Statistics Commission
Encyclopedia
Politics of the United Kingdom
The politics of the United Kingdom takes place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government...
to oversee the work of the Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
1,2. Its chairman was Professor David Rhind
David William Rhind
Professor David William Rhind CBE FRS FBA is a British geographer and expert on geographic information systems . He was Vice-Chancellor of City University London until July 2007....
who succeeded the first chairman, Sir John Kingman
John Kingman
Sir John Frank Charles Kingman, born on 28 August 1939 in Beckenham, Kent, is a British mathematician.He was N. M. Rothschild and Sons Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Director of the Isaac Newton Institute at the University of Cambridge from 2001 until 2006, when he was succeeded by Sir...
, in May 20033. Although it was non-departmental, the Commission was funded by grant-in-aid
Grant-in-aid
A grant-in-aid is money coming from central government for a specific project. This kind of funding is usually used when the government and parliament have decided that the recipient should be publicly funded but operate with reasonable independence from the state.In the United Kingdom, most bodies...
from the Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
4. Following the implementation of the Statistics & Registration Services Act 2007, the commission was abolished. Its functions were to be taken over and considerably enhanced by the UK Statistics Authority
UK Statistics Authority
The UK Statistics Authority is an independent body operating at arm's length from Government as a non-ministerial department, directly accountable to Parliament...
(UKSA), whose powers began on 1 April 2008 under the chairmanship of Sir Michael Scholar
Michael Scholar
Sir Michael Charles Scholar KCB is President of St John's College, Oxford. He was educated at St Olave's Grammar School, St John's College, Cambridge...
. Professor Rhind is among the non-executive members of the new authority, to which the ONS is accountable. This contrasts with the duties of the previous Commission which were limited to reporting, observing and criticizing ONS while it, until 2008, has been publicly accountable via a Treasury minister.
History
The Commission arose from an electionElections in the United Kingdom
There are five types of elections in the United Kingdom: United Kingdom general elections, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections and mayoral elections. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday...
manifesto commitment by the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Government whilst in Opposition
Official Opposition (UK)
Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, or the Official Opposition, in the United Kingdom is led by the Leader of the Opposition. This is usually the political party with the second-largest number of seats in the House of Commons, as the largest party will usually form Her Majesty's Government...
to provide independent national statistics1. The commitment was implemented by the Government first publishing a Green Paper
Green paper
In the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland and the United States a green paper is a tentative government report of a proposal without any commitment to action; the first step in changing the law...
in 1998 inviting consultation which offered four options for overseeing the production of statistics for ministers5. The subsequent White Paper
White paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
revealed that, of those four options, the one which received significantly more support than the others was the establishment of a Commission2,6. Consequently, in drawing up the new framework for national statistics1,7, the Statistics Commission was established. Its main function is to
- "...give independent, reliable and relevant advice on National Statistics to Ministers and, by so doing, to provide an additional safeguard on the quality and integrity of National Statistics."1
The White Paper charged the Commission with four principal aims6:
- To consider and comment to government on National Statistics's programme and scope of work
- To comment on National Statistics's quality assuranceQuality controlQuality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects:...
processes and to arrange auditAuditThe general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to audits in accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.- Accounting...
s where it finds concern - To comment on the application of the code of practice for official statistics
- To prepare for the UK ParliamentParliament of the United KingdomThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
an annual report on National Statistics and the Commission
Commissioners
The last Commissioners were3- Professor David RhindDavid William RhindProfessor David William Rhind CBE FRS FBA is a British geographer and expert on geographic information systems . He was Vice-Chancellor of City University London until July 2007....
, formerly Vice-Chancellor and President of City University, LondonCity University, LondonCity University London , is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute and became a university in 1966, when it adopted its present name.... - Ian Beesley, a retired senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopersPricewaterhouseCoopersPricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....
and Fellow of the Royal Statistical SocietyRoyal Statistical SocietyThe Royal Statistical Society is a learned society for statistics and a professional body for statisticians in the UK.-History:It was founded in 1834 as the Statistical Society of London , though a perhaps unrelated London Statistical Society was in existence at least as early as 1824... - Sir Kenneth CalmanKenneth CalmanSir Kenneth Charles Calman, KCB, DL, FRSE is a Scottish cancer researcher and former Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, and then England. He was Warden and Vice-Chancellor of Durham University from 1998 to 2006, before becoming Chancellor of the University of Glasgow. He has held the position of...
, Vice-Chancellor and Warden of the University of Durham - Janet Trewsdale, chairman of the Northern Ireland Economic Council
- Sir Derek WanlessDerek WanlessSir Derek Wanless is an English banker and adviser to the United Kingdom Government.He was educated at the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle, has an MA in Mathematics from King's College, Cambridge which he attended on a support grant from Westminster Bank...
, formerly a director of Northern RockNorthern RockNorthern Rock plc is a British bank, best known for becoming the first bank in 150 years to suffer a bank run after having had to approach the Bank of England for a loan facility, to replace money market funding, during the credit crisis in 2007. Having failed to find a commercial buyer for...
plc - Colette Bowe, chairman of the OfcomOfcomOfcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
Consumer Panel - Patricia Hodgson, governor of the Wellcome Foundation and non-executive directorNon-executive directorA non-executive director or outside director is a member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of the executive management team. He or she is not an employee of the company or affiliated with it in any other way...
of the Competition CommissionCompetition CommissionThe Competition Commission is a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom... - Martin Weale, director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research
The chief executive was Richard Alldritt
See also
- Office for National StatisticsOffice for National StatisticsThe Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
- UK Statistics AuthorityUK Statistics AuthorityThe UK Statistics Authority is an independent body operating at arm's length from Government as a non-ministerial department, directly accountable to Parliament...
(UKSA) - HM TreasuryHM TreasuryHM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...