I would be rather worried that there were areas of official statistics where quality testing was not deemed appropriate.
The policy seems to be addressed to a series of questions which are not necessarily the ones I would see as important.
Firstly independence. Labour will have to realise that the assumption routinely made that governments fiddle figures will not go away while ONS is still an agency within the Treasury family, and many departments continue to produce their own figures, in some cases without the National Statistics standard being applied. The second point here is, to me, more important than the first. While ONS sometimes go off and do their own thing, they can usually produce some form of respectable statistical methodology for it. I have much less confidence in Departmental figures - and especially those without the NS stamp.
An issue that is not addressed in the Lib Dem policy is access to statistics and related subjects. This is one area where much progress has been made through free (£) access to data through the internet. There are, however, further areas which need attention. While click-use licences appear to impose few conditions, crown copyright is retained - so citizens only have access to data about their area or subjects they are interested in by the granting of a crown licence. The experience of Rayner scrutines of statistics leads me to a deep scepticism that much of government understands that citizens should have rights, rather than being granted crown licences to access to information. Why is this data not public domain - as it is in democratic countries.
Secondly, the emerging geographical interests are hamstrung by Ordnance Survey being a trading fund and having to make money out of selling boundaries and maps. While those in academia have access to UKBorders, others do not. Again, the US does things differently. The Census Access project has given us some borders, subject to licences that restrict use.
---------------------------------------------------------
Paul Bivand
Head of Analysis and Statistics
Direct Line: 020 7840 8335
Inclusion
3rd floor, 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP
Tel: 020 7582 7221
Fax: 020 7582 6391
Inclusion website: www.cesi.org.uk
The contents of this e-mail and any attachment(s) are intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient please return the e-mail to the sender and delete from your mailbox.
The contents of this e-mail and any attachment(s) are intended solely for the use of the addressee.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ray Thomas [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 08 April 2005 12:08
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: An Independent Government Statistical Service[Scanned]
>
>
> The Government claim that they have achieved their election pledge of
> creating an independent statistical service. But they keep
> quiet about
> this claim - presumably because it is so difficult to substantiate.
>
> I asked my local Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate about LibDem
> policy. Give below are the main points of his reply.
>
> Ray Thomas
> 35 Passmore, Tinkers Bridge, Milton Keynes MK6 3DY
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Tel/Fax 01908 679081
>
>
> ****************************************************
>
> The Liberal Democrats would like to see the Government
> Statistical Service
> made independent, answerable to parliament rather than government. It
> should be closer in operating model to the National Audit
> Office, which we
> would wish to see become responsible for more services (i.e. OFSTED).
>
> The primary actions of a national statistical office should be:
>
> 1. To gather information deemed of value to the nation.
> This will
> either be of an entire population, or a sample of an entire
> population. In
> the latter case the sampling techniques they use should be
> appropriate to
> guarantee any usage of the raw data.
>
> 2. The data should be held subject to the DPA and other
> legislation,
> but available in appropriate format as per the FOI.
>
> 3. In clearly defined areas (unemployment, average
> salary, average
> house price, etc), the data should be subjected to
> appropriate tests, which
> guarantee the legitimacy of the conclusions. Furthermore,
> these conclusions
> should be presented, by an NSO, in language which is
> consistent with the
> tests and assumptions carried out (e.g. not in absolute terms
> to suit the
> political needs of any political party).
>
> (from Neil Stuart, Liberal Democrat PPC, Milton Keynes South West)
> ********************************************************
>
> ******************************************************
> Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your
> message will go only to the sender of this message.
> If you want to reply to the whole list, use your mailer's
> 'Reply-to-All' button to send your message automatically
> to [log in to unmask]
> *******************************************************
>
******************************************************
Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your
message will go only to the sender of this message.
If you want to reply to the whole list, use your mailer's
'Reply-to-All' button to send your message automatically
to [log in to unmask]
*******************************************************
|