Office of Public Sector Information
68.Under subsection (2) if the Board judges that the statistics meet the standards in the Code, then the Board must designate them as ‘National Statistics’. If they do not, then they will not be so designated.
69.Subsection (3) requires that once the appropriate authority has requested an assessment of an official statistic under subsection (1), they may not withdraw that request, and the Board must undertake an assessment of the statistics in question.
70.Subsection (4) requires the person responsible for the statistics being assessed to provide the Board with any information it might reasonably require.Subsection (6) allows the Board, when carrying out assessments, to take into account information or advice from any source.
71.Under subsection (5) the Board must publish the results of any assessment.
72.Subsection (8) allows for the fact that, at the point of commencement, there will already be a set of National Statistics. These statistics will be designated as National Statistics, under the terms of this section and subject to the re-assessment outlined in section 14.
73.This section requires that persons responsible for producing statistics designated as National Statistics under section 12 must ensure that the Code continues to be complied with. The only sanction for non-compliance will be removal of ‘National Statistic’ status, no other sanction will result from a failure to comply with the Code.
74.This section provides for the re-assessment of statistics already designated as National Statistics under section 12. This includes assessment of those statistics which are already designated as National Statistics at the point of commencement (under section 12(8)), as well as those statistics which are assessed by the Board as compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics (under section 12(2)).
75.Subsection (1) requires the Board to assess statistics designated as National Statistics under section 12 to determine whether they continue to comply with the Code and if, under subsection (2), the Board determines that they continue to comply with the Code, confirm their designation. If they do not continue to comply, then their designation as National Statistics must be cancelled.
76.Subsection (3) requires the person responsible for the statistics being assessed to provide the Board with any information it might reasonably require. Subsection (4) permits the Board, in carrying out its re-assessments, to take into account information or advice received from any source.
77.Under subsection (6) cancellation of National Statistics designation can only occur if the Board has assessed the statistics and determined that they do not comply with the Code.
78.This section requires the Board to prepare and publish a programme for both the assessment (under section 12) of statistics proposed by the appropriate authority, and the re-assessment (under section 14) of statistics already designated as National Statistics.
79.Subsection (2) allows the Board to revise the programme and if it does, it must republish it.
80.This section requires the Board to notify the appropriate authority (as defined in section 12) if it considers that a statistic which has not already been assessed against the Code under section 12 should undergo such an assessment.
81.Under subsection (2), where the appropriate authority is a Minister of the Crown, the Board is required to lay a copy of the notification before Parliament. Under subsection (3), where a Minister of the Crown receives such a request, he is required to lay before Parliament a statement as to whether (and, under subsection (4), when) he will comply with the Board’s request.
82.Subsection (5) provides that, where the Minister of the Crown decides not to comply with the Board’s request, his statement must include reasons for the decision.
83.Subsection (6) provides that where the National Statistician decides not to request that an official statistic produced under the authority of the Board be assessed for compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, he must make a statement to that effect, lay a copy of the statement before Parliament, and give reasons for his decision.
84.This section requires the Board to prepare and publish a statement of the principles and procedures it will adopt to carry out its assessments and re-assessments of National Statistics. It allows the Board to revise this statement at any time, and requires the Board to consult the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers, the Department of Finance and Personnel for Northern Ireland, and other such persons as it sees fit. These principles will be for the Board to determine, but it is expected that they might indicate the way that risk-based approaches and transparency might underpin the assessment of National Statistics, including:
the criteria that might be applied in drawing up and amending the work programme;
the way that assessments themselves will be conducted;
the way recommendations will be formulated;
the timing and manner of publication of recommendations; and
the professional standards expected of those conducting the assessment.
85.This section requires the Board to publish annually a list of statistics that are designated as National Statistics under sections 12 and 14.
86.This section provides for the transitional arrangements from the point the Board is established, and before it has prepared and published a new Code, as required by section 10.
87.The section further provides that, until a new Code is adopted by the Board, the Board will maintain the current Code of Practice for National Statistics (subsection (2)).
