History
The Commission arose from an election manifesto commitment by the Labour Government whilst in Opposition to provide independent national statistics1. The commitment was implemented by the Government first publishing a Green Paper in 1998 inviting consultation which offered four options for overseeing the production of statistics for ministers5. The subsequent White Paper 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 assurance processes and to arrange audits where it finds concern
- To comment on the application of the code of practice for official statistics
- To prepare for the UK Parliament an annual report on National Statistics and the Commission
Read more about this topic: Statistics Commission
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The principle office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–117)
“The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)