The organisation and management of statistical programmes in the United Kingdom

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Erritt, M.J.

Note: [1] M.J. Erritt is an Assistant Director in the Central Statistical Office (CSO) of the UK, with responsibility for the central management of official statisticians in the Government Statistical Service, computing in the CSO and certain areas of social statistics. He joined the statistical service in 1955 and has worked in a number of government departments including HM Treasury, Inland Revenue and the Department of Trade and Industry, concerned with a wide range of economic statistics. Prior to joining the CSO in 1985 he was Director of Statistics in the Ministry of Defence.

Abstract: The setting of statistical programmes in any country will be influenced by the structure of the statistical organisation and the resources available. A decentralised system (as exists in the UK) may pose different problems in setting priorities and allocating resources and in agreeing a total programme than a more centralised one. Whatever the structure and availability of resources, however, it will always be desirable to consider the uses to which the results of any proposals are to be put, the costs of providing the information flowing form those proposals and to judge the balance between the value of the information and its cost.

DOI: 10.3233/SJU-1989-6102

Journal: Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 17-26, 1989