Statistics and Registration Service Bill

I do not want to anticipate the debate on the noble Lord’s amendment, but much of the problem that the noble Lord, Lord Newby, has drawn attention to is the consequence of the relocation of the ONS to Newport. We have already heard that substantial numbers of senior staff concerned with precisely the matters to which the noble Lord referred have proved reluctant to move to south Wales, and that this is hampering the work of the ONS. To come back to the point of the amendment moved by my noble friend Lady Noakes, I referred in an earlier debate to the European principles on statistics. I do not want to anticipate the amendment that I shall move on that matter, but Principle 3 refers directly to the adequacy of resources. It states: "““The resources available to statistical authorities must be sufficient to meet European statistics requirements””." Then there is a list of indicators: "““Staff, financial, and computing resources, adequate both in magnitude and in quality, are available to meet current European statistics needs””." I repeat what I said before; namely, that that includes the statistics needs of individual countries within the European Union. The document continues: "““The scope, detail and cost of European statistics are commensurate with needs””." I shall not read it all now, but the clear international requirement of the convention to which we are party is not only that the resources are sufficient but that they are seen to be sufficient and that there are procedures to ensure that they are sufficient. That is what the convention requires. Therefore, it seems to me that my noble friend’s amendment is entirely justified. I hope that the Minister will be able to give her a reassuring reply.