The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) welcomes this inquiry and the substantial series of studies announced by PASC. The 2007 Act had, and has, the potential to bring about a step change in the quality of UK official statistics. However, much always depended on the way it is implemented and whether it became a catalyst for other improvements, so a review of this is appropriate.

There have been definite improvements since the Act but there is still some way to go. RSS views are given in detail below but we highlight the following points as being of particular importance: 

• Putting in place additional efforts to respond to user needs and to improve communication
• Expanding the scope of the Monitoring Reports and Briefs and the planning capability of the National Statistician’s office through releasing some of the resources that have been used for Assessment
• Instructing departments to consult and pay attention to the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) and the National Statistician in their statistical planning
• More clarity on and recognition of UKSA’s diverse roles (assuming legislative changes are not possible)
• Streamlining the process by which the Office for National Statistics (ONS) acquires administrative datasets and improving user access to data
• The abolition, or near abolition, of pre-release access

The RSS made a supplementary submission relating to its concerns on the late registration of deaths in England and Wales.

After oral evidence the committee invited further evidence by correspondence to which responses were submitted by the Society and by its Statistics User Forum.

Download the full main response (pdf format, 79kb)
Download the supplementary response on registration of deaths in England and Wales (pdf format, 40kb)
Download the letter providing further evidence from the Royal Statistical Society (pdf format, 100kb)
Download the letter providing further evidence from the Statistics User Forum (pdf format, 91kb)