Statistics Commission - History

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