88.Subsection (3) permits the Board to revise the existing Code before it publishes a new Code; and stipulates that if it does so, it must publish the Code as revised.
89.Subsection (4) provides that, in making revisions to the existing Code, the Board may not make any changes relating to pre-release access as defined in section 11.
90.Subsection (5) establishes that during the interim period, the Board can use the existing Code to assess statistics proposed by the appropriate authority for assessment under section 13, as well as to re-assess statistics already designated as National Statistics under section 14.
91.This section provides the Board with the power to produce and publish statistics. Under this power, the Board will take on one of the main roles of the ONS, in conducting surveys, and collecting information from other sources, to produce a wide range of data on the economy and society. This includes, for example, production of the National Accounts, labour market data and information on population sizes.
92.Subsection (1) allows for the Board to prepare and publish statistical outputs, while subsection (2) provides for the Board to make available information or advice in relation to those outputs. For example, when publishing statistics on a particular topic, the Board may need to provide other contextual information for users about the appropriate use of those data, background information on the methodology, and terminology (for example, explaining the concept of seasonal adjustment) or advice on other relevant points.
93.Subsections (3) to (5) provide that the Board must seek the consent of the relevant Devolved Administration before producing or publishing devolved statistics.
94.This section sets out the governance arrangements for the Retail Prices Index (RPI). The RPI is an average measure of change in the price of goods and services, which is compiled and published monthly.
95.Subsection (1) provides that the Board must compile and maintain the RPI, and that it must be published every month.
96.Subsection (2) requires that the Board, before making any changes to the coverage or basic calculation of the RPI, must consult the Bank of England on whether the proposed change constitutes a fundamental change in the index that would be materially detrimental to the interests of the holders of relevant index-linked gilt-edged securities (ILGs).
97.This is because, among other things, the RPI is used to calculate returns on ILGs, which are government securities issued by HM Treasury under its borrowing powers in section 12 of the National Loans Act 1968. The prospectuses of ILGs first issued before July 2002 provided as follows:
‘If any change should be made to the coverage or the basic calculation of the [Retail Prices] Index which, in the opinion of the Bank of England, constitutes a fundamental change in the Index which would be materially detrimental to the interests of the stock-holders, Her Majesty’s Treasury will publish a notice in the London Gazette immediately following the announcement to the relevant Government Department of the change, informing stockholders and offering them the right to require Her Majesty’s Treasury to redeem their Stock in advance of the revised index becoming effective …’.
98.The prospectuses of eight gilts with maturities ranging from 2009 to 2030 currently contain this redemption clause and the aggregate outstanding amount of these gilts is substantial. The rationale of the redemption clause was to protect holders against arbitrary changes in the nature of the RPI. However, depending on the nature of the change to the RPI and on market circumstances at the time, the triggering of the section could have a significant impact on financial markets and potentially on the public finances.
99.Subsection (3) provides that if, under subsection (2) the Bank of England considers the proposed change to constitute a fundamental change that would be materially detrimental to holders of ILGs, then the Board may not make the change without the consent of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
100.Subsection (4) defines the various terms used in the section.
101.This section allows the Board to supply statistical services to any person and details the kind of services that may be provided. This power is intended to allow the Board to provide the range of services that the ONS previously provided. For example, the Board will be able to provide information, advice and technical assistance to outside bodies, as ONS has done, including to statistical agencies in other countries.
102.The Board may also undertake quality assessment of statistics produced by organisations outside the scope of the Act, in a manner akin to those it carries out in relation to National Statistics. Those bodies’ statistics could not be designated as National Statistics, but the Board could if it wished make public its views on the quality of those statistics. The Board may also undertake statistical surveys and analyses on behalf of others, as ONS did with its ‘Omnibus’ Survey.
103.This section allows the Board to promote statistical research, including facilitating research through making available to researchers data held by it, as ONS did. For example, ONS provided anonymised data under licence through the UK Data Archive at Essex University. It also provided access to certain data to researchers and academics in a secure environment, and it is intended that this will continue as described in relation to section 39.
