Statistics and Registration Service Bill

My Lords, we continueto support this amendment and hope that the Government will consider carefully the arguments put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Newby. Government Amendment No. 32 makes it clear that the National Statistician is to be responsible for official statistics standards. The amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Newby, will establish the National Statistician as the proper channel for communicating these standards to the Government and to the wider statistical industry. The National Statistician is the right person to undertake this responsibility.