Statistics and Registration Service Bill

I agree entirely with the approval and praise expressed by the noble Viscount, Lord Eccles, for the work of the Statistics Commission over the seven years of its existence. We thank the past and present members who have contributed to that excellent record. However, the issue is not quite as benign as he suggested. The new board will have a statutory objective to promote and safeguard the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good and to promote the quality, comprehensiveness and good practice of official statistics. In order to deliver on this, as the Statistics Commission does now, the board will operate openly and transparently and will report publicly, including to this House, on all aspects of its operation and its findings in relation to official statistics. The two bodies cannot co-exist, as the noble Viscount proposed, as it would be inefficient and potentially damaging to have two bodies serving exactly the same function with potentially competing voices and blurred responsibilities and accountability lines. The Government expect Parliament to play a central role in holding the statistical system, including the board, to account, in the same way as Parliament provides independent oversight of other independent institutions such as the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority and the competition regulators. We subscribe to the same view as the noble Viscount in his admiration for the Statistics Commission, but we have built upon that experience in order to produce the model for the development of statistics in this country in the form of the new board and its responsibilities. I hope that the noble Viscount will accept that in good faith and will withdraw his amendment.