104.This section allows a Minister of the Crown, a Welsh ministerial authority or a Northern Ireland department, by order, to delegate to the Board any of their functions relating to the production of statistics. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has previously delegated Ministerial functions under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 – to the Director of the ONS – this provision allows the possibility of such delegation in the system established by this Act.
105.This section transfers the statistical functions of the Registrar General for England and Wales to the Board. These functions include responsibility for conducting the census and the production of an annual volume which, among other things, contains figures on the number of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships that have taken place in England and Wales during the previous year. The functions also include the role of assessor to the Parliamentary Boundary Commissions for England and for Wales. This involves giving advice to the Commissions on issues such as population estimates.
106.The Schedule contains the amendments consequential on, and supplementary to, section 25.
107.The amendments to the Census Act 1920 give the Board the same responsibilities that applied to the Registrar General, apart from the following two specific provisions. Paragraph 3 amends section 3 of the Census Act to require the Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Welsh Ministers to consult the Board prior to making any regulations under this provision. The references to the Welsh Ministers in the amended section 3 reflect the transfer of the regulation-making power in section 3 to Welsh Ministers under the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions)(No. 2) Order 2006 which came into force on 15 December 2006.
108.Paragraph 5 amends section 3 of the Census Act so as to enable the Board to acquire information from any government department or local authority, having first consulted with the Registrar General, in relation to registration information. Paragraph 6 amends section 6 of the Census Act 1920 to clarify to whom a local authority should submit an application for a local census in England and Wales or in Scotland respectively.
109.Paragraph 8 amends section 4 of the Population (Statistics) Act 1938 to permit the Board to disclose information collected under this Act, providing it is necessary in connection with the performance of its functions under section 5 of the Census Act 1920.
110.Paragraph 9 amends section 19 of the Registration Service Act 1953 to place on the Board the responsibility for sending an annual abstract to the Minister for the Cabinet Office.
111.Paragraph 10 amends paragraph 5(a) and (c) of Schedule 1 of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to place the role of assessor to the Boundary Commissions for England and for Wales on the Board.
112.Paragraph 11 amends section 14(6)(a) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 to place the role of assessor to the Boundary Committees for England and for Wales on the Board.
113.This section enables the Board to do anything necessary in connection with the exercise of its functions or incidental business. The purpose of a section of this nature is to give the Board the powers it needs to carry out its day-to-day business. It does not widen the scope of the Board’s activities, nor provide any powers of compulsion.
114.Examples of the use of the powers are:
the gathering of information in relation to the exercise of its functions;
the establishment of advisory bodies;
the entering into of agreements; the acquiring and disposing of property; and
promoting, or assisting in the promotion of, publicity about the work of the Board.
115.These powers will also entitle the Board to charge for certain services on a discretionary basis, as ONS did, for example for paper copies of its publications, for any statistical services it provides, and for services promoting statistical research. Any charges will be made in line with Government charging policies, which apply to all public bodies.
116.This section requires certain reports to be laid before Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, or the Northern Ireland Assembly, and it also allows the Board to lay further reports as necessary.
117.This section would enable the Board, if it thought it appropriate, to lay reports which are wholly on devolved matters only before the relevant devolved legislature.
118.Subsection (1) imposes a duty on the Board to produce a report after the end of each financial year. This will include details of what it has done during the year and what it has found as a result of those activities. The Board must also provide information about what it intends to do during the following financial year.
119.Subsection (2) states that a report under subsection (1) must be laid before Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
120.Subsection (3) allows the Board at any time to produce a report about any other matter relating to the exercise of its functions. Subsection (4) notes that any report produced under subsection (3) must be laid before at least one or more of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
121.Under subsection (5), the Board must publish any report that it makes under this section.
122.Subsection (1) obliges the Board to have regard to efficiency and cost-effectiveness when making decisions relating to the exercise of its functions.
123.Subsection (2) requires that the Board seek to limit the costs that individuals, businesses and other organisations bear as a result of its activities (for example, when requiring them to fill in a survey, or when their statistics are being assessed). As a result, the Board must consider the burdens it places on others as a part of decisions such as, whether to acquire data from existing administrative sources or whether to commission new data instead.
