Code of Practice

The 'Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007' requires the UK Statistics Authority to prepare, adopt and publish a 'Code of Practice for Statistics' and to re-assess against this Code all National Statistics designated under the 2000 arrangements, and any new statistics proposed by ministers as candidate National Statistics. Only those statistics that comply with the Board's assessment criteria will be designated as 'National Statistics'.

Departmental ministers will retain responsibility for determining the scope of National Statistics and will put forward statistics for formal assessment, but the Statistics Board may also ask any minister to put forward an official statistic for assessment. Ministers must respond to these requests and notify Parliament of their decision. Those statistics which were designated as National Statistics under the earlier Framework arrangements will retain their status until they have been re-assessed.

In the meantime, and for the purpose of carrying out assessments, the Statistics Authority will use the existing National Statistics Code of Practice.