Statistics Commission

Its functions were to be taken over and considerably enhanced by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), whose powers began on 1 April 2008 under the chairmanship of Sir Michael Scholar.

This contrasts with the duties of the previous Commission which were limited to reporting, observing and criticizing ONS while it, until 2008, has been publicly accountable via a Treasury minister.

The Commission arose from an election manifesto commitment by the Labour Government whilst in Opposition to provide independent national statistics.

[1] The commitment was implemented by the Government first publishing a Green Paper in 1998 inviting consultation which offered four options for overseeing the production of statistics for ministers.

Its main function is to The white paper charged the commission with four principal aims:[6] The last commissioners were:[3] The chief executive was Richard Alldritt