Statistical Legislation
26July 2007 Royal Assent granted to Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007
The Statistics and Registration Service is now an Act following Royal Assent, reported today by the Lord Speaker, Baroness Hayman.
23 July 2007 House of Commons Treasury Select Committee publishes report on evidence session from Sir Michael Scholar
The House of Commons Treasury Select Committee has published its report on its evidence session from Sir Michael Scholar, the nomination for the chair of the new Statistics Board.
19 July 2007 Sir Michael Scholar faces House of Commons Treasury Select Committee
The House of Commons Treasury Select Committee has taken evidence from Sir Michael Scholar, the nomination for the new chair of the Statistics Board.
19 July 2007 Statistics Bill completes parliamentary stages
The Statistics and Registration Service Bill is set to become an Act following its completion of its parliamentary stages.
The House of Lords and House of Commons had been in parliamentary 'ping-pong' disagreeing on arrangements for pre-release access.
The Lords had amended the Bill so that the Statistics Board would determine pre-release arrangements. The Commons had decided that these should be made by ministers.
The Lords finally chose not to press its amendment. With both Houses in agreement on the text of the Bill it can now go for Royal Assent and be made an Act of Parliament.
17 July 2007 Treasury announces nomination for new Statistics Board chair
Sir Michael Scholar has been nominated by the Government to be the first chair of the new Statistics Board. His appointment is dependent on a vote by Parliament following an announcement by the Prime Minister. [ Treasury press notice]
3 July 2007 Arrangements for statistics will form part of Government's constitutional goals
The Government's Green Paper on "The Governance of Britain" sets out two proposals directly related to official statistics. They propose that the nominee for the chair of the new Statistics Board should be subject to confirmation by Parliament, and that pre-release access should be limited to 24 hours and to fewer persons.
2 July 2007 Commons reverses Lords amendments to Bill
The Government won the support of the House of Commons to reverse the Lords' amendment providing for pre-release access arrangements to be determined by the Statistics Board and not Ministers. The Government accepted the argument that the Cabinet Office and not the Treasury should have the residual ministerial powers.
25 June 2007 Bill completes Report Stage in the House of Lords
The Statistics and Registration Service Bill gained its Third Reading in the House of Lords. It now passes back to the House of Commons for consideration of the Lords' amendments.
18 June 2007 Bill completes Report Stage in the House of Lords
The Statistics and Registration Service Bill has completed its Report stage in the House of Lords. Among the Government amendments introduced was a clause on the executive functions of the proposed Statistics Board.
23 May 2007 Bill completes its Committee stage in the House of Lords
The Statistics and Registration Service Bill has completed its Committee stage in the House of Lords. The next stages are Report and Third Reading. The Bill will then return to the House of Commons for consideration of the Lords' amendments.
25 March 2007 Bill passes Second Reading in the House of Lords
The Statistics and Registration Service Bill passed its Second Reading in the House of Lords today.
This was the first chance for the Lords to express their views on the Bill.
Although all speakers welcomed the Bill and its overall objective, many raised concerns and cited the Royal Statistical Society in doing so. These were on the areas of the scope of the Bill, pre-release access, the governance arrangements and confidentiality of personal data.
The Bill will now be considered clause by clause in Committee. Unlike the House of Commons, this will be a Committee of the Whole House, ie all Lords will be able to take part in debates rather than a small selection being able to do so.
13 March 2007 Bill moves on to
Committee stage
The Bill completed its passage through the House of Commons today, completing the Report Stage and having its Third Reading. It now goes to the House of Lords where it will pass through a similar procedure.
The Bill has been largely unchanged so far, apart from generally technical amendments. However, one amendment has given a greater emphasis to the production of statistics for the public good.
9 January 2007 Bill moves on to Committee stage
Following its Second Reading, the Statistics and Registration Service Bill went on to its Committee stage where it will be scrutinised in detail and amendments may be made.
The first meeting of the Committe will be on Tuesday, 16 January 2007. It is programmed to finish the Committee stage by Thursday, 25 January 2007.
Bill's second reading scheduled
The Second Reading of the Statistics and Registration Service Bill in the House of Commons has been scheduled for Monday, 8 January 2007.
Second Reading is the first time that the general principles of the Bill will be debated. Ministers will set out the intentions of the Bill and its main provisions, opposition spokespeople will comment and outline the areas in which they feel it might be changed, and other MPs can similarly comment. If the Bill is given its Second Reading then it will go to the Committee Stage where the provisions will be scrutinised in detail and it will be open to amendment.
