Bank of England CDO Benford Leaves for ONS Role

In the UK, official stats body the ONS has appointed Bank of England CDO James Benford as Director General for the Economic, Social and Environmental statistics Group (ESEG).

At the Bank, which he first joined in 2005, Benford is currently Executive Director for Data and Analytics Transformation and Chief Data Officer, leading regulatory and statistical data collections and driving transformation to improve the way data and analytics supports the institution's policymaking and operations. He also heads up the BoE's strategy for safe and effective use of Artificial Intelligence.

Benford also brings experience from other notable roles: between 2020 and 2023 he held senior Civil Service positions, including Director for Analysis at the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Director of the Economics Group at HM Treasury, establishing the Treasury's data science hub; and from 2018 to 2020 he was Private Secretary to Governors Mark Carney and Andrew Bailey.

The ONS (Office for National Statistics) says he will bolster its executive team at a crucial time as the organisation works to renew confidence in its economic statistics. Key elements of this are driving improvements to the quality of its key statistical outputs, and addressing the findings of the upcoming independent review of the ONS by Sir Robert Devereux.

Acting National Statistician Emma Rourke comments: 'I am delighted to welcome James at this pivotal moment for the ONS. He brings a wealth of leadership and transformation experience from his role at the Bank of England, as well as outstanding expertise in the field of economic statistics, data, analytics and AI-driven innovation. I have the utmost confidence in James' ability to lead our economics team as we prioritise investment in our core statistics and embrace a more open and outward looking approach with our statistics users.'

Web site: www.statistics.gov.uk .