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THE ATTRIBUTES OF AN INDEPENDENT STATISTICAL SERVICE A meeting at 5 pm on Thursday 25th August at the Royal Statistical Society, Len Cook is leaving the UK on 30th August after five years in the top job in statistics. He was appointed from New Zealand to help fulfil the Labour Party's 1997 election pledge to create an independent statistics service. During his five years at the top job Len Cook is said to have ruled, as Registrar General, on the legality of Prince Charles wedding, and, through classification of British Rail and road maintenance expenditure statistics, to have been a significant influence on transport and economic policy. He says that that strong criticism of statisticians is part of the British way of life, and criticism of statistics is a way of criticising government. So what does Len believe are the attributes of an independent statistical service? The Chair will be taken by Simon Briscoe, Statistics Editor of the Financial Times The meeting is open to all and there is no charge. Tea will be available from 4 30 pm. But please email [log in to unmask] or notify on 0207 614 3910 that you are coming. ***********************************************