UK Statistics Authority

Objective

1. The UK Statistics Authority (the Statistics Board)1UK Statistics Authority’ accessed 3 March 2019 – has a statutory responsibility to promote and safeguard the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good. 2Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 s 7(1)

Serving the public good?

2. Serving the public good includes in particular: 3 Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 s 7(2)(a)-(b) 

  1. informing the public about social and economic matters, and
  2. assisting in the development and evaluation of public policy.

3. The UK Statistics Authority is required to safeguard and promote: 4Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 s 7(3)  

  1. the “quality” and comprehensiveness of official statistics, and 
  2. “good practice” in relation to official statistics

Quality and accessibility

4. References to the “quality” of any official statistics include their: 5Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 s 7(4)(a)-(b)  

  1. impartiality,
  2. accuracy,
  3. relevance, and
  4. coherence with other official statistics.

5. Accessibility is defined as an element of good practice. 6Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 s 7(5) The Explanatory Notes to the Act refer to accessibility   as “making statistics easily and widely available in a fair and open way” 7Treasury HM, ‘Explanatory Notes to Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007

6. The UK Statistics Authority is not limited to considering only these aspects of quality and good practice. It might also be expected to look at other dimensions such as timeliness and comparability. 8Treasury HM, ‘Explanatory Notes to Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007

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