UK Statistics Authority
Encyclopedia
The UK Statistics Authority is an independent body operating at arm's length from Government
as a non-ministerial department, directly accountable to Parliament
. It was established on 1 April 2008 by the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007
.
(ONS), replacing the oversight role previously performed by HM Treasury
ministers; and independent monitoring and assessment of official statistics, maintaining a Code of Practice for Official Statistics and accrediting Code-compliant statistics as 'National Statistics'.
, then Chancellor of the Exchequer
, announced on 28 November 2005, that the government intended to publish plans in early 2006 to legislate to render the Office for National Statistics
(ONS) and the statistics it generates independent of government on a model based on the independence of the Monetary Policy Committee
of the Bank of England
. This was originally a 1997 Labour Party
manifesto commitment and was also the policy of the Liberal Democrat
and Conservative
parties. Such independence was also sought by the Royal Statistical Society
and the Statistics Commission
. The National Statistician
, who is the chief executive of the ONS, would be directly accountable to Parliament through a widely-constituted independent governing Statistics Board. The ONS would be a non-ministerial government department so that the staff, including the Director, would remain as civil servants but without being under direct ministerial control. The National Statistician at the time, Karen Dunnell
, stated that the legislation would help improve public trust in official statistics although the ONS already acts independently according to its own published guidelines, the National Statistics Code of Practice, which sets out the key principles and standards that official statisticians, including those in other parts of the government statistical service, are expected to follow and uphold.
The details of the plans for independence were considered in Parliament during the 2006/2007 session and resulted in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. In July 2007, Sir Michael Scholar
was nominated by the government to be the three day-a-week non-executive chairman of the Statistics Board which, to re-establish faith in the integrity of government statistics, will take on statutory responsibility for oversight of UK statistics and will oversee the Office for National Statistics. It will also have a duty to assess all UK government statistics. Following Gordon Brown's later announcement on his 2007 appointment as Prime Minister
of new constitutional arrangements for public appointments, Sir Michael also became, on 18 July, the first such nominee to appear before the House of Commons Treasury Committee and to have his nomination subject to confirmation by the House. On 7 February 2008, following the first meeting of the shadow board, it was announced that it will thereafter be known as the UK Statistics Authority.
, the chairman, its other members are:
Non-executive members, appointed in open competition: Lord Rowe-Beddoe of Kilgetty, deputy chairman responsible for governance of the Office for National Statistics, Professor Sir Roger Jowell
, deputy chairman with responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of all official statistics across the UK, Professor David Rhind
, previously chairman of the Statistics Commission
, Partha Dasgupta, Sir Jon Shortridge
, Moira Gibb & Colette Bowe.
The Authority's membership also includes three executive members: the current National Statistician
, Jil Matheson
, who is also head of the Government Statistical Service; the Authority's Head of Assessment, Richard Alldritt, who is responsible for the independent assessment of official statistics, and; Stephen Penneck, who is the ONS Director General.
Government of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining Ministers...
as a non-ministerial department, directly accountable to Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. It was established on 1 April 2008 by the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007
Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007
The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established the UK Statistics Authority . It came into force in April 2008. Sir Michael Scholar was appointed as the first Chair of the UKSA....
.
Functions
The UK Statistics Authority has two main functions: oversight of the Office for National StatisticsOffice for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
(ONS), replacing the oversight role previously performed by HM Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
ministers; and independent monitoring and assessment of official statistics, maintaining a Code of Practice for Official Statistics and accrediting Code-compliant statistics as 'National Statistics'.
Background
Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, then Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
, announced on 28 November 2005, that the government intended to publish plans in early 2006 to legislate to render the Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
(ONS) and the statistics it generates independent of government on a model based on the independence of the Monetary Policy Committee
Monetary Policy Committee
The Monetary Policy Committee is a committee of the Bank of England, which meets for two and a half days every month to decide the official interest rate in the United Kingdom . It is also responsible for directing other aspects of the government's monetary policy framework, such as quantitative...
of the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
. This was originally a 1997 Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
manifesto commitment and was also the policy of the Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
and Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
parties. Such independence was also sought by the Royal Statistical Society
Royal Statistical Society
The Royal Statistical Society is a learned society for statistics and a professional body for statisticians in the UK.-History:It was founded in 1834 as the Statistical Society of London , though a perhaps unrelated London Statistical Society was in existence at least as early as 1824...
and the Statistics Commission
Statistics Commission
The Statistics Commission was a non-departmental public body established in June 2000 by the UK Government to oversee the work of the Office for National Statistics1,2. Its chairman was Professor David Rhind who succeeded the first chairman, Sir John Kingman, in May 20033. Although it was...
