Statistics and Registration Service Bill

My Lords, at Second Reading and in Committee, I was more or less a lone voice in arguing for a unitary board, so I am pleased that we have now basically accepted that principle. I wanted all statistics to be produced with the full authority of the board, which goes beyond simply saying thatthe National Statistician produces them. The board should have to put its name to them, to ward off any serious challenge from Ministers. We are refining a model, and it is one that I have argued for all the way through the debates. The relative power of the chairman and the chief executive is something that statute should allow to develop over time. Think of the Audit Commission—there have been changes in the relative standing of the chair and the controller of audit at different times, to reflect the personalities and skills of each. I rather agree with the noble Lord, Lord Moser, about the three days a week. I suspect that it is necessary in the set-up phase, when the chair does a lot of the interviewing of the senior people coming into the organisation. However, once it is in steady state, three days a week is probably too much and will bias the balance and prevent the natural evolution of the relationship between those two figures.