Stats boss quits as minister says new leadership needed

Jack FenwickPolitical correspondentKate WhannelPolitical reporterGetty ImagesSir Robert Chote was made a Knight Bachelor in 2021Sir Robert Chote has resigned as chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, the physique accountable for overseeing the troubled Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS).Earlier this 12 months, a highly-critical authorities overview stated the ONS had “deep-seated” points which wanted tackling.The Financial institution of England has additionally criticised the company for the reliability of its job market information, which the central financial institution considers when deciding whether or not to lift or lower rates of interest.Asserting Sir Robert’s resignation, Cupboard Workplace Minister Pat McFadden stated “new management was important” to deal with “the challenges recognized and quickly restore confidence within the statistics produced by ONS that underpin decision-making”. In a letter despatched to Parliament’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Cupboard Workplace’s most senior civil servant Catherine Little stated a brand new chair could be “in a extra credible place” to behave on the findings of the investigation.Sir Robert, who joined the UK Statistics Authority in 2022, will now take up a place as president of Trinity School, Oxford in September.A senior Cupboard Workplace supply denied the federal government had pressured Sir Robert to go and stated it was his personal alternative to depart, however stated it was “laborious to make efficient authorities coverage if you do not have statistics which have integrity”.They added that “if we won’t know the true image then it is tougher to make coverage, in order that’s why we’re getting on with fixing it”.That is the second senior resignation in current months, after Sir Ian Diamond stepped down from his place as nationwide statistician on the ONS in Might attributable to well being causes.The ONS gathers and publishes information utilized by the federal government to make coverage choices in areas together with state advantages, housing, migration and crime. In April, the federal government requested former senior civil servant Sir Robert Devereux to research the ONS after a sequence of points. In his subsequent report, Sir Robert concluded “many of the well-publicised issues with core financial statistics are the consequence of ONS’s personal efficiency”, particularly “decisions made on the prime of ONS, over a number of years.”He cited an “curiosity within the new” that took consideration from “much less thrilling however essential process” of delivering core financial information that had been ok to information high quality choices.Responding to the overview, performing nationwide statistician Emma Rourke stated she welcomed the report and “absolutely acknowledges the problems he has highlighted”.