Statistics and Registration Service Bill

There has been a certain amount of confusion in the debate; it has been regularly said that there is only 30 minutes’ pre-release in the United States but, as I understand it, the President and the Council of Economic Advisers receive the data the day before. There is clear acceptance on both sides of the House, with the exception of the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet, of the case for pre-release, but it needs to be done properly. We shall be able to review the operation of the system after 12 months, and I suggest that the detail should wait for Committee. My hon. Friend the Member for Slough made a powerful speech in which she reminded us that it is often the quality of data, rather than the suggestion, or risk, of manipulation, that can undermine public confidence. Her speech was certainly colourful and required a certain degree of latitude from the Chair, but she and my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Kali Mountford) made clear the importance of approaching such debates maturely, and of focusing on what is actually happening on the ground and the ability of statistics to tell us the full story. The hon. Member for Sevenoaks made an important speech, and I am sure that he will return to those issues in Committee. The hon. Member for Braintree warned of the dangers of allowing the position of the national statistician to be undermined and said that if the system needed one thing it was scrutiny. It is clear from the debate that there will definitely be scrutiny. My hon. Friend the Member for City of York said that it was important that we enhance the role of Parliament. He proposed a new Select Committee, separate from the Treasury Committee, to review in Parliament the decisions of the new statistical service. That is a matter not for the Treasury but for Parliament, and we have made it clear that Parliament should use all its opportunities to enhance scrutiny of the new independent service. My hon. Friend is right to say that stronger parliamentary scrutiny will be required, and we shall definitely refer his remarks to my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House. My hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test also pointed out that the onus was on Parliament to strengthen its role in such matters. I have already referred to a number of the points that the hon. Member for Worthing, West made in his speech. I have also referred to scrutiny in Scotland and to the importance of the fact that the Bill is a UK measure that has the support of the devolved Administrations. As the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie) said, there is much to welcome in the Bill, and we look forward to his constructive contribution in Committee to make sure that we take fully into account all the points that he made. The hon. Member for South-West Hertfordshire made some points about pre-release and about the role of the Treasury, to which I have referred. The hon. Member for Ludlow made an important point about the RPI. It will be picked up in Committee, but I can assure him that the provisions concerned are consistent with our legal obligations and will be used only in the rarest circumstances. The hon. Gentleman talked about consensus, as did the hon. Member for Fareham.