Dear Sir David, Thank you for your letter of 11 May setting out the importance of clear, open and transparent reporting of statistics on COVID-19 tests. I strongly support this, and more broadly the role that high-quality statistics and data play in informing public debate and driving decision-making, and particularly so as we work to […]
Dear Ms Cooper, Thank you for your letter of 7 May about the Government’s coronavirus testing programme, which has just come to my notice. I enclose a copy of a letter I sent yesterday to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on this matter [1] I have asked the Office for Statistics […]
Dear Secretary of State, On 2 April the Government announced its goal to carry out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day by the end of April and on 6 May announced its ambition for 200,000 tests a day by the end of May. There has been widespread media coverage of the Government’s progress. I know you […]
Dear Ms Williams, Thank you for your update on the meeting between the Welsh Government’s Chief Statistician and NASUWT officials. Comparisons of school expenditure between England and Wales are complicated. That makes it the more important that, as with all figures used within public debate, the figures should be transparent and the sources verifiable. Following […]
Dear Chancellor, Thank you for your letter about the joint consultation by the UK Statistics Authority and HM Treasury on changes to the Retail Prices Index. As you say, we have considered the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and have agreed to extend the consultation period to close on 21 August. This extension will allow […]
Dear David, As you are aware, at the Budget the government and UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) launched a joint consultation seeking views on whether UKSA’s proposal to address the shortcomings of the Retail Prices Index should be implemented at a date other than 2030, and, if so, when between 2025 and 2030. However, since the […]
Dear Mr Macdonald, Thank you for your letter of 20 February about the use of figures in a recent press release by Transport Scotland concerning the new Aberdeen bypass. You were concerned that the data used in the press release were selectively chosen and not published in a secondary source. I share your concern about […]
Dear Lord Forsyth, Further to my letter of 13 January, I am writing to confirm that the UK Statistics Authority and HM Treasury have today launched a consultation on reform to the methodology of the Retail Prices Index (RPI). I enclose a copy of the consultation document, which invites responses from today until 22 April. […]
Dear Mr Healey Thank you for your letter of 26 February in which you suggest that official measures of rough sleeping undercount the actual number of rough sleepers. The figures collected by the BBC and the official estimates published by Government are measuring different aspects of rough sleeping. As you note in your letter, Government […]
Dear Sir David New data obtained from local authorities under the Freedom of Information Act have been published today by the BBC suggesting 28,000 people were sleeping rough across the UK over 12 months, of which nearly 25,000 were in England. The Government’s own figures, as published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local […]