Provision of Household Expenditure Data

Descriptions

About the Office for National Statistics (ONS)

ONS is the UK's largest independent producer of official statistics and is the National Statistical Institute for the UK. Formally, it is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-Ministerial Department established by the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. It is responsible for collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population, and society at national, regional, and local levels. ONS plays a leading role in national and international good practice in the production of official statistics.

Introduction

Prices Division is responsible for the production and quality assurance of two of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) most high profile statistics, the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), and the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). The consumer price indices are used widely by, among others, Her Majesty's Treasury for monitoring financial policy, the Department of Work and Pensions for setting social security benefits, the Bank of England for monetary policy decisions, financial institutions for analysis, Trade Unions for wage bargaining and the wider public for a 'sense' of inflation.

Core Requirements

To compile the consumer price indices, information is required on the annual expenditure on of different groups of products at multiple and independent stores. This enables the ONS to give each type of shop and product its correct weight or market share in the list of goods and services used to produce the indices. Much of the information is sourced from internal ONS surveys but some additional detailed expenditure information is needed. The consumer price indices are compiled by weighting together product or item level price data in a way that reflects UK consumer spending patterns. To achieve this, detailed consumer spending figures are required at a suitably disaggregated level for lower-level item weights to be constructed without the need for arbitrary decisions.

Below is a list of headings against which detailed consumer expenditure and market share information is required.

DIVISION 1 - FOOD AND NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Bread & Cereals

Meat

Fish

Milk, Cheese & Eggs

Oils & Fats

Fruit

Vegetables Including Potatoes and Other Tubers

Sugar, Jam, Honey, Syrups, Chocolate and Confectionery

Food Products

Coffee, Tea, Cocoa

Mineral Waters, Soft Drinks and Juices

DIVISION 2 - ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND TOBACCO

Spirits

Wine (Inc Perry)

Beer

Tobacco

DIVISION 3 - CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR

Garments

Other Articles Of Clothing & Clothing Accessories

Dry Cleaning, Repair and Hire of Clothing

Footwear Including Repairs

DIVISION 4 - HOUSING, WATER, ELECTRICITY, GAS AND OTHER FUELS

Actual Rents for Housing

Products for the Regular Maintenance and Repair of Dwelling

Services for the Regular Maintenance and Repair of Dwelling

Water Supply

Sewerage Collection

Electricity

Gas

Liquid Fuels

Solid Fuels

DIVISION 5 - FURNITURE, HOUSEHOLD EQUIPMENT AND MAINTENANCE

Furniture, Furnishings

Carpets & Other Floor Coverings

Household Textiles

Major Household Whether Electric or Not & Small Electrical Appliances

Repair of Household Appliances

Glassware, Tableware and Household Utensils

Tools and Equipment for House and Garden

Non-Durable Household Goods

Domestic Services and Home Care Services

DIVISION 6 - HEALTH

Pharmaceutical Products

Other Medical Products & Therapeutic Equipment

Medical Services and Paramedical Services

Dental Services

In-Patient Services

DIVISION 7 - TRANSPORT

New Cars

Second-Hand Cars

Motor Cycles and Bicycles

Spare Parts & Accessories

Fuels & Lubricants

Maintenance & Repairs

Other Services In Respect Of Personal Transport Equipment

Passenger Transport by Railway

Passenger Transport by Road

Passenger Transport by Air

Passenger Transport by Sea and Inland Waterway

DIVISION 8 - COMMUNICATION

Postal Services

Telephone & Telefax Equipment and Services

DIVISION 9 - RECREATION AND CULTURE

Equip. For Receiving & Reproducing Sound & Picture

Photographic, Cinematographic Equipment & Optical Instruments

Data Processing Equipment

Recording Media

Repair of Audio-Visual, Photographic and Data Processing Equipment

Major Durables for In/Outdoor Recreation

Games, Toys and Hobbies

Equipment for Sport, Camping & Open-Air Recreation

Garden Plants and Flowers

Pets and Related Products

Recreational and Sporting Services

Cultural Services

Books

Newspapers and Periodicals

Misc. Printed Matter, Stationery & Drawing Materials

Package Holidays

DIVISION 10 - EDUCATION

Education

DIVISION 11 - RESTAURANTS AND HOTELS

Restaurants & Cafes

Canteens

Accommodation Services

DIVISION 12 - MISCELLANEOUS GOODS AND SERVICES

Hairdressing Salons & Personal Grooming Establishments

Appliances, Articles & Products for Personal Care

Jewellery, Clocks and Watches

Other Personal Effects

Social Protection Services

Insurance Connected with the Dwelling - Contents Insurance

Insurance Connected with Health

Insurance Connected with Transport

Banking Services. Not Elsewhere Covered.

Other Services N.E.C

Questions for potential data providers

1. What is your experience of providing annual consumer expenditure segmentation and market share information for the areas above?

2. Can you provide information about how data would be accessed and the quality assurance process that you will use?

3. Can you confirm how would we access your data and how many licenses would be available?

4. How frequently is your information updated? Can you provide details of forthcoming research?

Other Information

It is anticipated that any resultant contract will be for 3 yrs with the option to extend for a further 2 years. The budget will be a maximum of £52000 per year.

How to register

Please email commercialteam@ons.gov.uk with an outline of your services. Please use the reference FAO C Jones CS-26-082 on the email.

We will be scheduling follow-up one-to-one sessions to discuss your responses to the above questions once the notice has expired.

Additional Information

This Exercise is NOT a pre-qualification or selection exercise and is NOT part of any pre-qualification or selection process that may apply to any future potential procurement. It is intended to act as an awareness and information gathering exercise offering an opportunity for suppliers to advise the extent to which they can potentially provide some or all the services that ONS may require, in order to help ONS with its future intentions.