Tuesday 1 July, 10:00,
Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster
Next Tuesday, the Public Administration and Constitutional
Affairs Committee will hold the first session of its inquiry into
the work of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA).
The UKSA is responsible for “promoting and safeguarding” the UK's
official statistics, and oversees two executive offices: the
Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Office for
Statistics Regulation (OSR). MPs will question the Chair of
the UKSA, Sir Robert Chote, as well as the acting National
Statistician, Emma Rourke, and the OSR's Director General, Ed
Humpherson.
Over the course of the last two years, the reliability of data
produced by the ONS has been questioned by many sources. In the
session, the Committee are likely to cover the findings of Sir
Robert Devereux's review into culture and
performance, including how the organisation intends to learn from
his findings.
MPs are aiming to understand how the UKSA will ensure official
figures are resilient and credible, and how the UKSA will ensure
the issues identified from the review are addressed, such as the
allocation of funds.
The Committee is likely to ask about the workings of the ONS's
leadership team, the state of its major programmes, and the
future of the role of the National Statistician following
Professor Sir Ian Diamond's recent departure. Among other issues,
MPs are also likely to ask witnesses how concerns around the ONS'
workforce and culture will be addressed.
Witnesses:
·
Sir Robert Chote, Chair, UK Statistics Authority
·
Emma Rourke, Interim National Statistician, UK Statistics
Authority and Office for National Statistics
·
Ed Humpherson, Head of the Office for Statistics Regulation
