Dear Mr Cartlidge, Thank you for your letter of 3 June, which raised concerns about a post published on the official Wales Office account on X, which stated that the government has delivered a £270 billion increase in defence spending over the course of this Parliament. You highlight that the outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously made […]
Dear Mr Humpherson, I am writing to ask the Office for Statistics Regulation to review the transparency and presentation of NHS elective waiting list statistics. Since last autumn, Members across the House have repeatedly asked Ministers, through Written Parliamentary Questions and in the Commons, about waiting-list validation, removals without treatment, referral management and what happens […]
Dear Mr Andrew, Thank you for your letter of 15 June 2026 regarding the transparency and presentation of statistics on the NHS waiting list for elective treatment, produced by NHS England. These are known as ‘referral to treatment’ (RTT) statistics. In your letter, you set out concerns that have been raised in Written Parliamentary Questions […]
Dear Mrs Badenoch, As Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, I am writing on behalf of the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), the regulatory arm of the Authority. OSR promotes and safeguards the appropriate use of statistics in public debate and considers concerns raised with the Authority where there is a risk that statistics may […]
Dear Mr Logan, Thank you for your letter of 28 April regarding recent references to NHS planned care waiting times made in Parliament. We are aware of the statements you have highlighted and recognise the concern you raise about comparisons of waiting times between Scotland and England, particularly where figures are presented without appropriate context. […]
Dear Mr Wilkinson, Thank you for your letter regarding comments by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Shabana Mahmood MP, in a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research on 5 March 2026 in which she said: “We will address the challenge posed by the impending settlement of the hundreds of thousands of low-skilled […]
Dear Sir James, Mr Griffith, and Mr Wild, Thank you for your letter of 8 January 2026 about the changes to business rates announced in the Budget of 26 November 2025. Your letter focused on the claim that the “tax rates” for business rates for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) business properties are at their lowest since 1991. You cite several […]
Dear Mr Shanks, I am writing to you regarding a post and video you shared on X.com about waiting lists in Scotland, following concerns raised with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), the regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority (the Authority). OSR investigated the following three claims: That waiting lists have been altered (via “clock resets” […]
Dear Mr Logan, Thank you for your email of 5 September to the Acting National Statistician regarding comments by the former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, that drew comparisons between England and Scotland’s water industry regulation. I respond on behalf of the UK Statistics Authority’s Regulation Committee, which oversees the independent […]
Dear Ms Smyth, Thank you for your letter of 10 May regarding a statement made by the Secretary of State for Health, the Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP, who said “we’ve cut waiting lists for five months in a row”. This was made in a video posted by the Department of Health and Social Care […]