§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what review is taking place of the collection of statistics undertaken by his Department; with whom officials are consulting in the review; when he expects to make any public statement about the outcome of the review; and what representations he has received.
§ Mr. MaudeThe review of DTI statistics was announced on 22 June 1988 in the Government's response to the Treasury and Civil Service Committee report on the 1988 Budget. (House of Commons Paper 541.) The terms of reference for the review were published inBritish Business on 12 August 1988.
The review is being conducted as an efficiency scrutiny. The scrutiny team is consulting widely, including statisticians responsible for individual surveys, users of DTI statistics and providers of statistics. The team is due to report at the end of December and any public announcement would be made after then. The scrutiny team will continue to consider the views of interested parties. No representations about the scrutiny itself have been made to my Department. However, a number of representations have been received from industry and commerce about the availability of statistics of trade with EC member states after 1992. A framework regulation concerning these statistics is in the final stages of preparation and is expected to go before the Council of Ministers within the next two months; a copy will be deposited in the House.