Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the removal of the UK from the Eurostat database.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

Margaret Ferrier MP

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA

4 November 2021

Dear Ms Ferrier,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what recent assessment has been made of the implications of the removal of the UK from the Eurostat database (67174).

Since the UK’s departure from the EU, the UK statistical system has continued to collect and publish our wide range of high-quality data and analysis to inform the UK on social and economic matters. This ensures Government, Parliament, and the public continue to have the statistics they need to inform their decisions.

Our statistics continue to be produced according to our Code of Practice for Statistics, ensuring official UK statistics are trustworthy, quality-assured, and meet society’s needs. Furthermore, in line with our strategy, Statistics for the Public Good, we continue to apply the highest international standards to our work, enabling comparability both over time and internationally.

Outside of the EU, it is no longer appropriate for the UK to be bound into European regulations on statistics, however, we remain strongly committed to co-operating with our colleagues in other national statistical institutes across Europe and the rest of the world, with a view to making UK statistics as widely and easily available as possible for international comparison, analysis and research.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond