28 October 2005
The national statistician should have the power to audit and, if necessary, qualify all statistics produced by government departments to help overcome public distrust of official data, an independent watchdog says.
The Statistics Commission wants the head of the Office for National Statistics, which it oversees, to have greater authority over the data produced by government departments to ensure their quality.
It says ONS head Karen Dunnell should be given statutory powers to set up and run an external audit programme covering the whole of government and the right to decide which departmental statistics to scrutinise and when.
The commission's report, due to be published on October 27, said these changes were necessary to improve public confidence.
'The quality of official statistics is fundamental to the quality of decision-making at all levels in society and to the trust citizens place in their government,' it added.
Managing the quality of official statistics found that, currently, departments themselves do much of the quality assurance work with no external scrutiny, and that the national statistician has limited ability to influence which data are examined.
It also revealed that the existing programme of departmental statistics quality reviews, established by the government in 2000 on a five-year rolling timetable, had largely failed. Of the 120 reviews due by 2005, just 43 had been completed while the rest had been scrapped or postponed.
Commission chair Sir David Rhind said a 'systematic approach' was now needed. 'The national statistician has a responsibility for, but little practical authority over, statistical work carried out in other government departments.'
PFoct2005
