The UK Statistics and Registrations Services Act.ppt

The UK Statistics and Registrations Services Act Tanvi Desai Data Manager LSE Research Laboratory Before No law governing access to statistics ‘negotiated policy provision in the unwritten constitutions of the Registrar General, Chancellor and Director of the ONS’ Paul Jackson ‘08 ‘scientific use’ ONS responsible to Treasury Department and therefore politicians and government ministers No formal framework for sharing data between government departments UK Statistics and Registrations Services Act 2007 Came into force April 2008: New… governance duties and functions accountability code assessment regime internal and external relationships New governance A politically independent, identifiable body the Statistics Board answerable to HM (parliament) no longer ministers, mostly academics New duties It is now a statutory function of ONS to provide research access to data! (provided confidentiality is safeguarded of course) Any data, from any source, at any level of detail is covered Section 23: Statistical Research The Board may promote and assist statistical research, in particular by providing access (where it may lawfully do so) to data held by it. However Fundamental principle still applies: Access to confidential data is an exception to the non-disclosure rule that must be justified according to the balance of the public good of the research against the risk of breach of respondent privacy Paul Jackson ’08 All applications for access to confidential data must still be passed by the Microdata Release Panel Section 39: Confidentiality of Personal Information Subject to this section, personal information held by the Board in relation to the exercise of any of its functions must not be disclosed by (a) any member or employee of the Board (b) a member of any committee of the Board, or (c) any other person who has received it directly or indirectly from the Board Subsection (1) does not apply to disclosure which