United Kingdom Statistics Authority

John Healey Excerpts

Tuesday 13th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jenkin]

We are talking about a quango that survived the cull. Given that it was so recently established by an Act of Parliament, it would have been an absolute travesty if it had fallen to the cull. The reason is that for many years those who understand the rather arcane world of statistics have been campaigning for much more independent oversight of statistics. Indeed, independence is one of the key tests that the Government applied in the Public Bodies Bill and the review of arm’s length bodies. If a body’s independence is fundamental to the function it performs, that justifies its existence. Therefore, the United Kingdom Statistics Authority was never on the list.

[John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne) (Lab)]

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to remind his hon. Friend the Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman) that the Office for National Statistics and the UK Statistics Authority are not two separate bodies, but are one and the same. Indeed, the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 sets out the delicate balance between the regulator and producer of statistics, which is one of the big challenges that any chair of UKSA must be able to manage.

[Mr Jenkin]

I am grateful for that intervention, because one of the things that we discussed in our pre-appointment hearing was the balance between oversight and production. The ONS is basically the producer of statistics, while UKSA should provide the oversight. However, the two are not directly separated in the way that one would expect, which is why the independence of UKSA’s chair is such an important feature of the arrangement. Therefore, the authority has a particular duty to ensure the accessibility of statistics.

Since its establishment in 2008 the authority has had the duty to monitor and report publicly on areas of concern in relation to good practice and the quality and comprehensiveness of all official statistics across Government and arm’s length bodies. The authority consulted on and established a code of practice for official statistics in 2009. Indeed, it seems astonishing that there was no such code of practice until UKSA established it. UKSA set independent professional standards for statistics in government, and is assessing against those standards all government statistical products that are classified as national statistics. There are some 1,300 series of statistics produced by government. One third of those statistical products are issued by the ONS, for which the authority performs the governance function.

The other key function of the new authority has been to challenge Departments and Ministers on the quality and integrity of the statistics for which they are responsible. As hon. Members, including several Ministers past and present, will know—I see in his place the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw), the former Home Secretary—the authority’s first chair, Sir Michael Scholar, has been ready to challenge Government practices in the preparation and release of statistics where he and the authority have considered these practices to be corrosive of trust in official statistics. I must say that UKSA should have a sense of mission about its purpose; the Public Administration Committee certainly shares this sense of mission.

Sir Michael’s interventions, made in public and invariably copied to my Committee and to the relevant departmental Select Committee, have, I can reliably attest, been regarded with a mixture of fear and outrage in Whitehall. I think the House would be worried if the pronouncements of the authority—a non-ministerial department accountable to the House through my Committee—were not feared and respected in Departments and ministerial private offices, or, indeed, by Her Majesty’s official Opposition. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister would attest that when we were in opposition, we suffered from the whiplash of Sir Michael’s interventions.

One such early intervention, in December 2008, was to raise in public with the permanent secretary at 10 Downing street an allegation that No. 10 Downing street special advisers had

“caused the Home Office to issue a Press Release which prematurely published provisional statistics for hospital admissions for knife or sharp instrument wounding…These statistics were not due for publication for some time, and had not therefore been through the regular process of checking and quality assurance. The statisticians who produced them, together with the National Statistician, tried unsuccessfully to prevent their premature, irregular and selective release. I hope you will agree that the publication of prematurely released and unchecked statistics is corrosive of public trust in official statistics, and incompatible with the high standards which we are all seeking to establish.”

This intervention resulted in an apology from the then Home Secretary on the next sitting day and a swift investigation by the Cabinet Secretary, which led to substantial changes to guidance to officials on how statistics should be handled, particularly on selective publication from unpublished data sets. An explicit reference was also inserted into the ministerial code, requiring Ministers to abide by the code of practice for official statistics. I regard it as part of the mission of UKSA and my Committee to empower the professional statisticians in government to stand up for the integrity of statistics when under the political pressure that inevitably arises in modern politics.

More recently, Sir Michael has raised with the Chancellor the issue of pre-release access by Ministers, advisers and officials to sensitive economic statistics such as the consumer prices index and retail prices index inflation figures. Sir Michael has asked—I tend to agree with him—what reason there can be for allowing prior access to these figures to a group of up to 50 individuals some 24 hours before publication. I would add that that can be to the advantage only of the Government. For the sake of trust in the use of official statistics, Sir Michael has requested that the number of recipients of these figures be cut to an absolute minimum and the time reduced to the shortest period necessary. I would add: why not?

My Committee is very concerned by the Government’s adherence to pre-release practices. It greatly concerned our predecessor Committee under Tony Wright, and we thought that those practices would be abolished by this Administration when they took office. When the Statistics and Registration Service Bill was going through Parliament, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General gave explicit assurances when we were in opposition that we would abolish pre-release when we were elected. I have to say that we expect the Public Administration Committee to return to the issue in the new year.

Sir Michael Scholar has exemplified an independence of mind and a desire to be independent of Government, which we have thoroughly supported; it could be considered all the more galling as he also served as a most distinguished senior civil servant in Whitehall before he took up this appointment. When he gave evidence to us on the challenges facing his successor he was clear that the single most important feature of his office was its independence. We have been concerned that his successor should be similarly independent, with the judgment to know when to stand up to Ministers to make crucial points about the proper use of official statistics.

