -direct self-assessment w ith the support of the SSSU management and its structural divisions; -generalization of received materials and consi deration of self-assessment results at the sessions of the SSSU advisory bodies.
Self-assessment has allowed to receive informa tion concerning positioning of national statistical system w ith reference to the European one, and also to gain absolutely new experience on revealing of pri ority spheres of development for further upgrading and improvement of the state statistics quality.As consequence, these results laid down the basis for the Strategy of the State Statistics Development for the Period till 2012, approved by the decision of the Cabi net of M inisters of Ukraine (further -Strategy 2012).
Preparation of National Principles Governing the Activity of the State Statistics Bodies harmonized with the European Statistics Code of Practice, and determ ination of the order for self-assessment of ac tivity on a regular basis became one of the major to pics of this long-term program of the state statistics development.The objectives of these National P rin ciples are: -strengthening of users tru st to the state statis tics bodies, based on impartiality, objectivity and in dependence of the state statistical activity; -guaranteeing of confidentiality of the statistical data received from respondents; -introduction of the best experience of the Euro pean statistics into national practice.
Experts of the National Institute of Statistics of Denmark have joined this work at the final stage of preparation of National Principles Governing the Ac tivity.In th e first half of 2010, w ithin the framework of the Twinning light project "H arm onization of official statistics of Ukraine w ith statistical standards of E U ", the draft of National Principles Governing the A cti vity was thoroughly discussed w ith Danish colleagues and, in May of the same year, the definitive edition of the draft docum ent received positive assessment and was recommended for the SSSU approval.
At the beginning of June 2010, the draft of Natio nal Principles Governing the Activity of the State Sta tistics Bodies was considered and approved at the ses sion of board of the State Statistics Service.Afterwards it was confirmed by the SSSU order and placed on its site w ith necessary comments for public information.
To the basis for National Principles Governing the Activity was laid down: total quality management (hereinafter -T Q M ) concept, standards of quality control system of 9000 series, Model of the European Foundation of the Quality M anagement (hereinafter -EFQ M ), the European Statistics Code of Practice, the Standard of the European statistical system of quality reports of 2009 and Statistical Capacity M oni toring done according to PARIS21 technique.First of all, the SSSU considered th a t indicators for these concepts, systems and models can be used both for as sessment of compliance of the state statistical activity in Ukraine w ith the standards of the European sta tistical system, and for national (internal) review of activity set-up at statistical divisions.
It is necessary to underline th a t National P rin ciples Governing the Activity are fully harmonized with the European Statistics Code of Practice.At the same time, unlike the last, they include not 15, but 18 principles.H erewith National Principles Govern ing the A ctivity contain all the 15 principles of the C oP In addition, they include three more principles: "M anagement and professional ethics" (4 indicators), "Effectiveness of activity" (3 indicators) and "O n going improvem ents" (3 indicators).Thus, principle 12 is supplemented with a number of indicators cha racterizing cooperation not only with respondents, but also with all other subjects participating in real ization of the state statistical activity.It reflected in the principle name "Partnership relations in statisti cal activity" (in the European Statistics Code of Prac tice -principle 9 "Non-excessive burden on respon dents").Moreover, the set of indicators for principle 13 "Cost effectiveness" (in the CoP -principle 10 with the similar name) has been expanded.
All additions set forth above were approved by international experts as were caused by the need to establish the corresponding environm ent for constant improvement of activity and the accurate mechanism for m aintenance of further development and quality improvement in the system of the state statistics bo dies on this basis.
In 2011, the European Commission (Eurostat), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA ) and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (U N E C E ) in the framework of the EU financial project "Global as sessments of statistical systems of candidate countries and potential candidates and ENP countries" con ducted the Adapted Global Assessment of the U krai nian national statistical system (hereinafter -AGA) in the SSSU.
According to the assessment of international ex perts, the institutional environm ent of functioning of the state statistics bodies of Ukraine was recognized as generally compliant w ith the statistical standards of Eurostat, primarily the UN Fundam ental P rinci ples of Official Statistics and the CoP as well as the Compendium of statistical requirem ents of Eurostat.At the same time, the expert group recommended to harmonize national legislation in the field of statistics and in related areas w ith the EU legislation, to im prove some statistical procedures and to continue the im plementation of the process-oriented approach in the statistical activity, using the methods and tech niques used in the European statistics.
According to the AGA recommendations, in 2012 on th e basis of th e DESAP questionnaire (D evelop m ent of a Self-Assessment Programme / the Euro pean self-assessment questionnaire for the head of the statistical observation), the SSSU developed the national questionnaire -the development of self assessment program for the head of state statistical observation (hereinafter -the DSAP questionnaire).The DSAP questionnaire was filled in by all heads of state statistical observations, and their total average rating of quality by five-point grading scale was 4.2.
The AGA results and self-assessment by the RPS questionnaire laid the basis for the development of the current five-year statistical program -Strategy of Development of State Statistics of Ukraine for the pe riod until 2017 (hereinafter -the Strategy 2017).The purpose of the Strategy 2017 is to improve the qua lity of state statistics by developing a holistic effective national system of official statistics and to bring it in line w ith the EU standards.
The mainstream directions of the five-year sta tistical program are: to improve the quality of the state statistical activity by ensuring data quality as sessment of state statistical observations according to the criteria of the European statistical system and the publication of assessment results for the users of statistical information; to develop the management of statistical production processes and assessment of the results of state statistical activity; to improve the quality of measurement on resource adequacy of the state statistical activity and evaluating of its effec tiveness.
In order to improve the management of statisti cal production, the current five-year program (the Strategy 2017) provided for the introduction of the process-oriented approach in the planning of the state statistics bodies, monitoring, audit and evaluation of the results.
