Director General for Regulation, UK Statistics Authority

Policy Leaders Fellow Alumnus, Centre for Science and Policy

Ed Humpherson was appointed as Director General for Regulation at the UK Statistics Authority in October 2013, and took up post in January 2014.

The post of Head of Assessment, operationally known as the Director General for Regulation, is a statutory post under the provisions of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. The Head of Assessment is the Authority’s principal adviser on the assessment and reassessment of official statistics and their compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Prior to joining the Authority, Ed was a Board Member and Executive Leader for Economic Affairs at the National Audit Office, a post he held since July 2009. This role included responsibility for the overall strategic direction of NAO’s work on economic affairs. Ed also oversaw the NAO’s response to the financial crisis through building capability in capital markets and financial services work, and coordinated the NAO’s programme of work on the administration of the tax system and the welfare system; led the NAO’s work on public private partnerships and major infrastructure developments, including in transport and energy; and oversaw the development of the NAO’s audit of the Whole of Government Accounts.

Between 2007 and 2009, Ed was Assistant Auditor General, and before that was NAO’s Director of Regulation between 2003 and 2007. He joined the National Audit Office in 1993.

Ed was educated at the University of Edinburgh where he obtained a first-class MA honours degree in Politics and Economic History. He is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Ed is married and has three children.