§ Mr. Jim Lesterasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he has any plans to review the numbers of statistical returns required to be completed by industry.
§ The Prime MinisterThe demands on industry for statistical returns are kept under constant examination by the Survey Control Unit of the Central Statistical Office in consultation with Departments.
§ Mr. Jim Lesterasked the Minister for the Civil Service when was the last inquiry into the value of the issue of Government statistics (a) to the industries concerned and (b) to the individual companies.
§ The Prime MinisterA survey to obtain up-to-date information about the uses made of Government statistics has been undertaken this year among potential users of Government statistics. Those consulted included statisticians and analysts throughout industry. Whenever new surveys of industry are proposed, it is the practice to consult representatives of the industry concerned about their needs for statistics and the burden of providing the information. Much of the information collected is done so specifically at their request.
§ Mr. Jim Lesterasked the Minister for the Civil Service who is responsible for co-ordinating the information collected by Government Departments through statistical returns.
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§ The Prime MinisterThe information collected through statistical inquiries on a particular subject is co-ordinated by the Department responsible for that subject. The Central Statistical Office is generally responsible for co-ordination where more than one Department is concerned. The Survey Control Unit of the Central Statistical Office has overall responsibility for ensuring that demands on respondents to statistical inquiries are properly co-ordinated, to avoid duplication and to minimise the burden of form filling.