Regulation Committee

Terms of Reference (February 2023)

Introduction

1. On 1 April 2008, the UK Statistics Authority formally assumed its powers under the Statistics and Registration Service Act (2007). The Authority was given the statutory objective of “promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good”.
2. In 2009 the Authority agreed to constitute a sub-committee which would meet with the specific purpose of considering draft Assessment reports. It would be known as the Assessment Committee. At its meeting of 5 March 2013 [SA(13)13] the Authority Board agreed to further formalise the Assessment Committee’s role, including that it may initiate and approve Assessment Reports. At its meeting of 2 October 2014, the Authority Board agreed that the Assessment Committee would be renamed ‘Regulation Committee’ to best reflect its functions. At its meeting of 31 October 2019, the Authority Board agreed that provisions relating to the budget of the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and the publication of minutes also be included.

Roles and responsibilities

3. The role of the Regulation Committee is to help shape the regulation strategy and to oversee the programme of Assessment of sets of official statistics against the Code of Practice plus other work related to Assessment and regulation, thereby contributing to achievement of the Authority’s strategic objectives.
4. Specific responsibilities of the Committee include to:
   • oversee the Assessment of whether sets of official statistics are compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics;
   • determine whether sets of official statistics may be designated National Statistics or not and approve Assessment Reports for publication, subject to the agreement of the Chair of the Authority acting on behalf of the Authority Board;
   • monitor progress by producers in meeting the requirements for designation as National Statistics and in responding to suggestions for improvement, taking appropriate enforcement action where necessary;
   • initiate individual Assessment Reports and make recommendations to the Board of the Authority on the overall programme of which official statistics should be assessed and re-assessed;
   • keep the Code of Practice for Statistics under review and make proposals to the Board of the Authority in respect of any revisions;
   • oversee the regulatory function’s Monitoring programme, initiate individual Monitoring Reviews, and make recommendations to the Board of the Authority on the overall programme of Monitoring and on appropriate actions from individual Reviews;
   • recommend the budget of the Office for Statistics Regulation to the Authority Board for approval, and monitor progress against the OSR work programme and business plan; and
   • review other work produced by the Director General for Regulation and to make recommendations to the Authority Chair on these matters.

Meetings

5. The Regulation Committee will meet at least quarterly. The Chair of the Regulation Committee may convene additional meetings as are deemed necessary.
6. The minutes of the meetings of the Regulation Committee are kept by the Committee Secretary. Draft minutes, once approved by the Committee Chair, will be sent to all members.
7. The approval of the minutes of the previous meeting will be on the agenda of every meeting of the Regulation Committee and once approved as a true record (subject to any amendments) will be signed and dated by the Chair (or their nominee if absent).
8. From October 2019, the approved minutes and meeting agenda will then be published on the Authority’s website.

Reporting

9. The Committee will ensure its work does not duplicate work elsewhere in the Authority and will be guided by the priorities of the Authority Board. The Committee will provide the following to the Authority Board:
   • reports following each meeting of the Committee;
   • other reports and proposals, as agreed with the Authority Chair; and
   • an annual report on the committee’s activities and the contribution made toward meeting the Authority’s strategic objectives.

10. The Committee will receive:
    • progress reports from the Director General for Regulation for each committee meeting; and
    • other briefing from the Director General for Regulation on ad hoc or emerging issues with official statistics such as the committee requires.

Membership

11. This Committee will meet in the absence of statistical producers, consistent with the statutory requirement for the separation of statistical production and assessment.
12. The members of the Regulation Committee as agreed by the Authority Board are:
    • three or more Non-Executive members of the Statistics Authority; and
    • the Director General for Regulation.

13. Senior staff leading Assessment or Monitoring programmes will be in attendance.
14. Secretariat will be provided by the staff of the UK Statistics Authority.

Quorum and voting

15. Committee meetings will be considered quorate when three members are present including the Chair of the Regulation Committee or their delegated nominee.
16. Substitutes will not be permitted to attend Committee meetings unless with express invitation from the Chair of the Regulation Committee.
17. In the event of a vote the Chair of the Regulation Committee or their delegated nominee will:
    • reserve the right to consult all non-executive members before such a vote is held; and
    • where a voted is tied, exercise a casting vote.

Review of effectiveness

18. In order to ensure that it continues to add value and follow best practice, the Committee will carry out a review of its effectiveness each year and will also review its terms of reference annually.

Robert Bumpstead, Secretariat, October 2019

Agreed by the Board of the UK Statistics Authority, 31 October 2019

Membership of the Regulation Committee (from February 2023)

Current members

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Past members

[table “469” not found /]

Penny Young (Chair) – Non-Executive Director, Statistics Authority

Penny Young was the Librarian and Managing Director of Research and Information at the House of Commons, where she oversaw research services for MPs, including the House of Commons Library and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), and had Board level responsibility for information risk. Prior to this she was Chief Executive of the National Centre for Social Research. She holds an MBA from Bradford University.

Penny joined the Board on 13 February 2023 for a period of four years.

 

Sir Robert Chote – Chair, UK Statistics Authority

Mr Ed Humpherson – Director General for Regulation

Professor Dame Carol Propper – Non-Executive Director, Statistics Authority

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter – Non-Executive Director, Statistics Authority