Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Rejected
Paragraph: 44
Statistics quoted by Ministers have not always been underpinned by published data, which goes against...
Conclusion
Statistics quoted by Ministers have not always been underpinned by published data, which goes against the UKSA Code of Practice. Publishing the underlying data is key to transparency and building trust. When the underlying data is not published, numbers may be used to make politicised points and members of the public, journalists and Parliamentarians have no way of verifying the information shared. This means constructive debate cannot happen.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government agrees that statistics should build confidence, noting ministers are subject to the Code of Practice. However, it rejects changing the Ministerial Code, arguing it is sometimes in the public interest to use emerging information not yet underpinned by published data.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
44
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government · verbatim extract
Rejected
The Government is committed to transparency and will endeavour to publish all statistics and underlying data when referenced publicly, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