Source · Select Committees · Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Paragraph: 45
When Ministers or senior officials quote statistics, the underlying data must be published.
Conclusion
When Ministers or senior officials quote statistics, the underlying data must be published. This is already an Office for Statistics Regulation expectation, and OSR should continue to inform this Committee—as it has throughout this inquiry—when it finds examples of statistics that are quoted without published data to back them up.
Paragraph Reference:
45
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
In certain emergency circumstances the Cabinet Office and the Lead Government Department in consultation with the Prime Minister’s office can activate the Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) – for response, recovery or both. If required, scientific and technical advice will either be provided by individual experts or, coordinated via a Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), as appropriate. The SAGE secretariat sits within the Government Office for Science. In response to the long running nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, SAGE has now been activated for the longest continual period since its inception. Most SAGE participants are independent and are free to discuss the science around COVID-19 in the media. If they do choose to do so, they are advised to be clear that they are speaking as individuals from an expert perspective and not on behalf of SAGE or HM Government. Participants have been provided with advice on how to engage with the media. The principles of scientific advice, set out the rules of engagement between HM Government and those who provide independent scientific and engineering advice: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scientific-advice-to-government-principle departments should base their operations and interactions. The principles set out the roles and responsibilities of these advisers and cover issues of independence, transparency and openness. Government’s response to the Committee’s Eighth Report of Session 2019–21 3