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 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 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 Julie James MS Thank you for your letter of 26 March, which responds to my previous letter, on the use of statistics to monitor progress against the Welsh Government’s target of creating 100,000 apprenticeships in this Senedd term. In this case, the relevant official statistics and management information on apprenticeships are produced by Medr. Your letter explains that recent public statements […]
Dear Eluned Morgan MS, As Interim Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, which oversees the Office for Statistics Regulation, I am writing to you regarding the use of apprenticeships statistics in a press release on 9 February 2026 titled “Over 100,000 apprenticeships delivered in Wales this Senedd term” and in the Senedd during First Ministers questions […]
Dear Craig, Thank you for your letter of 26 January to Ed Humpherson about the presentation of Local Government Finance figures in the Scottish Government’s Budget for 2026-27. You queried a statement made by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, that funding for local government would increase by 2 per cent in real terms on a […]
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” […]