A report said that the complexity of the statistics legislation framework was confusing, and left members of the Government Statistical Service unsure about whether the activities they wished to carry out were within the law. The current position, especially on data-sharing, was not satisfactory and acted as a constraint on the work of the service.
Source: Georgina Fletcher-Cooke, Effect of the Statistical Legislation Framework in the UK on the Work of the Government Statistical Service, Report 13, Statistics Commission (020 7273 8008)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
A report considered the arguments for and against legislation on official statistics, and the basis and coverage of any such legislation.
Source: Ian Maclean and Ulric Spencer, Statistics Legislation, Statistics Commission (020 7273 8008)
Links: Report (pdf links)
Date: 2003-Nov
An article outlined the strategic review process adopted by the Office for National Statistics to examine the best way of meeting users future requirements for information traditionally collected by taking a census. It reported on a possible design for such a census in 2011, but also considered alternative approaches to collecting comparable information.
Source: Peter Benton and Ian White, 'Looking beyond the 2001 Census', Population Trends 113, Autumn 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
A report argued for the official recording of ethnicity at birth and death. It said that without this information it was not possible to understand the health and healthcare needs of minority ethnic communities, nor to plan for the public services such as schools, housing and transport underpinning good health.
Source: Peter Aspinall, Bobbie Jacobson and Giovanna Maria Polato, Missing Record: The case for recording ethnicity at birth and death registration, London Health Observatory (020 7307 2824)
Links: Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Aug
An article described an experimental manual of labour market statistics, available on the National Statistics website. The manual was designed to assist users in interpreting labour market statistics, and to act as an introductory textbook for first-time users of any labour market statistic.
Source: Keith Tyrrell, 'Comprehensive manual for labour market statistics', Labour Market Trends, August 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | Manual webpage
Date: 2003-Aug
The Office for National Statistics published a consultation paper (following a 2002 White Paper) on legal changes needed to reform civil registration procedures. Among other proposals, a central database would be created containing new records of births, marriages and deaths: over time, existing registration records would be computerised and added to the database.
Source: Civil Registration: Delivering Vital Change, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Consultation paper (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
The Office for National Statistics published a review of the uses made of population and household data across government. It said that the population was becoming more mobile, older, and more ethnically diverse, and that household structures and lifestyles were also changing - with the result that simple counts of the population by sex and age no longer allowed a sufficient understanding of the demographic picture. In response it announced a series of measures to improve the quality, timeliness and relevance of population statistics.
Source: A Demographic Statistics Service for the 21st Century, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Report (pdf) | Letter from National Statistician | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
An article examined the use of social accounting matrices (designed to show the interrelationship between economic and social statistics) in analysing the distribution of earnings. It was found that, on average, men earned 23 per cent more an hour than women in 1996. The difference in the hourly earnings of men and women was over 20 per cent at all education levels and in all industry sectors, apart from agriculture. It was also found that those with higher education earned nearly 60 per cent more per hour than those in the middle education group, who, in turn, earned 16 per cent more than those in the lower education group. Similar returns to education showed up for each of the industry groups.
Source: Nigel Stuttard and Mari Lind Frogner, 'Linking together economic and social data: using social accounting matrices to look at the distribution of earnings', Labour Market Trends, May 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf)
Date: 2003-May
An article described a new United Kingdom-wide pilot social accounting matrix (SAM). SAM linked together the (mainly) macrostatistics of national accounts with the (mainly) micro-statistics of the labour market and of households to show the inter-relationships between economic and social statistics. To achieve this, statistics from household surveys had to be integrated into the national accounts framework, which required the adoption of common units, definitions and classifications.
Source: Nigel Stuttard, 'Developing a pilot Social Accounting Matrix for the United Kingdom', Economic Trends, May 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf)
Date: 2003-May
The government commissioned a review (from the economist, Christopher Allsopp) of the informational and statistical requirements for monetary and wider economic policymaking. The review will consider the regional information and statistical framework needed to support the promotion of economic growth in all regions and reducing the persistent gap in growth rates between the regions; and whether the changing economic structure of the United Kingdom is being properly reflected in the nature, frequency and timeliness of official economic statistics.
Source: Press release 27.2.03, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The 2003 edition of the Annual Abstract of Statistics was published. It is a comprehensive source of statistics for the United Kingdom, covering all aspects of social, economic and industrial life.
Source: Kevin Laverty (ed.), Annual Abstract of Statistics: 2003 edition, United Kingdom, No. 139, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan
The House of Commons Library produced a background research paper summarising some of the main social statistics available for the United Kingdom. The major subjects covered were crime and justice, education, health, housing, population, social security and transport.
Source: Adam Mellows-Facer (ed.), Social Indicators, Research Paper 03/03, House of Commons Library (web publication only)
Links: HOC research paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan
An article reported on a conference held to discuss changes brought about by information and communication technology in economic and social activity, and their potential impact on the gathering of official social statistics.
Source: 'Official Statistics and the New Economy; Report of the 2002 IAOS London Conference', Economic Trends, January 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan