In 1998 the Prime Minister announced a major change to official statistics: the people of the UK were to be given key national statistics. This would allow the citizens of this country to hold the government to account for its policies. An independent department was set up to administer the initiative, and in 2002 a new layer of statistical communication for citizens was launched. Currently more than a third of a million people (unique visitors) access the National Statistics website each month.
The average citizen relates most to what is happening locally – crime, pollution, schools, healthcare, house prices and so on. During this year and 2004, small-area statistics will be developed to provide this information. This effort, which was prompted by the need to target aid at the most deprived areas, will include all data relating to local areas. Citizens armed with this information will be in a position to challenge local government on its policies.
What these national and local initiatives are about is the democratisation of statistics. Making all such data available to everyone will enable government to create more efficient policies while allowing the people to monitor the effects independently. Statistics can contribute to the revitalisation of democratic participation. By providing clear, relevant and accessible information statisticians are not only managers of data-delivery processes but also have a role in supporting democracy.
These developments in ONS are essential. Without them, official statistics would seem increasingly irrelevant to the needs of the nation. The Freedom of Information Act and e-Government targets for increasing access to information have created a change in our political process. The information environment is becoming more populist and relevant, whether one is buying tickets online or investigating the environmental policies of large corporations. Statistics also inform the decisions that we make on society’s major issues – from the impact of an ageing population to the five Euro tests. For the main provider of statistics not to respond to these changes would be to risk appearing irrelevant.
More general use of official statistics creates a demand for new or improved ways of gathering information. The usefulness of historic counting methods must be reviewed: Do the data answer the types of question now being asked? The Office for National Statistics is modernising the way statistics are collected, analysed and communicated to make the data more flexible. This will mean that the time between collection and communication is shorter but will also – importantly – allow cross-tabulation from different surveys. Instead of each survey collecting its own data with its own metrics, improved organisation and investment in statistical systems will facilitate new statistical data without major cost increases. By 2006, there should be a new statistical apparatus that will support the needs of the nation and be able to answer the questions it will then be asking.
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