Adam Milward, CEO, MetadataWorks shares his thoughts on providing fast, safe data access to accredited users
PASS, the project accreditation service for the SRS, a collaboration between MetadataWorks and the Office for National Statistics, employs the latest technology and expert support to facilitate seamless data access. The project, at its heart, builds a new hyper-functional, secure ‘front door’ for ONS researchers and data users, saving time, conserving resources and ultimately accelerating research projects.
PASS has reduced the time from submission to accreditation by approximately 54% — whilst also increasing engagement with the data catalogue significantly both in terms of a 175% increase in active users and a 224% increase in dwell time….here’s a look at how we did it…
Introduction to the ONS
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognised national statistical institute. It provides trusted data on the country’s population, economy, and society, supporting evidence-based decisions across government, academia, business, and the wider public sector. ONS statistics inform everything from healthcare planning and education provision to tackling social issues and shaping national policy.
Crucially, the ONS operates with independence from ministers, reporting instead through the UK Statistics Authority to Parliament and the devolved administrations. This ensures that the statistics it produces are impartial and serve the public good—helping society as a whole benefit from accurate, transparent information. By collecting and processing public data safely and securely, the ONS turns information into insights that underpin better outcomes for communities across the UK.
Managing the data
Through its Secure Research Service (SRS), the ONS also provides accredited researchers with secure access to de-identified, unpublished data. This trusted research environment enables impactful projects while maintaining the highest standards of data security and governance.
It is vital for the smooth running of the organisation that accredited researchers and users can gain fast access to the information they need, while the highest levels of security are maintained around the data to prevent breaches and possible bad actors.
The Background
MetadataWorks started working with the ONS SRS in 2019 with a view to establish a unified and reliable metadata catalogue for all stakeholders involved in the Secure Research Service (SRS), with the aim of insuring FAIRer (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reliable) data across the board.
Broadly speaking, the more data sets made findable and accessible, and the more secure user interactions, the more likely it is for ONS data to facilitate positive impact. Our initial collaborative project transitioned from kick-off to go-live in just 3 months, with 96,000 data entities across 129 datasets catalogued, facilitating 100,000 interactions annually with the research community.
This preliminary workstream established the foundations for a series of enhancements that have positioned the SRS as a leader in data enablement. Building on this, MetadataWorks partnered with ADR UK to streamline access to administrative data across all four nations. Together we developed a federated metadata catalogue designed to make datasets FAIRer—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. By embedding richer metadata and aligning standards, the catalogue strengthens relationships with research partners, supports more consistent data use, and enables researchers to discover and access information more efficiently. This collaboration not only improves transparency and usability but also unlocks greater value from data for the public good.
PASS: Building the new front door
My first flat in London after university was up four flights of stairs. Among the flat’s many issues was an aging intercom system, which allowed me to hear the guest trying to gain entry but unable to buzz them in. Any time anyone came to visit, I had to speak through the intercom, figure out who it was, tell them to hold on and then quickly run down the stairs to open the door. On occasion, if it was raining, I’d call my ground floor neighbour and ask her to buzz the door open for me. The flat wasn’t in a great part of town and was freezing at the best of times - we certainly needed a secure front door, but the hassle of letting people in and out was a substantial time drain, inconveniencing both myself and my guests. I desperately needed a smarter front door that was fit for purpose.
My impatience with that door came flooding back to me as we started the PASS project. The primary goal of PASS was to develop an enhanced metadata catalogue access request system. We needed to move away from the Research Accreditation Service (RAS) while maintaining secure controlled access - essentially to build a new secure front door. In the existing model, much of the data access process was manual and assessing and granting new requests was time consuming for the ONS team. In other words, the front door was operational but the ONS team needed to trudge down the stairs every time someone knocked at the door, and there was no ground floor neighbour to fall back on.
The aim therefore was to create a better door. We wanted the door to keep us (our data) safe, letting guests in and out as desired, while keeping out the elements and any unwanted visitors (potential security threats). We also wanted to automate and speed up the data access request model providing efficiencies - avoiding that long trudge down the stairs - and install a help desk to ease the burden on the ONS team - my friendly downstairs neighbour ready to step in.
The RAS service was set to switch off early 2025 and the project kick off was in November 2024, meaning the build and release timeline for the ‘new door’ needed to be efficient.
Installing the door
We aimed to develop a new Project Module within the SRS Metadata Catalogue, designed to help the SRS team manage projects effectively and allow researchers to easily apply for access seamlessly from the catalogue - we didn’t want to leave them out in the cold.
The new service was to be delivered through integrating the ONS SRS metadata catalogue with the JIRA service management platform. The plan was for workflows and forms to be configured within JIRA Service Management to meet the team’s needs administering and managing new project applications and changes to existing project applications. In our analogy, we would have been installing an existing ‘shop bought’ door and adding some of our own design features.
During the discovery stages of the project when assessing initial viability, the team deduced that a Jira based system would have led to a clunky UX, where the user would need to navigate to different platforms rather than a single user experience from discovery to access. The volume of forms needed would have also rendered the project a high cost option. To preserve the user experience and conserve costs, the decision was taken to build the PASS Hub from scratch with Jira integrations; we were building our own door, with working intercom and even an on-call doorman to precisely fit our needs.
What have our team delivered so far?
PASS, an integrated data access request service which sits on top of the existing ONS SRS metadata catalogue, was first launched as a BETA in April 2025, with the hard roll out in June 2025.
Researchers are now able to browse the catalogue and select relevant datasets to add to a shopping basket. Users then start an application with details of their project in order to request access. If set standards are reached, the accredited user is automatically granted access or buzzed into the building. In other cases, the ONS PASS team is able to view the application, log queries with the researcher and manage their internal review stages via the Jira service management tool - our advanced intercom system. Once approved, researchers are able to manage their research projects on the platform via a personalised dashboard. MetadataWorks also offers on-call support for the ONS team where needed - our virtual doorman.
Additionally, the new tool allows the ONS PASS team to quickly and easily extract and download reports, including reviewing a full list of projects, researchers and organisations from Jira using a custom dashboard, proving the utility of their data.
Early Results
*Please note, the above stats have been taken from Google Analytics to allow for early analysis
These stats suggest a substantial shift toward using the catalogue, enabling users to self-serve the information they need to progress their activities more efficiently.
The PASS team have also reported a substantial reduction in the time required to review and process access requests, enabling the team to redirect resources toward higher-value tasks. In the six months following launch:
The Future?
ONS remains at the forefront of data management and is committed to accelerating improvements to both the data catalogue and the access request system over the coming months. A major area of focus will be greater granularity—enabling researchers to request only the specific data they need, rather than entire datasets. This shift will support faster, more proportionate access processes, particularly where the security sensitivity of the selected data is low.
Alongside this, MetadataWorks and ONS will continue to enhance metadata quality, ensuring richer, more consistent and comparable information across administrative and health data domains. Planned improvements include clearer linkage indicators, strengthened schema alignment, better documentation, and more transparent version histories. The aim is to create a catalogue that is not only comprehensive, but genuinely informative, searchable and intuitive.
The user experience will also see significant investment. This includes more powerful search capabilities, personalised ranking, improved accessibility, clearer guidance, and stronger connections to related research, policy areas and communities of practice. By combining technical innovation with a more researcher-centred design, ONS aims to deliver a catalogue that supports faster discovery, smoother access, and deeper insights—ultimately strengthening the UK’s ability to unlock the value of data for public good.
Join the conversation
To find out more about the project, ask a question or make a comment, book a time to discuss the work with the MetadataWorks team or contact the ONS SRS customer support team at SRS.customer.support@ons.gov.uk.