Nomination for Chair of the new Statistics Board: Sir Michael Scholar

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has nominated Sir Michael Scholar, currently President of St John's College, Oxford, as the first Chair of the new independent Statistics Board. The Statistics Board will deliver the Government's goal of greater independence for statistics: reinforcing the quality and integrity of statistics in government, supporting the Government's agenda for better public services, and contributing to long-term stability in the UK economy.

The appointment of the Chair of the Statistics Board is the first appointment to follow the Prime Minister's reforms to public appointments. In line with the reforms, Sir Michael Scholar will appear in a pre-appointment hearing of the Treasury Select Committee. Before the nomination can be taken forward it will be subject to a vote in the House of Commons, which will be held before recess. The Prime Minister will then advise Her Majesty The Queen of the recommendation.

Notes for editors

1. Sir Michael Scholar KCB, 65, has been President of St John's College, Oxford University, since 2001 and is currently Chairman of the Conference of Colleges in Oxford. He has been a Governor of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research since 2001. Previously he was Permanent Secretary to the Department of Trade and Industry (1996 to 2001), Permanent Secretary to the Welsh Office (1993 to 1996) and Private Secretary to the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1981 to 1983). Sir Michael was born in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales and was educated at the University of Cambridge, the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard University, and holds Honorary Fellowships at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Cardiff University and St John's College, Cambridge.

2. As part of the Government's proposals to reform the public appointments process, the Chancellor stated on 3 July: "As part of the proposals for increasing the independence of Government statistics currently before Parliament, to further increase public confidence, I propose a vote in the House of Commons to confirm the Government's nominee for chair of the statistics board." Following the hearing in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister will advise Her Majesty The Queen of the recommendation.

3. The Chancellor nominated Sir Michael following the recommendation of a selection panel, comprising Nicholas Macpherson (Permanent Secretary to the Treasury), Mervyn King (Governor of the Bank of England), Deirdre Hutton (Chair of the Food Standards Agency and Deputy Chair of the Financial Services Authority), and Olivia Grant, the independent assessor from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

4. If the appointment is confirmed, Sir Michael Scholar would take up a four year appointment at an annual remuneration of £150,000. He would work for 3 days a week.

5. The new Statistics Board is established through the Statistics and Registration Services Bill, currently before Parliament, with a statutory objective to promote and safeguard the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good; and the quality and comprehensiveness of, and good practice in relation to, official statistics across the UK. The Board will deliver this through its three main statutory functions, namely:

a duty to monitor, and report publicly, on areas of concern about the quality, good practice, and comprehensiveness of all official statistics across Government and its arms-length bodies;
a duty to draw up a code of practice to set independent professional standards; to independently assess against those standards all existing National Statistics (currently numbering around 1300) against these standards; and to similarly assess any additional official statistics submitted for assessment by the person responsible; and
replacing Ministers as a the top governance layer for what is at present the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as the body to whom the National Statistician (as head of the ONS) will report directly.

6. The Statistics Bill is expected to come into force from April 2008. At this point, the Chair and new Board would formally assume their statutory roles. Residual responsibility for statistics will transfer from HM Treasury to the Cabinet Office at the same time.However early appointment of the Chair ensures sufficient preparation before the formal start of the new system, and will allow the Chair to make an immediate impact by providing strategic direction of necessary development work.

7. Media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury press office on 020 7270 5238.

8. Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558 or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk.

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