NEW DIRECTOR ON BOARD

26 Jul 2004 10:45 AM

The Office for National Statistics has appointed Sir Robert Culpin to its Policy Board.

Sir Robert Culpin was second Permanent Secretary in Her Majesty's Treasury and Managing Director of the Treasury Budget and Public Finances Directorate from 1994 to 2003.

Sir Robert joined the Treasury after studying at Cambridge, and later studied at Harvard and in California. He has held numerous senior posts in the Treasury, including press secretary, and as a director in fiscal policy, public finances and public spending. He is also a trustee of the National Centre for Social Research. He was knighted in 2001.

Sir Robert will join Gwen Batchelor, previously Abbey National Treasury Services Finance director, and Professor Janet Finch, Vice Chancellor of Keele University as the third non-executive director on the board, which is chaired by ONS Director, Len Cook. Other members are the five ONS Executive Directors. The board assists Mr Cook on policy development, strategic planning, external accountability and supervising the management of the office.

Commenting on Sir Robert's appointment, Len Cook said: "I am delighted to welcome Sir Robert to the Policy Board. His extensive understanding of public policy in the UK and his longstanding espousal of an analytical basis for public policy puts him in an excellent position to help us develop a stronger statistical foundation for the United Kingdom. I look forward to working with him".

BACKGROUND NOTES

1. Non-executive members, along with all other Board members, must meet high standards of corporate governance, including the three fundamental principles of openness, integrity and accountability. The non-executive members are accountable to the Office's stakeholders, including staff and the community at large. Additional duties of non-executive members include providing an independent judgement on strategy and performance issues, helping to ensure openness and transparency and ensuring that 'value for money' and public interest issues are adequately addressed.

2. The functions and responsibilities of all Board members, followed by additional non-executive director duties are as follows: * advise the Director on issues of corporate strategy and governance of the Office,
* help formulate corporate policy, develop strategic thinking and direction, oversee managerial performance and ensure accountability to stakeholders;
* help ensure that the office conducts its operations as economically, efficiently and effectively as possible,
* oversee production of the Office's business plans and advise on the allocation of funds to carry forward those plans;
* oversee delivery of planned results by monitoring performance against agreed strategic objectives and targets (lead responsibility for the achievement of each of the Office's corporate targets to rest with specific Board members);
* consider reports from the audit committee and authorise the implementation of change in response to those reports where appropriate;
* help promote the use of statistics to improve decision making, stimulate research and inform debate;
* support the Director in protecting the Office's statistical independence and freedom from political interference, and in conforming with the Official Statistics Code of Practice; * help promote the image and reputation of the Office both in the UK and internationally,
* ensure full compliance with the principles of Service First and the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

3. In addition, non-executive members of the Management Board have the following specific functions and responsibilities:
* Provide an independent judgement on issues of strategy, performance, resources and standards of conduct;
* help ensure that the Board manages its affairs and those of the Office with openness, transparency and the highest ethical standards of probity and propriety;
* serve on the Office's Audit Committee;
* ensure that 'value for money' and public interest issues are adequately addressed through audit procedures and that the Office's internal audit function undertakes regular monitoring of key controls and procedures;
* provide input to appraisal and remuneration decisions for executive Board members.

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National Statistics
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Telephone
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Internet www.statistics.gov.uk