By Lucy Phillips
19 March 2010
Pre-release access to official figures by ministers should be cut down dramatically to help clean up the system, according to the statistics watchdog.
The UK Statistics Authority said the time that Whitehall ministers are given to look at official figures ahead of their publication should be reduced from one day to three hours. There should also be a one-hour delay between the release of data and ministers being allowed to comment on it so that people can interpret figures without influence.
The watchdog’s chair, Sir Michael Scholar, said: ‘The current 24-hours advance access by ministers and their advisers contains too many dark hours during which no-one can see what is happening.’
The restrictions were called for in a UKSA review, published on March 18, on boosting public confidence in official data. That has been dashed in recent years because of several cases of misleading use of figures by ministers. One of the most high profile of these occurred last year when the then home secretary, Jacqui Smith, was forced to apologise to MPs for misrepresenting knife-crime statistics.
Scholar said the recommendations in the report would minimise ‘opportunities for political influence or exploitation’, helping to restore public confidence. A recent survey by the Office for National Statistics found only one in five people thought official figures were compiled without ministerial interference.
The review also said the length of early access should be standard across the UK. Ministers in Scotland and Wales currently have up to five days to study official figures ahead of their publication.
The Royal Statistical Society, which has called for no early access for ministers whatsoever, welcomed the UKSA report.
Professor David Hand, the society’s president, said: ‘Public confidence in official statistics is at appallingly low levels... Severely curtailing pre-release access to three hours throughout the UK would send a clear message that public confidence is paramount.’
19 March 2010
Pre-release access to official figures by ministers should be cut down dramatically to help clean up the system, according to the statistics watchdog.
The UK Statistics Authority said the time that Whitehall ministers are given to look at official figures ahead of their publication should be reduced from one day to three hours. There should also be a one-hour delay between the release of data and ministers being allowed to comment on it so that people can interpret figures without influence.
The watchdog’s chair, Sir Michael Scholar, said: ‘The current 24-hours advance access by ministers and their advisers contains too many dark hours during which no-one can see what is happening.’
The restrictions were called for in a UKSA review, published on March 18, on boosting public confidence in official data. That has been dashed in recent years because of several cases of misleading use of figures by ministers. One of the most high profile of these occurred last year when the then home secretary, Jacqui Smith, was forced to apologise to MPs for misrepresenting knife-crime statistics.
Scholar said the recommendations in the report would minimise ‘opportunities for political influence or exploitation’, helping to restore public confidence. A recent survey by the Office for National Statistics found only one in five people thought official figures were compiled without ministerial interference.
The review also said the length of early access should be standard across the UK. Ministers in Scotland and Wales currently have up to five days to study official figures ahead of their publication.
The Royal Statistical Society, which has called for no early access for ministers whatsoever, welcomed the UKSA report.
Professor David Hand, the society’s president, said: ‘Public confidence in official statistics is at appallingly low levels... Severely curtailing pre-release access to three hours throughout the UK would send a clear message that public confidence is paramount.’