In 2013-2015, the SSSU made the arrangements for the im plementation of process-oriented approach into planning of statistical activities.The formation of the functional program based on process model allows standardizing the description of the procedures and operations carried out w ithin the framework of vari ous state statistical observations.Process-oriented approach was introduced into m onitoring and evaluation of results in 2012.The tool for m onitoring and evaluation of the activities within the state statistics bodies is provided by the system of self-assessment questionnaires, which encompasses, in addition to the above m entioned RPS question naire (developed on the basis of the DESAP question naire), the following items: 1. Self-assessment questionnaire on the improve m ent of the state statistical observation (for the head of state statistical observation); 2. Self-assessment questionnaire on the activities of the territorial body of statistics to improve state statistical observations (for the regional state statis tics bodies); 3. Self-assessment questionnaire on the function ing of processes (sub-processes) of statistical produc tion (for the authorized employee responsible for the im plementation of procedures and operations for the improved organization of state statistical observa tions); Moreover, since 2013, the SSSU has been con ducting peer reviews of the performance of the re gional state statistics bodies th a t are also based on the process-oriented approach.
Thus, the self-assessment is based on three har monized docum ents of international, European and national levels: Fundam ental Principles of Official Statistics, European Statistics Code of Practice and the N ational Principles Governing the A ctivity of the State Statistics Bodies of Ukraine.The interrelation and consistency of the various assessments of acti vity allows, firstly, to conduct comprehensive study on the development, and secondly, to streamline self assessment as well as reduce the burden on the m oni toring participants by elim inating duplications of characteristics and identification of target groups of respondents.In addition, the regular and systematic self-assessment provides the possibility of creating a unique information base to m onitor trends and estab lish cause-to-effects relations.Thus, the more compli ance assessment of activities will correspond to N a tional Principles Governing the Activity, the higher is the quality of the statistical production.
The Strategy 2017 also provides for the system of preparation and publication of the quality data reports on state statistical observations.In order to establish common approaches to the preparation of quality re ports, in 2014, the SSSU developed the Guidelines for the preparation of standard report on the quality of statistical observation th at meet the ESS Standard on quality reports of 2009.The scheduled plan was com piled on preparation of standard reports on the quali ty of state statistical observations.The docum ent stipulated the preparation of a standard quality report on each state statistical observation.These reports are intended for being posted on the SSSU website.
Thus, over the past five years, the SSSU estab lished concrete prerequisites for further standardiza tion of the production process and enhancem ent of its performance on this basis by "industrialization" of statistical production.
Application of the ESS standard quality reports and im plementation of the process-oriented approach to the organization of activity opens up new possibili ties for improved statistical production: -it allows a systematic analysis of certain aspects of the statistical production, including the analysis of the development trends; -enables comprehensive assessments of the ob tained results and provides the grounds for decisions on further actions to improve them; -provides the means for identification of the information flows, produced and circulating in the SSSU and also interacting w ith the external environ ment, and their differentiated analysis by manage m ent function (w ith the differentiation of the direct production functions as well as accounting, planning and analysis functions); -creates conditions for the development of new approaches to the organization of the production process applying the Generic Statistical Information Model (G S IM ) and on the basis of data and m etadata for different groups of users w ithin the system of state statistics bodies and beyond.
W h at are the means th a t we see as possibili ty for the practical im plementation of the National Principles Governing the Activity?This is the har monization of the organizational structure w ith the process-oriented scheme of statistical activities and introduction of the m onitoring system as indicated above.
The challenge is th a t the existing institutional structure largely fails to meet the up-to-date require ments, as the "owners" (the units responsible for the operation of these processes) of certain share of the processes have not been clearly identified.
So, as for today, the state statistics bodies of Ukraine face the task of creating a new organizational structure th at will be fully consistent w ith the pro cess-oriented scheme of statistical production.The О. Г. Осауленко, доктор наук з де р ж а вно го управління, проф есор, член-кореспондент НАН України, Заслуж ений економіст України, ректор, Національна академ ія статистики, обліку та аудиту work was launched in December 2015 w ith the de velopment of the new organizational structure of the territorial bodies of the SSSU th at provided for the introduction of a process-oriented approach to the production of statistics and statistical organization in accordance with the adapted version of the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (G SB PM ), re commended by international statistical organizations for national statistical offices in different countries.The total num ber of employees of state statistics bo dies was reduced by 20 per cent, half of the remote units of the district (city) level was eliminated, the functional authority of those who remained was fo cused solely on the collection of statistical informa tion, the functional authority of the statistical of fices in the regions and Kyiv city was limited to four processes -"collection", "processing", "analysis" and "dissem ination".
In future, we intend to continue the work on im provements in the structure of the SSSU apparatus, the review of the role and responsibilities of the te r ritorial bodies of the state statistics with the aim of enhanced efficiency as well as on reallocation of the staff between the territorial and central levels to en sure the enhancem ent of the analytical capacity of the SSSU.One of the first steps in this direction should be the integration of the Main D epartm ent of Regio nal Statistics, reduction of the staff number there and merger of the Main D epartm ent of Regional Statistics with the SSSU apparatus.
In accordance with the agreements reached with Eurostat in January 2016, the SSSU was visited by the EU expert mission with the aim to conduct the Global Assessment of the national system of official statistics of Ukraine for its compliance w ith the Euro pean standards.The assessment will contribute to further improvement of the SSSU activity and the harmonization of the national statistical system with international recommendations, standards and best practices.The recommendations, which will be re ceived by the results of the Global Assessment of the national system of official statistics of Ukraine in 2016, will serve as the basis for subsequent long-term program of the state statistics development.