Commentary on Sections and Schedules Part 1: the Statistics Board Section 8 Monitoring and reporting of official statistics
51.This section requires the Board to monitor the production and publication of official statistics. This role draws on the duties established by the Framework for National Statistics for the Statistics Commission (which advised Ministers of areas of widespread concern about the quality of official statistics) and of the National Statistician (who produced a high-level work programme for National Statistics, that the Statistics Commission had to comment on).
52.In this section, ‘production’ encompasses all aspects involved in producing official statistics, including the design of the inquiry, the collection of data, the compilation and analysis of those data and the dissemination of results.
53.Subsection (2) provides that the Board may report its findings about official statistics to the person responsible for those statistics, usually the relevant departmental Minister or the relevant Devolved Administration. This enables the Board either to comment reactively if concern about any official statistics, or gap in the coverage of official statistics, is brought to its attention; or proactively, developing its own programme of work to fulfil this duty.
54.Subsection (3) enables the Board to publish the results of its work under this section.