Sir Robert Chote to leave UK Statistics Authority

Sir Robert Chote has resigned as chairman of the UK Statistics Authority, which oversees official data published by a range of bodies including the Office for National Statistics.

The UK Statistics Authority, an arms-length government body, has been involved in scrutinising the ONS’s troubles.

Chote, who joined the UK Statistics Authority in 2022, will become the president of Trinity College, Oxford in September,

His career move is somewhat similar to that of Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson, who will become Provost at Queen’s College, Oxford later this year after stepping down from the economics think tank.

In an obscure announcement which revealed Chote’s resignation and a separate acceptance of a recommendation to appoint a new head to lead the Office for National Statistics, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said: “New leadership is critical to delivering this outcome and I welcome the launch of that process today.”

The ONS has also hired Bank of England data chief James Benford to lead its economic, social and environmental statistics group.

A string of new hires follow the publication of a review by former civil servant Sir Robert Devereux into failings at the official statistics body.

The report was scathing of the ONS and said it had “deep seated” issues that damaged its reputation for providing sound data.

At a hearing in parliament on Monday, officials at the ONS revealed an internal report about culture at the body was not shared with leaders at the UK Statistics Authority over fears of their response.

Chote, who used to lead the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), told a group of MPs that he had wanted to see the report at the time it was published in early 2023.

Statistics errors

The ONS has been mired in trouble for several months, with delays to a key reform of its flagship labour force survey and postponement of prices data vital for GDP figures.

Statisticians also recently revealed that its published inflation data for April was wrong due to errors in calculations of vehicle excise duties.

The Bank of England has said it was looking more closely at separate business surveys before making monetary policy decisions.

The Bank’s top brass, including governor Andrew Bailey and chief economist Huw Pill, have criticised operations at the Wales-headquartered body.