The future for official statistics (The Blackett Memorial Lecture 30th November 1999)

Official Statistics are at the heart of all public policy. They are involved in a range of uses including policy development and monitoring, and administrative uses including resource allocation. The range of uses is growing rapidly. This paper contains a description of these uses, both in the United Kingdom context and within the European Union. It is argued that for Official Statistics to have the full impact on society that they ought, they need to have three attributes. They must be of high quality and fit for the purposes intended; they must command public confidence in the way that they are compiled and disseminated and they must be relevant and responsive to the needs to which they are used by decision makers.