There has been some press reports of pressure by the RSS expressed by
President Denise Lievesley on Len Cook, the National Statistician, about the
Code of Practice for National Statistics. Given below is Len Cook's
response - that may well be first stage of a long debate.
Do Radstats members have anything to contribute to this debate?
Ray Thomas
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Dear Professor Lievesley
Your letter of 22nd January stated that the RSS was concerned over the time
taken
to develop a Code of Practice for National Statistics.
The Code of Practice for National Statistics is my personal responsibility
and I
accept that it is reasonable for you to expect this to be available for
consultation.
The Code of Practice is a major new statement about the rules that should
apply to
National Statistics and other official statistics of the UK, however they
are produced
and classified. It must enable the National Statistician, the Statistics
Commission,
Ministers, policy makers and the public, including professional bodies such
as the
RSS, to have a coherent, widely applicable test of the integrity of any
official
statistics or statistical activity.
Developing a Code of Practice that is forward looking on how we treat
matters of
current and growing significance - including compliance costs, privacy, the
coherence of diverse statistical sources, the effective use of
administrative records,
and new ways of releasing information - is a bold venture. We must create
something which will stand the test of time when it is judged not only by
the UK
public, but also by our European partners and the wider international
community.
I have discussed its development with my professional colleagues and others
across
Government: this is vital to ensure that what we have come up with is not
just
appropriate in a professional sense, but is believed to be workable by those
who will
have to operate under it. I am determined to take this opportunity to get
the Code
absolutely right, but appreciate this may be judged as slowing public
release of our
work.
I would be happy to meet you to discuss further if this would be helpful.
I am copying this reply to Sir John Kingman at the Statistics Commission,
and to
Simon Briscoe in his as Chair of the Official Statistics Section of the RSS.
As you placed this the public domain, I am treating this as an open letter.
Your sincerely, Len Cook
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