124.This section allows the Minister for the Cabinet Office to give the Board such directions as he considers appropriate in the event of a serious failure by the Board to perform any of its functions, or to comply with EU obligations. Given that the new Board will be established as a NMD, the power in subsection (1) is intended as a power of last resort. The Minister for the Cabinet Office will have no role in the day-to-day decision-making of the Board.
125.In a similar manner, subsections (2), (3) and (4) permit the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers or the Department for Finance and Personnel for Northern Ireland, with the consent of the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to give the Board such directions as they consider appropriate to remedy a serious failure by the Board to comply with its objective, or to perform any of its functions in relation to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland respectively.
126.Subsection (8) provides that where the Minister for the Cabinet Office gives directions to the Statistics Board under this section, a copy of the directions must be laid before Parliament, and the Minister for the Cabinet Office must notify the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers and the Department for Finance and Personnel for Northern Ireland. A copy of the directions must also be laid before each of the devolved legislatures. Under subsections (9) to (11), where any of the Scottish Ministers, Welsh Ministers or the Department for Finance and Personnel for Northern Ireland gives directions to the Statistics Board under this section, a copy of those directions must be laid before the relevant devolved legislature and before Parliament.
127.Under subsection (12), if the Board fails to act on a direction, the authority that gave the direction may carry out that direction itself, and in so doing, may exercise the Board’s powers. Where the authority is not the Minister for the Cabinet Office, this power is exercised subject to the consent of the Minister for the Cabinet Office.
128.This section establishes the National Statistician as the Board’s chief professional adviser on the quality and comprehensiveness of, and good practice in relation to, official statistics. Subsection (2) requires that the Board take account of the National Statistician’s advice in relation to all those matters.
129.Subsection (3) requires the Board to publish a statement if it overrules the National Statistician on what are purely professional statistical matters. That is, the development and maintenance of definitions, methodologies, classifications and standards for any official statistics, or the application of definitions, methodologies, classifications and standards to statistics produced by the Board itself.
130.Subsection (4) requires any statements published under subsection (3) to be laid promptly before Parliament.
131.This section establishes that, as well as being the Board’s chief professional adviser, the National Statistician is also to be the Chief Executive of the Board, with direct authority to conduct the Board’s business, subject to the exceptions in subsection (3).
132.Subsection (2) enables the National Statistician to exercise any functions of the Board, except, undersubsection (3), the functions of deciding whether or not to adopt or revise the Code of Practice for National Statistics, or determining whether official statistics comply with the Code.
133.Subsection (4) allows the Board to direct the National Statistician on whether he may exercise a particular function and if so, how. This may include reserving the exercise of particular functions to the Board collectively.
134.If there is a vacancy in the post of National Statistician, subsection (5) enables the Board to appoint one of the other two executive members of the Board to carry out the National Statistician’s functions as Chief Executive.
135.Section 32 requires the National Statistician to establish an executive office of the Board.
136.Subsection (1) sets out that the executive office is to assist the National Statistician in the discharge of certain functions including the production of statistics including the retail prices index (under sections 20 and 21) and statistical services (under section 22).
137.Subsection (2) requires the executive office to be headed by the National Statistician and to include the other executive members of the Board, subject to the conditions in section 33(3), that the Head of Assessment may not be part of the executive office. The National Statistician may appoint to the office any other employees of the Board as required.
138.Subsection (3) permits the National Statistician to delegate any of the functions of the Board set out in subsection (1) to another member of the executive office. In effect, this will be much of the day-to-day work of the office, including the range of activities related to statistical production. However, subsection (4) makes clear that the delegation of any function under subsection (3) does not preclude the National Statistician from himself exercising that function.
139.This section requires the Board to employ a Head of Assessment as its principal adviser in relation to assessments and re-assessments of National Statistics and their compliance with the Code. The Board must have regard to the advice of the Head of Assessment on those matters.
