14 October 2005
The Statistics Commission is calling for all data used in government policy documents to be formally approved by a statistician to guarantee their accuracy.
The independent watchdog, which oversees the Office for National Statistics, has voiced concerns that the statistics used to underpin policy statements and consultations can be misleading.
Commission chair Professor David Rhind said: 'Where policy documents rest their arguments on statistical statements, those statements ought to be formally approved by professional statisticians.'
Rhind voiced his criticisms while responding to a complaint from the chair of Migration Watch, Sir Andrew Green, about the statistics quoted by the Home Office in a consultation paper on immigration.
The department, quoting a previous parliamentary answer, said migrants accounted for 8% of the working age population. In fact the answer had said they accounted for 8% of total UK employment, a mistake Rhind said was 'substantive in statistical terms'.
PFoct2005
