§ Mr. HigginsTo ask the Prime Minister if she will publish the report of the review on Government economic statistics; and if she will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterFollowing the Treasury and Civil Service Select Committee's report on the 1988 Budget, the Government set up an efficiency scrutiny in the Cabinet Office last June to examine the present interdepartmental arrangements for the production of Government economic statistics, and to make recommendations for achieving cost-effective improvements where necessary. The report of this scrutiny is being published today, and copies have been placed in the Library of the House.
The scrutiny report recommends a large number of specific ways of improving the quality of Government economic statistics, the great bulk of which have been accepted. They will be implemented over the next year under the supervision of the director of the Central Statistical Office. Copies of the action plan relating to these recommendations have been placed in the Library of the House.
The report also makes a number of recommendations for changes to the present interdepartmental arrangements for producing economic statistics. In accordance with these, I have decided that from July responsibility for the business statistics office and for all the statistical series for which the Department of Trade and Industry is now 191W responsible, and for the retail prices index and family expenditure survey, for which the Department of Employment is currently responsible, should transfer to the Central Statistical Office. The enlarged Central Statistical Office will have greater direct responsibility for the compilation of the national accounts and for the associated data collection from businesses.
As recommended by the scrutiny report, the enlarged Central Statistical Office will become a separate Government Department, responsible to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in due course will also become an executive agency. The director of the Central Statistical Office, as head of the Government statistical service, will continue to have access to me on matters concerning the validity and integrity of Government statistics.
The Government remain committed to reducing the burdens on business involved in the collection of economic statistics. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, who has lead responsibility for deregulation policy, will therefore agree with the enlarged Central Statistical Office specific objectives to ensure that the burdens on business are minimised.
These decisions amount to a very substantial programme of work over the period ahead, designed to achieve a significant improvement in the quality and relevance of Government economic statistics.