National well-being debate moves to Manchester

01 Apr 2011

People who live and work in and around Manchester are being encouraged to join the National Well-Being debate and have their say at an event on April 4.

Academics at The University of Manchester have joined forces with the Office for National Statistics to hold  a panel style discussion which will ask: "Are national statistics on subjective well-being valid and reliable?"

From April 2011, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) will be including subjective wellbeing questions on their Integrated Household Survey to capture what people think and feel about their own well-being.

The event, chaired by Home Editor of the BBC  Mark Easton will take place at the Samuel Alexander Building, University of Manchester from 5:00 - 6:30pm.

Each panel member will speak about the Government’s new measures on national well-being, followed by questions gathered in advance from the audience members that Mark Easton will field.

It is part of a range of events organised by the ONS across the country to provide people with the opportunity to give their views on the things that matter most to them in life.

Stephen Hicks, Assistant Deputy Director of the ONS's Measuring National Well-being Programme said: "The National well-being debate is for everyone across the UK and we want to encourage people to tell us what matters to them.

“I am delighted the University of Manchester  is hosting this and I look forward very much to taking part and to hearing what people have to say.

“The measures that are developed will be available for all government and commercial organisations to use in the way which helps them make decisions.

“These decisions will affect the UK and so it is important to make your voice heard. Get involved by visiting http://www.ons.gov.uk/well-being.”

“This event will enable practitioners and researchers to provide information on the viability of these and other measures of well-being.”

Tarani Chandola is  Professor of Medical Sociology at the University’s Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research.

He said: “ We are delighted to be join up up with the ONS to play our part in helping the region debate this important topic.

“We look forward to hearing the views anyone who has an interest in this area – whether it’s  policy makers or the public.”