Statistics and Registration Service Bill

My Lords, this has been an interesting debate and was all the better for being put in historical context by the noble Lord, Lord Moser. I thank him for his kind words about fellow Ministers’ efforts and the extent to which the Government have sought to adopt a sharing role with Parliament on the development of the Bill. It will be recognised that, in many key areas, government thinking has been influenced by contributions in this House and another place. Let us be clear about our position. The noble Baroness said we need certain things in legislation because statements are not good enough. The Prime Minister said he intended that the pre-release period should be 24 hours and no longer. Is anyone suggesting that if we do not agree to the amendments today, 24 hours will not be the maximum pre-release period? That was, of course, a categorical statement. Likewise, when we said that the Government would consult the board on the content of the pre-release secondary legislation—recognising the board’s significant role with regard to pre-release—that was a categorical statement, which was made in another place and repeated by me today. The House will recognise that, as a Minister making such a statement to the House, my honourable friend in another place was effectively stating what she intended the law should be and how things should work. It is well known that the courts interpret Ministers’ categorical statements about how legislation should be interpreted in these terms. That is why that statement about the board was made in such categorical terms and why I had the pleasure of repeating it today. The Government intend that the board should have a full and meaningful role in determining the new pre-release arrangements and ensuring that they are complied with. We have a substantial degree of consensus, as the noble Lord, Lord Moser, indicated, on the importance and value of the Bill, which governs the conduct of national statistics in this country—it is the first such Bill for 60 years. We have reached consensus on most of the key structures and processes that the Bill will establish. I repeat that the Government have listened to Parliament. Two of the amendments from the Commons, which the noble Baroness suggested should be rejected—they are mentioned in her Motion—would make the Cabinet Office in charge of the statistics legislation and operational matters. That is the very thing that this House voted for and which the Government have sought to comply with, hence the amendments, which the noble Baroness suggests we should not agree to. Wherever possible, we have moved to meet the views of all sides and have made real changes to the Bill. We have done so on the governance of the board—in particular on the role of the National Statistician—and on where residual responsibility for the board should lie within government, which was the subject of earlier amendments. It will be recognised that the Government have been responsive. We have had further clarification of the board’s important role in relation to pre-release. That is probably the last remaining area of contention. The Government are proposing real and significant reforms to the current pre-release regime, with a meaningful and strong role for the board in determining the new arrangements. Although I have heard a great deal about the question of trust in statistics, let us not devalue ourselves too far. Despite the persistent belief expressed, there is little evidence to support systematic abuse of our current arrangements. The Statistics Commission, which investigates alleged breaches of the current protocol on release practices, makes it clear that the number of breaches is an extremely small percentage of the mass of statistical releases. The Phillis review of government communications three years ago found no evidence that the right of pre-release had been abused. A recent Statistics Commission survey found that, as regards quality, the official outputs in the United Kingdom are considered by the public to rival the best in the world. They do; our statistics have enjoyed a reputation across the world. Therefore, the Bill is a conscious attempt to enhance trust in statistics. It improves control arrangements, but we should not sell ourselves short on the basis of our current regime. I hope it will be seen that the Government’s proposals create a significant role for the board with regard to pre-release. The noble Baroness derided the sanction that the board would have in identifying a national statistic produced outside the code of practice, the development and monitoring of which it would be responsible for. That would be a highly significant sanction for anyone who was responsible for such a statistic, and of course the role of the board is clearly identified. The sooner the Bill receives Royal Assent, the sooner can begin the important business of making a reality of the new system. We have had very intensive debates about these issues, but the Minister in the other place expressed the view that the Government do not propose to move on this narrow issue. I emphasise that this Bill is too important to be put in jeopardy, and its definition has been much improved by debate here and in the other place. I hope it will be recognised that the best way to enhance confidence in our national statistical system is to ensure that the Bill gets a ready passage, and I hope that the noble Baroness will not press her Motion.