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The union representing statisticians and senior managers at the Office for National Statistics supported the Bank of England’s evidence to a Treasury Sub Committee last week that cost cutting and the closure of the London ONS office was endangering the quality of economic data. 

 

The FDA had warned in its own evidence to the Treasury Sub Committee Inquiry into the efficiency of the Chancellor’s Departments on 9 May that the most skilled, experienced statisticians were leaving the service for jobs elsewhere in the public sector or in the City rather than leave London.

 

“The FDA supports Government’s aim to relocate public services outside of London, but it is unreasonable to expect more than 400 statisticians to uproot their families and leave their communities, especially when the remuneration at the ONS is below the market rate for their skills. 

 

“Closing the London office completely will therefore require a major recruitment drive for staff with the right combination of skills within a very short period, and the difficulty of this task should not be underestimated. That goes for any move anywhere.” said Ro Marsh, FDA national officer for the ONS. 

 

“There are many good statisticians in the office in Newport, South Wales. However, production of national statistics such as the CPI and RPI requires macroeconomic specialists with particular experience, skills and training, and most have declined to relocate.  The same is true with regard to the production of national accounts. These skills take a long time to develop, as the Royal Statistical Society confirmed in its evidence to the Treasury Sub Committee, and there is no time allowed for sufficient training in the ONS plan. We are concerned that ONS outputs are being put at risk, and this concern is shared within other government departments.”

 

The National Statistician Karen Dunnell admitted in her evidence to the Treasury Sub Committee that only a small number of London ONS staff had agreed to relocate.

 

Meanwhile, ONS has now had to resort to paying retention allowances to staff in the London office to try to keep enough of them there in order to be able to continue producing good quality statistics in the run down period.

 

“These are good experienced staff, but there are too few of them to provide the kind of continuity and stability of statistics the ONS’s customers require.”

 

This announcement comes on top of a major modernisation and change programme which ONS has been undertaking for the last few years.

 

The FDA is also dismayed that the ONS would announce the closure of the London office, and state that there will be no statistical work in London in the future, at a time when the Government is working to improve trust in national statistics and is debating the organisation’s independence in Parliament, through the Statistics and Registration Service Bill.

 

“Moving the ONS away from the centre, and away from its customers, one of which is the Bank of England, is no way to improve trust in national statistics.”

 

 

1.    The debate on 2 May 2007 in the House of Lords on the Statistics and Registration Service Bill which centred, among other issues, on concerns about closing the London ONS office can be read here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200607/ldhansrd/text/70502-0013.htm#07050268000090