National Statistics Quality Review of Households Below Average Income and Pensioners' Incomes series
As part of the National Statistics Quality Review of Income Statistics, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released today, Friday 27th February, the final report of the National Statistics Quality Review of Households Below Average Income (HBAI) and Pensioners’ Incomes (PI) series statistical reports. 
HBAI analyses information on the income distribution in Great Britain. It uses household disposable incomes, adjusted for household size and composition, as a proxy for material living standards. The PI series provides estimates of the levels, sources and distribution of pensioners' incomes and examines the position of pensioners within the population as a whole. Both series use data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS).
The review was launched by Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) as part of the National Statistics Quality Review of Income Statistics, and covered the HBAI and PI annual statistical publications. The review was conducted by a Working Group of DWP analysts, with ONS representation, under the guidance of a Project Board. The review was conducted in parallel with the strategic review of income statistics and with ONS's review of their Redistribution of Income series. The provisional findings of the strategic review were taken into account in preparing this report.
The aim of the review was to assess whether HBAI and PI series still meet the priority of major users, and if not, to make recommendations to improve its provision and quality. The review focused on relevance, definitions/coverage/methods, consistency, timeliness, accessibility, and fitness for purpose.
This review of Household below average income and Pensioners' Incomes series considered four sets of issues:
- Strategic priorities and content of HBAI
- Presentation and content of HBAI
- Methodology
- Issues specific to the Pensioners' Incomes series
An Implementation Plan in response to the report's recommendations will be prepared by the end of May 2004. Following positive feedback gathered from consultation with users some changes to the content and presentation of HBAI and PI were made in the reports published in 2002 and 2003.
Please feel free to e-mail team.hbai@dwp.gsi.gov.uk with any comments on the report.