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Changes to the law are being brought forward to ensure the independence of Jersey's Chief Statistician, as well as protecting Jersey’s official statistics and preventing any interference in their production.
The amendments to the 2018 Statistics and Census Law have been proposed by the Statistics Legislation Steering Group (SLSG), which was established by the Chief Minister, Senator John Le Fondré, to review arrangements for the production and regulation of statistics by Statistics Jersey and other public authorities.
The move came after Express revealed a two-year struggle to keep Statistics Jersey independent from undue Government influence, resulting in the exit of a highly respected statistician after 20 years' service to the island
Oxford D.Phil Particle Physics graduate Dr Duncan Gibaut had joined the Government of Jersey as a statistician in 2001, after stints as a research physicist at a Pennsylvania university, an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech and a Physics Teacher at De La Salle.
He rose to the post of Chief Statistician in 2007, leading a team of the some of the island’s most gifted maths and science minds in a unit which became known as ‘Statistics Jersey’ when its role became officially enshrined in law in 2018.
The SLSG’s proposals aim to “enhance” the 2018 law to ensure it conforms to “international best practice standards and maintains the public’s trust and confidence in the island’s statistical system in the long term”.
They cover five key areas – governance, identification and protection of official statistics, the coordination of the national statistical system (NSS), the role of a Statistical Advisory Council (SAC), and data sharing – which Express explores in further depth below...
Pictured: The current law does not guarantee the independence of the Chief Statistician and Statistics Jersey.
Concerned that the current law does not guarantee the independence of the Chief Statistician and Statistics Jersey, the SLSG is suggesting the Chief Statistician should become a ‘corporation sole’, like the Chief of Police or the Children’s Commissioner.
This governance model, they said, would allow the Chief Statistician to provide professional leadership to producers of official statistics across all public authorities.
In addition, while the individual would be employed by the States Employment Board, the law would provide a statutory appointment and dismissal process to provide the Chief Statistician “complete professional independence”. Authority over the recruitment and dismissal would lay with the Chief Minister, who would be legally required to consult a group called the Statistical Advisory Council.
The SLSG is also suggesting tweaking the law to give the Chief Statistician “unfettered power to comment on any aspect of statistics including their funding, use, accuracy reliability, adequacy, erroneous interpretation and misuse” - without interference from the Government's PR and Communications team.
“The right of the Chief Statistician to speak freely in public regarding the erroneous interpretation and misuse of statistics is a power which would bolster this professional leadership role,” they wrote. “For example, if the Chief Statistician has concerns about statistics which have been produced by another public authority, he or she will be able to raise this with the most senior officers in that authority, ministers and/or the public as he or she sees fit.”
As part of the consultation process, the SLSG has asked islanders to share their views over whether the appointment should be time-limited or not.
“There are a number of factors to consider, including the impact on sourcing high quality candidates from other jurisdictions, the impact on Jersey-based candidates and the Government’s population policy,” they noted.
The proposed changes would also allow the Chief Statistician to set up a scheme giving researchers access to anonymised data held by Statistics Jersey.
Pictured: If approved, the amendments would mean all public authorities would be capable of producing official statistics.
The SLSG is also suggesting changes to the definition of ‘official statistics’.
While the 2018 Law says they are statistics listed in a specific and defined schedule, the SLSG is suggesting that all public authorities should be capable of producing official statistics.
They are also proposing that statistics should be ranked. Those with a long-term significance should be marked as ‘tier 1 statistics’ - a method already common in New Zealand. Statistics thus marked would be protected under the Law and their production prioritised.
Anyone would be able to nominate statistics for inclusion in ‘tier 1’, but it would be up to the Chief Statistician to decide whether they should be included, with the approval of the relevant public authority and the Statistical Advisory Council (SAC).
Jersey currently has a decentralised National Statistical System (NSS), as key statistics are produced by several public authorities.
The SLSG is not proposing to change current practice but says it wants to promote “better coordination” and enable “the sharing of knowledge and skills to improve the quality of all statistics”.
They want to give the Chief Statistician powers to establish a committee of producers of statistics to coordinate the production of statistics across the NSS.
Pictured: The ‘Statistical Advisory Council’ would have to be consulted for key decisions.
The current Statistics Law established the Statistics Users Group, which is independent of Government and oversees “the quality, relevance and integrity of statistics compiled by or on behalf of a public authority”.
The SLSG wishes to rename the independent body ‘Statistical Advisory Council’ to reflect terms used in other countries and reflect the broad remit it would have.
Under the law, the SAC would have to be consulted on key decisions, including which should be classified as 'tier 1' statistics and the appointment of the Chief Statistician.
They are also proposing to allow the Council to to represent users’ views freely and openly by issuing public comment on any statistics which are produced by public authorities. It will also be able to seek formal reviews of tier 1 statistics.
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