RSSeNEWS to be determined...

In the wake of reports that the government is considering sourcing some data that is traditionally collected in the census from third party agencies, RSS vice president Jill Leyland has made a strong defence of official statistics in general, and the census in particular.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on 14 July (item starts at 2hr 47m) Leyland said "you cannot make sensible decisions without good information and official statistics ... the census is absolutely vital".

She explained that the census is "the most accurate and comprehensive population count". Describing its value as a benchmark for other surveys she commented "this is something that a lot of people don't understand; you need something to calibrate your sample surveys against."

When presenter Justin Webb suggested that the government had said that census information was often dated and that there were more accurate sources of information available elsewhere, Leyland responded "no, you couldn't get them more accurately from other means..... It may well be that in the future we can do things better but at the moment we can’t.”

She acknowledged that there had been some problems with official statistics and the census in particular but said "by and large they are the best source of information we have on the economy and indeed about what's going on in a lot of society as well".