Independence for UK Statistics Body

The UK's Office of National Statistics is to be made independent of government control, Chancellor Gordon Brown announced yesterday. The move is an attempt to restore public confidence in official figures - and to remove them from accusations of spin.

According to a MORI study released last week, the UK public's confidence in official statistics has dropped in recent years, with a growing suspicion that official information is always 'spun' by politicians (www.mrweb.com/drno/news4867.htm ). The report, Who do you believe? Trust in government information, recommended the establishment of an independent statistical service to restore faith in official information.

In his announcement - made to the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry - Brown said he plans to make 'the governance and publication of official statistics the responsibility of a wholly separate body at arm's length from government and fully independent of it'.

Brown wants the independent ONS to be run along the same lines as the Bank of England, which was granted independence in 1997. It will be run by a governing board made up of leading statisticians from academia and business.

Karen Dunnell, National Statistician and head of the ONS, described the move as 'an important step forward in enhancing the integrity of official statistics.' She added: 'ONS has always worked in an independent, open and transparent way. But there has been a perception that this is not so, which has been very damaging for official statistics as a whole.'

David Rhind, Chair of the independent watchdog the Statistics Commission, also welcomed the plans, saying 'this announcement heralds a real breakthrough in terms of statistical independence'.

The ONS will work with the Treasury to plan the changeover, with more details expected early next year. The ONS web site is at www.ons.gov.uk.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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