Committee publication · Correspondence · 21 October 2025 · HC 847

Letter to Lord Livermore, Financial Secretary to the Treasury on the work of the UK Statistics Authority Inquiry, dated 19.09.25

From: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Inquiry: The work of the UK Statistics Authority

Summary

PACAC requests Treasury information about UK Statistics Authority and Office for National Statistics funding decisions. Chair Simon Hoare raises concerns about ONS operational effectiveness and seeks clarity on how the Treasury allocates funding to statistics production, following testimony from former National Statistician Sir Ian Diamond that Treasury officials instructed him in April to 'rein in and only produce economic statistics'.

Key findings

Former National Statistician Sir Ian Diamond testified that Treasury officials told him in April to 'rein in and only produce economic statistics', conflating funding decisions with editorial control.
Different government departments seek different statistical outputs from ONS, but Treasury control of funding creates structural conflict of interest.
Committee seeks to understand decision-making processes for UKSA/ONS funding allocation, which may differ from processes used with other departments.
Committee requests Treasury minutes of all meetings with ONS about resourcing since 2021 that reference prioritisation, and all discussions about ring-fencing of funds.

Tone

Procedural

Topics

public-administrationgovernment-statisticspublic-financeparliamentary-oversight

Key actors

Simon Hoare MP, Lord Livermore, Professor Sir Ian Diamond, Dame Meg Hillier, UK Statistics Authority, Office for National Statistics, HM Treasury

Notable line

“Treasury officials told him to "rein in and only produce economic statistics".”

Key Quotes

“Sir Ian reflected on the fact that different parts of government want the ONS to focus on the production of different statistics, but that the Treasury's desire and need for economic statistics is irrevocably bound up in the fact that the Treasury, unlike other government departments, is also responsible for the funding the ONS is allocated.”
— Simon Hoare MP · describing concerns about Treasury influence over ONS prioritisation

“… in April, Treasury officials told him to "rein in and only produce economic statistics".”
— Professor Sir Ian Diamond · testimony about Treasury pressure on ONS operations

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