15.The Board has an overall objective of promoting and safeguarding the quality of official statistics that serve the public good, including by informing the public about social and economic matters, and assisting in the development and evaluation of public policy. The Board also has an objective to promote and safeguard good practice in relation to official statistics and the comprehensiveness of official statistics (section 7).
16.The Board has a number of functions which will enable it to fulfil this objective, including powers to monitor the quality of official statistics (section 8), and to develop, maintain and promote the use of definitions, methodologies, classifications and standards for official statistics (section 9). Section 10 requires the Board to draw up a Code of Practice for Statistics. Section 12 and 14 require the Board to assess National Statistics against the Code.
17.Where the Board considers that a set of official statistics should be subject to assessment under section 12, it is obliged, under section 16, to notify the authority responsible for those statistics. Where the appropriate authority is a Minister of the Crown, the Minister must publish a statement as to whether (and when) he will comply with the Board’s request. Where relevant, this must include reasons for why he does not intend to comply with the Board’s request.
18.Pre-release arrangements will be set out in secondary legislation (section 11), and the Board has a statutory duty to assess compliance with the arrangements as part of its duty to assess National Statistics under sections 12 and 14.
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