140.Subsection (3) establishes that, if the Head of Assessment is one of the executive members of the Board, he may not exercise the executive functions of the National Statistician under section 31. In particular, in the event of a vacancy in the post of National Statistician (section 31(5)), the Head of Assessment cannot be appointed to carry out that role. In addition, he may not be a member of the National Statistician’s executive office (responsible for statistical production), and may not in any other way take part in the production of statistics by the Board.
141.This section provides for the separation of the statistical production and assessment functions of the Board.
142.Subsection (1) prohibits the National Statistician from taking part in deliberations or decisions about the assessment or reassessment of statistics that the Board itself has produced. That does not prevent the National Statistician from making representations to the Board about those statistics but, as with other statistical producers, he may not take part in decisions by the Board, or their representatives, on the assessment or reassessment of those statistics.
143.Subsection (2) prohibits executive members of the Board who are neither the National Statistician nor the Head of Assessment, or any other staff assigned to the executive office from taking part in any deliberations or decisions in relation to assessment or re-assessment of any National Statistics, and their compliance with the Code. This applies whether the statistics in question are produced by the Board itself, or produced in other departments.
144.Under subsection (3) the Board must establish processes to ensure that employees of the Board involved in statistical production should not be engaged in advising the Board on the assessment or reassessment of those statistics (under section 12(1) and 14(1))).
145.Subsection (1) gives the Board powers to establish committees to exercise its functions and to give it advice. The Board may establish committees, for example, to direct certain corporate policies and practice, such as on human resources, security or information systems.
146.Under subsection (2), advisory committees (but not executive ones) may consist of individuals who are neither members of the Board nor employed by it. The Board might, for example, establish an advisory committee to help it address user needs, and include on it some key user representatives from academia, business, and the research community. It may also establish committees to advise it on the exercise of its functions relating to official statistics, which might include staff from other government departments.
147.This section sets out that the Board may delegate certain of its functions and describes the conditions under which it may delegate. The Board may delegate to a member or employee of the Board, or to a committee of the Board who may, undersubsection (3) further delegate down to sub-committees.
148.Under subsection (2) the Board may not delegate its duty of adopting or revising the Code, nor decisions on whether statistics have complied with the Code and can therefore be designated as National Statistics.
149.Subsection (4) provides for the fact that the delegation of a function under subsections (1) and (3) does not preclude the Board or a committee from exercising that function itself.
150.This section provides that the Board may regulate its own proceedings and those of any other committee of the Board.
151.Subsection (3) establishes that the validity of the proceedings of the Board, or any of its committees or sub-committees is not affected by a vacancy or a defective appointment.
152.This section allows the Board to use any information it holds, including census information previously held by the Registrar General, to carry out any of its functions. This section will permit the Board to produce statistics for one purpose using information collected for another purpose, for example allowing an analysis of deprivation to be carried out using information collected as part of the census. This may also reduce the burden on information providers, for example individuals or businesses filling in surveys, by removing the need to collect duplicate information.
153.Subsection (1) states that any information obtained by the Board in connection with any function exercised by the Board may be used by it in connection with any of its other functions.
154.Subsection (2) restricts the Board’s use of information in that, while the Board will have access to information about National Statistics for assessment purposes, it will not be able to use this information for other functions, such as the production of statistics.
155.Subsection (3) specifies that information received by the Board as a part of its function of providing statistical services (under section 22) may only be used for the purpose of providing those services, unless the Board has the consent of the person who provided the information to the Board to use it in another way.
156.Subsection (4) states that the Board may not use information where other legislation places limits on how that information can be used or disclosed. For example, section 58 (2) of the Finance Act 1969, restricts the Board’s use of ‘pay as you earn’ (PAYE) information for the purposes of statistical survey; this section would not override that restriction on use.
157.This section specifies that personal information (as described in subsections (2) and (3)), whether held by the Board or disclosed by the Board to others, is confidential.
158.Subsection (1) states that personal information held by the Board should not be disclosed by anyone, whether a member of the Board (or one of its committees), an employee of the Board or anyone who has received it from the Board (directly or indirectly). Subsection (9) makes such disclosure a criminal offence, punishable by a fine or imprisonment. This is a similar penalty to that provided for unlawful disclosure of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) information in the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.
