Dear David, At the Budget in March, the Government and UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) launched a joint consultation seeking views on whether UKSA’s intended approach to reform the Retail Prices Index (RPI) should be implemented at a date other than 2030, and, if so, when between 2025 and 2030. The consultation closed for responses on […]
30 July 2020 (by email) Dear Mr Briggs, Thank you for your letter of 9 July about a comparison made by the Scottish Government of COVID-19 prevalence in Scotland and England. The sources used for this comparison were not immediately apparent. As the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has made clear in past statements,[1] when […]
Thursday 9th July 2020. Dear Sir David I am writing to seek your guidance on the recent use of statistics by the Scottish Government in relation to the prevalence of Covid 19 in the community in Scotland and England. Scottish Ministers have asserted in recent days that that the number of Coronavirus cases in the […]
Dear Sir David, Following your recent correspondence with the UK Government, I am writing to seek your guidance on Scottish Government statistics in relation to COVID-19 testing. Proper and transparent use of statistics and data by governments is important at any time but especially during a national crisis. The Scottish Government have regularly stated that […]
Dear Ms Lennon, Thank you for your letter of 11 June about COVID-19 testing statistics published by the Scottish Government. You point to a number of areas for potential improvement to the published data, and the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) have discussed these with Public Health Scotland and the Scottish Government. In April, OSR […]
Dear Mr Timms, Thank you for your letter of 2 June about the written response to your Parliamentary Question to ask how many people in 2019 were given leave to remain in the UK subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition. We agree that the response was confusing and unclear about why the […]
Dear Sir David, I have today received the following written answer to a parliamentary question, which I tabled on 20 May: Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were given leave to remain in the UK subject to the no recourse to public funds condition in 2019. (49575) […]
Dear Mr Holden, Thank you for your letter of 4 June about a comparison made on Newsnight between UK daily death figures and the total for the EU. You raise an important point about the difficulties of international comparisons, which are, as you say, subject to significant differences between countries in definitions and recording practices. […]
Dear David, Thank you for your letter of 2nd June setting out your concerns with our presentation of statistics on testing. We spoke later that day and I understand you have also spoken to Baroness Harding who leads the Test and Trace programme. The testing programme has been set up at great speed over the […]
Dear Secretary of State, Thank you for your letter of 27 May, in which you described some welcome, though limited, additions to the official data on COVID-19 tests, including a proposed note on methods (not yet published at the time of writing). I am afraid though that the figures are still far from complete and […]