11 December 2006: RSS comments on the Government's Bill
The RSS has published its comments on the Government's Bill, setting out areas where the Society believes amendment is necessary.
First Reading of Statistics and Registration Service Bill in House of Commons
The Statistics and Registration Service Bill has been given its First Reading in the House of Commons. This is the formal process of introducing a bill into either of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. The bill must now pass through both Houses and be agreed by both before it can become law.
The next stage is Second Reading at which the general principles of the Bill will be debated. A date has not yet been set for that.
15 November 2006: Statistical legislation announcement welcomed, but enhancing public trust will be the test
The Royal Statistical Society has welcomed the commitment made today, Wednesday 15 November 2006, in the Queen's Speech for legislation on official statistics. The Society further welcomes the statement by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, John Healey MP, on the Government's proposals, together with the document also released today setting out the Government's response to the consultation it held on its proposals earlier this year.
The President of the Royal Statistical Society, Professor Tim Holt, says:
"We welcome much of the Government's proposals for legislation. Their response to their consultation shows that they have listened to most of the concerns expressed and have tried to accommodate them. The test will be whether or not they enhance public trust in official statistics.
"The Society will look carefully at the specific governance arrangements for the proposed Board and the clear separation of the executive responsibility for statistical production and coordination from the role of protecting public interest and having oversight of the whole system."
RSS welcomes Treasury Committee report on Independence for Statistics and urges Government to heed its recommendations
The RSS has welcomed the publication of the House of Commons Treasury Committee's report on its inquiry into Independence for Statistics.
John Pullinger, Chair of the Royal Statistical Society's National Statistics Working Party, says:
"We welcome this report as it reinforces the arguments that the Royal Statistical Society and many others have made.
"Public trust in official statistics is at a low ebb. Barely a sixth of adults believe that they are produced without political influence.
"Although what the Government is proposing is welcome, it is not enough fundamentally to tackle this problem of trust. The Royal Statistical Society urges the Government to heed the Commons report and looks forward to their response."
" A joint meeting between the Official Statistics Section and the National Statistics Working Party is set for October to discuss the Government's proposals, the Committee's report and the Government's reaction to it. The date and speakers are to be confirmed and further details will be posted here.
The RSS has made its submission to the Treasury consultation on independence for statistics.
Click on the link below to download a copy.
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Wednesday 22 March - Chancellor announces consultation on statistical legislation
In his Budget speech the Chancellor announced that there is to be a consultation on proposals for statistical legislation. This follows on from his original announcement in late November 2005.
The Society has greeted the consultation positively but has expressed concerns.
John Pullinger, chair of the Society's National Statistics Working Party, said:
"We are pleased to see that the proposals reflect the need for this legislation to be drawn broadly, encompassing not just those statistics produced by ONS but also statistics on crime, education, health and other areas of important public interest. We are concerned, however, that leaving 'Ministers wholly responsible for statistics produced within their departments' will create a two-tier system.
"We are also pleased to see that the proposals recognise the need for a clear responsibility for independent oversight of the system by a Governing Board, coupled with a clear accountability for the delivery of trustworthy statistics given to the Chief Statistician. We will wish to explore, however, whether the proposals really do separate executive delivery from oversight.
"The details will need careful consideration to ensure that the selection, compilation, presentation and release of statistics across the UK reflect the public interest and will deliver trustworthy statistics that allow us to assess the state of the nation and judge the performance of government. We will be contributing fully to the debate on these proposals."
Monday 5 December - Chancellor announces he will make ONS independent
The Chancellor made his announcement to the CBI annual conference. At the same time the terms of the announcement were set out in an answer to a Parliamentary Question, saying:
"Having reviewed the Framework for National Statistics, we will publish plans by early in the New Year to legislate to make the Office for National Statistics independent of Government, making the governance and publication of official statistics the responsibility of a wholly separate body at arms length from Government and fully independent of it.
We propose to legislate for:
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the creation of an independent Governing Board for the Office for National Statistics, with delegated responsibility for meeting an overall objective for the statistical system's integrity;
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the appointment of external members to the Board, drawn from leading experts in statistics and including men and women from academia and business; and
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a new accountability to Parliament through regular reporting by the Board to explain and to be questioned by the Treasury Select Committee on their performance."
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