. The National Statistician
National Statistician
Directors of the UK's Office for National Statistics also hold the title of National Statistician.-Status:They are de facto Permanent Secretaries but do not use that title. As the ONS incorporated the OPCS, the Director also became the Registrar General for England and Wales...
, who is the chief executive of the ONS, would be directly accountable to Parliament through a widely-constituted independent governing Statistics Board. The ONS would be a non-ministerial government department so that the staff, including the Director, would remain as civil servants but without being under direct ministerial control. The National Statistician at the time, Karen Dunnell
Karen Dunnell
Dame Karen Hope Dunnell, DCB was National Statistician and Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics of the United Kingdom and head of the Government Statistical Service from 1 September 2005 until retiring on 28 August 2009...
, stated that the legislation would help improve public trust in official statistics although the ONS already acts independently according to its own published guidelines, the National Statistics Code of Practice, which sets out the key principles and standards that official statisticians, including those in other parts of the government statistical service, are expected to follow and uphold.
The details of the plans for independence were considered in Parliament during the 2006/2007 session and resulted in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. In July 2007, Sir Michael Scholar
Michael Scholar
Sir Michael Charles Scholar KCB is President of St John's College, Oxford. He was educated at St Olave's Grammar School, St John's College, Cambridge...
was nominated by the government to be the three day-a-week non-executive chairman of the Statistics Board which, to re-establish faith in the integrity of government statistics, will take on statutory responsibility for oversight of UK statistics and will oversee the Office for National Statistics. It will also have a duty to assess all UK government statistics. Following Gordon Brown's later announcement on his 2007 appointment as Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of new constitutional arrangements for public appointments, Sir Michael also became, on 18 July, the first such nominee to appear before the House of Commons Treasury Committee and to have his nomination subject to confirmation by the House. On 7 February 2008, following the first meeting of the shadow board, it was announced that it will thereafter be known as the UK Statistics Authority.
Board Members of the UK Statistics Authority
In addition to Sir Michael ScholarMichael Scholar
Sir Michael Charles Scholar KCB is President of St John's College, Oxford. He was educated at St Olave's Grammar School, St John's College, Cambridge...
, the chairman, its other members are:
Non-executive members, appointed in open competition: Lord Rowe-Beddoe of Kilgetty, deputy chairman responsible for governance of the Office for National Statistics, Professor Sir Roger Jowell
Roger Jowell
Sir Roger Mark Jowell, CBE is a British social statistician and academic.-Early life:He was born in South Africa, and was active there in left-wing politics....
, deputy chairman with responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of all official statistics across the UK, Professor David Rhind
David William Rhind
Professor David William Rhind CBE FRS FBA is a British geographer and expert on geographic information systems . He was Vice-Chancellor of City University London until July 2007....
, previously chairman of the Statistics Commission
Statistics Commission
The Statistics Commission was a non-departmental public body established in June 2000 by the UK Government to oversee the work of the Office for National Statistics1,2. Its chairman was Professor David Rhind who succeeded the first chairman, Sir John Kingman, in May 20033. Although it was...
, Partha Dasgupta, Sir Jon Shortridge
Jon Shortridge
Sir Jon Shortridge KCB is a British Civil Servant. He served as the Permanent Secretary of the Welsh Office in March 1999 and of the National Assembly for Wales on its creation in May 1999. He became Permanent Secretary of the Welsh Assembly Government on its establishment as a separate...
, Moira Gibb & Colette Bowe.
The Authority's membership also includes three executive members: the current National Statistician
National Statistician
Directors of the UK's Office for National Statistics also hold the title of National Statistician.-Status:They are de facto Permanent Secretaries but do not use that title. As the ONS incorporated the OPCS, the Director also became the Registrar General for England and Wales...
, Jil Matheson
Jil Matheson
-Career:She joined the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in 1975. She worked on the Expenditure and Food Survey and the General Household Survey. After 1998 she worked on Neighbourhood Statistics...
, who is also head of the Government Statistical Service; the Authority's Head of Assessment, Richard Alldritt, who is responsible for the independent assessment of official statistics, and; Stephen Penneck, who is the ONS Director General.