History
The Commission arose from an election manifesto commitment by the Labour Government whilst in Opposition to provide independent national statistics1. The commitment was implemented by the Government first publishing a Green Paper in 1998 inviting consultation which offered four options for overseeing the production of statistics for ministers5. The subsequent White Paper revealed that, of those four options, the one which received significantly more support than the others was the establishment of a Commission2,6. Consequently, in drawing up the new framework for national statistics1,7, the Statistics Commission was established. Its main function is to
- "...give independent, reliable and relevant advice on National Statistics to Ministers and, by so doing, to provide an additional safeguard on the quality and integrity of National Statistics."1
The White Paper charged the Commission with four principal aims6:
- To consider and comment to government on National Statistics's programme and scope of work
- To comment on National Statistics's quality assurance processes and to arrange audits where it finds concern
- To comment on the application of the code of practice for official statistics
- To prepare for the UK Parliament an annual report on National Statistics and the Commission
Read more about this topic: Statistics Commission
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)
“For a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)
“To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armour, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)