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Statistically significant?

The appointment of respected economist Andrew Dilnot to chair the UK Statistics Authority.

The appointment of respected economist Andrew Dilnot to chair the UK Statistics Authority is an important landmark in parliamentary scrutiny of appointments to key quangos.

Sir Michael Scholar has made quite a reputation for himself as the guardian of the integrity of UK statistics. He has been prepared to take on successive governments on their use and abuse of statistics to make their case – whether jumping the gun or being highly selective in the use of data. As such he established the UK Statistics Authority as a body prepared to speak inconvenient truths to power. Just what you need in a watchdog – the sort of bodies we called independent public interest bodies in our report Read Before Burning – and the UKSA Chair was on the “A List” we proposed in Balancing Act for Parliamentary veto. Finding an equally feisty successor was always going to be a tough call - so tough that the government has had to have two attempts.

Their first nominee, Dame Janet Finch, withdrew her candidacy after a rough ride in her pre-appointment hearing in front of the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC), which questioned her on 28 June. In particular the committee were concerned about whether her track record as a university vice chancellor gave her the clout and inclination to protect the independence of the process. At the end of the hearing, the Chair asked what would happen if the committee recommended against her appointment. Dame Janet declined to answer immediately – but then withdrew her candidacy before the Committee had a chance to report publicly. She claimed that she was withdrawing over different perceptions between her and the committee on “how the independence of the Chair should be exercised”.

At the time, PASC chair Bernard Jenkin MP expressed concern about the process – and whether it was designed to serve up a rather less difficult chair: “Whatever the reality, there was a perception it was the regulated choosing the regulator. There has got to be a different selection process. I hope the panel will be less permanent-secretary-heavy." Two of the panellists had been Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell and Treasury Permanent Secretary Sir Nick Macpherson.

Second time round, the government agreed the selection panel with PASC in advance – and it was quite different as the PASC report on the appointment makes clear: “The composition of the panel agreed between the Minister and the Committee included a parliamentarian, to assess independence from the executive, a representative of key users of official statistics, a representative of the wider user community and an independent assessor from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. This fresh panel was chaired by a Director General in the Cabinet Office”. What would have happened if Dame Janet had decided to stay on and fight we will never know. When the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee rejected the department’s candidate for Children’s Commissioner in October 2009, the government decided to tough it out. This government seems more prepared to listen – the Ministry of Justice dropped its candidate to be HM Inspector of Probation services in July after an adverse judgement from the Justice Committee. PASC’s report makes it very clear that they are happy with where this saga has ended. Andrew Dilnot, a former Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the go-to supplier for independent critiques of government figures, has made his career making life difficult for government. So there are no question marks over his willingness to protect the independence and integrity of official statistics. So this seems to be a real example of a committee using its appointment power to produce a real result.

Publisher
Institute for Government

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