Statistics and Registration Service Bill

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 16, in clause 10, page 5, line 11, leave out ‘National’ and insert ‘Official’. No. 17, page 5, line 19, at end insert— ‘(4) In drafting the Code and supervising compliance thereto, the Board shall have regard to the duties set out in section 26 of this Act.’. No. 44, page 5, line 19, at end insert— ‘(4) All those who produce National Statistics must conform to the Code of Practice unless the Board accepts and publishes any case for deviation, consulting the Board on matters of interpretation as necessary, and reporting any breach of the Code to the Board.’. No. 18, in clause 12, page 6, line 15, leave out ‘At the request of the appropriate authority’. No. 19, page 6, line 16, leave out ‘National’ and insert ‘Official’. No. 20, page 6, line 17, leave out ‘in relation to any’ and insert ‘by the authorities responsible for producing’. No. 21, page 6, leave out lines 19 to 22. No. 22, page 6, leave out lines 29 to 44. No. 34, page 6, line 44, at end insert— ‘(9) The Board shall have the authority to initiate an assessment process to designate any set of official statistics as National Statistics with the provision that the board must inform the appropriate authority before initiating the process.’. Mrs. Villiers: New clause 4 and amendments Nos. 16 to 22 would extend the full rigour of the reforms to all official statistics. We agree with the Royal Statistical Society, which stated in a letter to the Chancellor last year: ““The new arrangements should cover all official statistics not just those which are currently the responsibility of ONS or labelled National Statistics.