In March 2011 Sir Michael indicated his desire to step down, and a competition was initiated to find a successor. A panel—which I understand was chaired by the permanent secretary to the Treasury, and included the Cabinet Secretary—recommended a candidate who was presented to us for approval as the Government’s preferred candidate. I commend my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the fact that this debate is taking place, because he conceded, in answer to a question in the Committee, that it would be appropriate for the appointment to be confirmed by a resolution of the House, and for the appointment to be made only after having been so confirmed. If I am correct, that procedure did not apply to Sir Michael Scholar’s appointment and is not required by Act of Parliament.

That is a testament to the Government’s determination to ensure the independence of the appointment, although, perhaps ironically, my right hon. Friend will have rued the day that he made that undertaking. Earlier this year we held a pre-appointment hearing with Dame Janet Finch, an academic of great distinction and experience, to examine her professional competences and personal independence with regard to the appointment. It is a matter of record that the hearing was a somewhat difficult occasion. Subsequently Dame Janet wrote to the Cabinet Secretary, on her own initiative, to say that it had become clear during the course of the hearing that she and the Committee

“had differing views over how the job should be undertaken, and in particular how the independence of the Chair should be exercised.”

I commend her for applying for the post, for gamely putting herself up for the post, and for behaving in such a dignified way. She withdrew from the selection process entirely voluntarily. May I place on record the Committee’s appreciation for the dignified way in which she handled a difficult personal situation? Her conduct in the matter was exemplary, and the Committee continues to hold her in the highest esteem.

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[John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne) (Lab)]

It is good to follow the hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), and I welcome the fact that so many Members on both sides of the Chamber have wanted to contribute to the debate.

I pay tribute to the members of the Public Administration Committee and its Chairman, the hon. Member for Harwich and North Essex (Mr Jenkin), for the report and their work. I speak having been the Minister responsible for developing the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and leading it through the House. May I say that I had no greater supporter in government or more critical friend in that work than my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw)? I am grateful to him for that.

The fact that our debate this afternoon is in such terms causes us to reflect on and pay tribute to the work of several people in setting up the UK Statistics Authority after the House passed the legislation, especially the former national statistician, Karen Dunnell, and the current national statistician, Jil Matheson. However, I want to pay particular tribute to the outgoing chair, Sir Michael Scholar. He helped lead and set up the authority with great distinction. He helped provide important guidance and governance to the Office for National Statistics, and ensure that a good, strong code of practice for official statistics was introduced in January 2009 and is, properly, now also enforced. As hon. Members from both sides of the Chamber have observed, he has been ready, when necessary, to tackle Ministers from the previous Government and the current Government about the misuse of statistics. Indeed, he most recently tackled the Mayor of London for his misuse of official statistics.

The UK Statistics Authority has two most important features, which have a bearing on the appointment of its chair. The first is its statutory independence from Government and the second is its answerability to Parliament—to this elected House. The report of the Public Administration Committee demonstrates and reinforces the role that Parliament must play. My hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (David Heyes) called it a fine example and my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn) said that we mark a historic day in the extension of the proper role of Parliament in holding the Executive to account and in the conduct of public life. That is true, and the report reinforces the value and importance of the House’s role in the process in three ways.

First—and perhaps for the first time—the Select Committee played an important role in ending the appointment process for the Government’s previous preferred candidate for the job. Secondly—I pay tribute to the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, the hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd)—the Government conceded a greater role for the Committee in the selection process for the chair, allowing it to comment on the person specification, the job specification and the recruitment process. Thirdly, they crucially conceded the point that a member of the Committee had a valuable role to play on the selection panel, and I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins). I note that the report stated that his role was to assess independence from the Executive. He proved his ability to do that over 13 years of the previous Government and continues to do that from the Opposition Benches.

It strikes me from the Committee’s hearings that Andrew Dilnot demonstrated an extraordinary passion for and commitment to what he called the science of statistics in his evidence session. One of the special qualities that he brings to the post is that of being a long-term user, not simply a producer, of statistics—a man who can be not just a guardian, but a champion of statistics in future. The Select Committee report’s conclusion states:

“We welcome his independence of mind and his enthusiasm better to communicate statistics and their importance.”

The contributions to the debate from both sides of the Chamber, particularly from Members who served on the Committee and heard his evidence, reinforced the point about passion and enthusiasm.

The Chairman of the Committee said that in the appointment process the Committee was concerned to establish personal independence and professional competences. Any hon. Member who has ever worked with Andrew Dilnot, or who has worked in areas of his expertise and activity, has absolutely no cause to doubt his personal independence or his professional competence. Treasury Ministers—I am a former Treasury Minister—waited immediately after the Budget for the Institute for Fiscal Studies assessment and analysis, which was the most significant one. Invariably and reliably, that was delivered with great independence and competence, and it was often delivered personally by Andrew Dilnot.

In conclusion, like the hon. Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman), who is not in the Chamber, I too can think of no more fitting and suitable a person for this post in public life in our country than Andrew Dilnot. I welcome him as the Government’s preferred candidate and the work of the Committee in the process of his appointment, and I welcome and endorse the report, which concludes:

“His experience makes him eminently fitted for the role.”