Commentary on Sections and Schedules Part 1: the Statistics Board Section 6 Official statistics
45.Subsection (1)(a) defines official statistics as statistics produced by the Board, government departments (which includes executive agencies), the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, or any other person acting on behalf of the Crown.
46.Subsections (1)(b) and (2) allow for a Minister of the Crown, the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers, or a Northern Ireland department, by order (using the draft affirmative Parliamentary procedure), to add to the coverage of official statistics – beyond that covered in subsection (1)(a) – all the statistics of a given body, or a more limited number of that body’s statistics, or a specific statistical series. The kind of bodies whose statistics might be added under this section are local authorities, health authorities and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) that are not Crown bodies. Once added by order, statistics will be treated as official statistics for the purposes of the Act and could, for instance, be subject to monitoring by the Board (under sections 8 and 9), or be eligible for assessment as National Statistics.
47.Subsection (3) requires the relevant authority to consult the Board before making an order under subsection (1)(b).