Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Office for Statistics's press release entitled New partnership between statistical authorities of the UK and the EU, published on 9 October 2024, what role Ministers had in approving this arrangement; and if he will publish the text of the agreement and any associated documentation.

Article 730 of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) negotiated between the UK and EU in 2021 provides that ‘Eurostat and the United Kingdom Statistics Authority may establish an arrangement that enables cooperation on relevant statistical matters’.

The 2024 Lievesley Review of the UK Statistics Authority included a recommendation to prioritise the establishment and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Eurostat in line with Article 730 of the TCA. The Government’s response, led by then Minister Baroness Neville Rolfe, was to agree and stated that: ‘The Cabinet Office supports these recommendations. Given the UKSA’s international standing there should be a continued emphasis on their role as a thought leader among our international peers.’

Following the July election Cabinet Office Ministers have received progress reports on activity to deliver against this recommendation and welcome the new arrangements that are now in place.

The publication of the text is a matter for the Office for National Statistics, which operates independently as a Non Ministerial Department.