159.Subsection (2) explains that ‘personal information’ is information that relates to and identifies a particular person. This would include information that could identify a business, even where that business had since changed form due to a merger. The meaning of personal information does not include administrative information held by the Board, such as records relating to the Board’s employees (which may, however, be protected under the Data Protection Act 1998).
160.Subsection (3) provides that information falls within the definition of ‘personal information’ at subsection (2) if the information in question either specifies the identity of the person, or could allow it to be deduced.
161.Subsection (4) lists the categories of disclosure that are not restricted by the confidentiality obligation in subsection (1):
paragraph (a), where other legislation explicitly requires or permits disclosure of personal information. For example section 58(4) of the Finance Act 1969 permits the Board to disclose certain information it has received from HMRC to another department for the purpose of a statistical survey;
paragraph (b), where a European Community obligation requires disclosure, for example Council Regulation EC 184/2005 concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment, requires submission and transmission of information, including confidential information, to the Community authority (Eurostat);
paragraph (c), where it is necessary for the purpose of enabling or assisting the Board to exercise any of its functions, for example the Board’s function in section 5 of the Census Act 1920 of preparing statistics in respect of periods between one census and another;
paragraph (d), where information has already been lawfully made public;
paragraph (e), where information is disclosed following a court order;
paragraph (f), where information is disclosed as part of a criminal investigation or proceedings;
paragraph (g), where information is disclosed to the Intelligence Services – as defined in section 67 – in the interests of national security; and
paragraph (h), where the person to whom the personal information relates has consented to disclosure. For example, where the Board conducts a voluntary survey, which contains a confidentiality pledge that makes clear to the respondent how the information they provide will be used, and setting out any onward disclosures that might be made, for example to other government departments for statistical purposes. In such cases, by returning the survey, the respondent consents to the terms of the confidentiality pledge and to the disclosure of information for statistical purposes in the way described.
162.Subsection (4)(i) states that the confidentiality obligation does not apply where the Board discloses information to an ‘approved researcher’. Subsection (5) sets out that the term ‘approved researcher’ means an individual to whom the Board has granted access – for the purposes of statistical research – to personal information it holds. The Board may extend access to researchers from various organisations, including academic institutions, public bodies (including both local and regional bodies) and non-governmental organisations.
163.Subsection (6) states that the Board must publish the criteria by which it will decide whether to grant access to approved researchers. As set out in subsection (7), these criteria must require the Board to consider whether the researcher is a fit and proper person and the purpose of the research. Any researcher must also sign a declaration that they understand the confidentiality obligation placed on them (subsection (8)).
164.The combination of this section and section 23 (on statistical research) is intended to replicate the access ONS provided to researchers and academics (seconded into ONS), usually through a secure environment physically located in ONS. Researchers were not generally allowed to take information away from ONS and were required to sign strict confidentiality agreements.
165.Subsection (9) provides that anyone who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of a criminal offence. Subsection (10) sets out that the offence in subsection (9) does not apply where the individual making the disclosure reasonably believes that the identity of the person to whom the information relates is not specified in the information, could not be deduced from it (taken on its own or with any other published information (subsection (10)).
166.Section 44(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides that information is ‘exempt information’ for the purposes of that Act if its disclosure by a public authority is prohibited by or under any enactment. If information is ‘exempt information’ it need not be disclosed under that Act. By virtue of section 39 (the offence relating to disclosure of information), section 44(1)(a) applies in relation to information held by the Board. So information held by the Board is ‘exempt information’ for the purposes of the 2000 Act.
167.Subsections (1) and (2) of section 40 provide a limited qualification to section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in the case of personal information which is passed by the Board to other public authorities. The effect is that the confidentiality obligation in section 39 will not trigger section 44 in such cases and the information will not automatically be exempt information for the purposes of the 2000 Act. That means that in respect of personal information received from the Board, a public authority, in response to a request for information made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, may not refuse to disclose information by citing the absolute exemption in section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. However, the public authority may still cite other available absolute or qualified exemptions insofar as they are considered to apply to the information requested.
Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007