Authority Diary - September 2008
Welcome to the first issue of Authority Diary, providing news and information about the work of the UK Statistics Authority each month. This month, the Authority published for the first time its “Issues Log”. This is a public record of the issues raised with the Authority since April 2008. The latest version is available on the Authority’s website: www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk under the Correspondence pages.
The Chair of the Authority, Sir Michael Scholar, visited Nottingham on 4 September to address the annual conference of the Royal Statistical Society. Sir Michael said that he sees the relationship between the RSS and the Authority as “having the potential to develop into an alliance of real substance and purpose”. At heart, Sir Michael said, “we want to see the statistical service, provided to society as a whole, steadily developed in the public interest”. The full text of Sir Michael’s speech is available on the News pages of the Authority’s website.
The Authority Board met on 19 September in Newport. At the meeting, the Board discussed management arrangements for Authority Monitoring Reports, Census 2011, data sharing, pre-release access, public statements, and press briefings to facilitate the release of statistics separate from ministerial or policy comment.
The minutes and papers from the September Board meeting will be published on the Authority website in due course. Minutes and papers of previous meetings are published on the website on the Our Organisation pages. Sir Michael also visited HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on 15 September, accompanied by the National Statistician, Karen Dunnell, and met with the Chief Executive and HMRC statisticians to discuss the work of the Authority and other relevant issues.
The consultation phase on the draft new Code of Practice for Official Statistics and the supporting principles and procedures for Assessment closes on 30 September. Responses should be sent to authority.consultations@statistics.gov.uk. During October, the Authority will consider the responses that have been received, and the Authority Board will discuss any revisions to the draft Code with a view to publishing a finalised Code of Practice in January 2009.
The Authority’s Monitoring & Assessment team is continuing to develop. This month Mark Pont, Penny Babb, Jill Barelli, and David Hobbs joined the team. Mark and David are based in the Authority’s Newport office and Penny and Jill are based in London. The team is led by the Authority’s Head of Assessment, Richard Alldritt, and by the Assessment Programme Director, Richard Laux.
If you have any questions about the work of the Authority, or have any comments or issues that you want to raise with us, email authority.enquiries@statistics.gov.uk or write to us at: UK Statistics Authority, Statistics House, Myddelton Street, London EC1R 1UW.
Next issue of Authority Diary: 30 October 2008
