National Statistician to step down

Friday, 21 January 2005 12:00 AM

National Statistician, Len Cook, will be stepping down from his post later this year, the Office for National Statistics has confirmed.

Mr Cook, who has been National Statistician since May 2000, led the modernisation of the ONS and put in place the cross-government National Statistics Code of Practice.

He said the organisation had made "great strides" in the job of renewing its systems and processes, and in improving standards across government in the preparation of statistics.

"We produce a huge range of statistics in the UK and they are used and valued in ways that reflect the place of the UK in the world economy, the complexity of its society, and the recent scale of policy change," he added.

Mr Cook is returning to his native New Zealand when his contract ends in August 2005.

Gordon Brown, as Chancellor and Minister for National Statistics, is responsible for appointing Mr Cook's successor with agreement from the Prime Minister, following an open competition.

But the Conservatives are worried "one of Tony's cronies" will be put in charge. Co-chairman Dr Liam Fox challenged the Government to make the ONS independent. He claimed, "because of Mr Blair's addiction to spin, people no longer trust Government figures.".

"No Government should ever fiddle the figures to suit themselves. Will Mr Blair now follow our lead and free ONS from Ministerial interference. Above all, we don't want one of Tony's cronies put in charge," he added.

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