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What’s happening to British Statistics? 29th October 2007: 3.30 to 6.30 British Library, Euston, London. In July the Statistics and Registration Service Act was passed to come into effect from 1st April 2008. The Statistics Commission will cease after March 2008 and ONS’s formal status will change from being part of government to being an agency working to the newly appointed Statistics Board which comes into being on 1st April 2008. Sir Michael Scholar has been appointed chair of this board and the process of choosing directors is under way. In June, as one of its final publications the Statistics Commission published its report on “Data on Demand-Access to Official Statistics” which set out its recommendations for improving public access to statistics including on the web. At the beginning of October the commission published its “Proposals for a Code of Practice for Official Statistics”. 3.30 Tea and Registration 4.00 Welcome to BL and the Chair, Ceridwen Roberts, SRA and Jude England, Head of Social Science Collections and Research of the British Library The Statistics and Registration Services Act 2007- what it covers and its implications Andrew Garratt, RSS Efficiency and Modernisation at ONS – what is changing and what do the proposed 5% cuts mean? Richard Laux and Stephen Penneck, ONS Access and Disclosure – issues and problems Abigail Armstrong, Statistics Commission Simon Briscoe, Financial Times The role of users - what do users want and what can they do to improve usage of and confidence in British statistics? Keith Dugmore, Statistics User Forum 6.00 Discussion, followed by Drinks Members of the RSS, SRA or Academy £ 15; non members, £20. Apply for a place to Dorothy Williams: [log in to unmask] 0207 388 2391