Independent ONS overdue, say experts

1 Dec 05
The chancellor's pledge to make the Office for National Statistics fully independent is a long-overdue step vital to restore confidence in claims that public services are improving, experts have said.

02 December 2005

The chancellor's pledge to make the Office for National Statistics fully independent is a long-overdue step vital to restore confidence in claims that public services are improving, experts have said.

John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said the move was essential to ensure that the public could trust figures showing that public services provide value for money.

Research published in September found that only 17% of people believed government statistics were free from political meddling.

'Although much of the criticism has been unfair, official statistics on crucial indicators such as economic growth, employment, pay, productivity and the public finances must be seen to be beyond reproach, and immune from political pressure or controversy,' Philpott said. 'This is especially true now that the ONS is actively engaged in implementing the recommendations of the Atkinson review.'

The ONS is undertaking major reforms of the way that it measures public sector outcomes and productivity, born of the review by Sir Tony Atkinson, and these are likely to produce evidence of improvements.

Perhaps with that in mind, Gordon Brown made the surprise declaration about the ONS, currently a Treasury agency, at the CBI's annual conference on November 28.

He vowed to create an independent governing board, and to make the ONS directly accountable to Parliament through the Commons Treasury select committee.

Detailed plans will be published by the Treasury early next year.

'I have tried to take decisions that should be made, on the basis of economics out of politics,' Brown said, 'taking government out of areas where it need not be'.

Professor David Rhind, chair of ONS watchdog the Statistics Commission, which has long advocated independence, said it was a 'real breakthrough' but urged Brown to go even further.

'The Statistics Commission hopes the promised legislation will be drawn widely and include an extension of the national statistician's authority in relation to all official figures.'

National statistician Karen Dunnell welcomed the news.

'ONS has always worked in an independent, open and transparent way but there has been a perception that this is not so,' she said.

'This will increase public confidence in official statistics.'

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