Strengthening central authority in
a decentralised system
Karen Dunnell
National Statistician, UK
Contents
• Background and History
• Current organisation of UK statistics
• Assessment of decentralised systems, in
general and in the UK
• The way forward for UK statistics
Background and History
• Organisation of statistics in UK government
developed piecemeal
• Creation of Central Statistical Office during
Second World War
• Emphasis on professional standards in the
late 1960s
• Devolution (Wales, Scotland, Northern
Ireland) in the late 1990s
Current organisation of statistics in
the UK
• ONS employs a fifth of the professional
statisticians in government
• Remaining statisticians are employed in 30
separate departments and agencies
• ONS co-ordinates and leads the production
of statistics in the UK
• Geographical dispersion of statisticians
• Recent movement towards “Information
Centres”
Decentralised systems in general ..
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Characteristic
Professional staff working
in each Department
Closeness to
administrative systems
Closeness to policy
makers and Ministers
System-wide statistical
planning
Adherence to standards
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Analysis
Ensures statistical
expertise is available
Ensures that details are
well understood
Opportunity to influence,
but also to be influenced
‘Planning’ tends to be
bottom-up
Tends to be more difficult
as governance is less
direct
… and specifically in the UK
• GSS statisticians are valued in government for
their expertise and professionalism
• “Inappropriate influence” – mainly about
perceptions
• “bottom-up planning” – has prevailed. Particular
concern has been coherence of some UK statistics
• “adherence to standards” – UK National Statistics
Code of Practice forcibly introduced by Len Cook,
though compliance is patchy
The way forward for UK statistics
• Parliament is considering statistics legislation to
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strengthen governance arrangements whilst
respecting Devolution and maintaining out-bedded
statistics
UK-wide oversight is likely to improve the quality of
planning
A statutory Code of Practice
Improved arrangements between UK government
and Devolved Administrations
Other non-statutory steps to improve public
confidence