12 January 2007
Legislation to free government figures from ministerial control is fundamentally flawed and the proposed new statistics watchdog must be given real teeth, the chair of the Treasury sub-committee has warned.
Michael Fallon, who last year led an inquiry into the government's proposals, told Public Finance that ministers will fail in their objective of reversing public mistrust in official figures unless the Bill before Parliament is radically altered.
The Statistics and Registration Service Bill, which had its second reading on January 8, intends to make the Office for National Statistics independent of government and put in place a statutory code of practice. But Fallon told PF that it would fail to meet either of these aims in its present form.
'What we've got at the moment is not a significant improvement on the existing arrangements,' he said. 'Fundamental flaws remain and I expect the government will come under increasing pressure as the Bill progresses.'
Fallon, a Conservative MP, has tabled a series of amendments to the legislation. One calls for the proposed Statistics Board, which will police the code of practice, to have the power to enforce the code across all government statistics, rather than just those deemed to be national statistics.
'The [proposed] board doesn't have the teeth it needs to enforce the code. It should be able to go into a department and require changes to a particular statistical series where necessary,' Fallon said.
He also wants the national statistician to have a statutory right of direct access to the prime minister to discuss disputes with government departments over the code's application.
Existing watchdog the Statistics Commission has also weighed in with a list of amendments it would like to see adopted. It wants the new board to determine the length of pre-publication access to statistics that ministers enjoy. Ministers decide for themselves at present.
John Healey, financial secretary to the Treasury and the minister responsible for statistics, has conceded some ground, saying advance access henceforth would be limited to 40 hours.
'I am confident that the arrangements will provide greater clarity and…will help further to reduce perceptions of ministerial interference,' he said.
But commission chief executive Richard Alldritt told PF that would not be enough to improve public trust in official figures, which stands at just 17%. 'If the code of practice is about anything, it's about proper and appropriate advance access to give assurance that statistics are free from manipulation. The period of that access should be determined by the board.'
PFjan2007
