Before
I began posting about Statistics Bill here on my blog, I had mailed
some notes on the same theme to some friends and to one of my gurus.
They comprised a couple of senior statisticians in two major
statistical institutions in Myanmar, another one from a recently
formed statistical association, a few of my former co-workers, and
lastly my guru, a retired academic. All of them have been retirees
for some time, but they are still active and, happily, in good
health.
Still,
a week or so has gone by and I don't get any responses. I won't say
they are not interested or they don't care because I know they all
are dead serious about these matters. The truth is that I had made no
specific comments on the content of the Bill other then the wording
I've mentioned in my last post. Then what I did was to go on
suggesting that the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
and Handbook of
Statistical Organization
published by the United Nations are the two key documents by which
the provisions of the Bill may be examined and its embodied concepts
understood.
It
was that way because I neither have the competence nor the ambition
to comment on the entire Bill. But I have a
feeling that anyone wishing to do so would need to consult in depth
the Fundamental
Principles of Official Statistics
and the Handbook
of Statistical Organization
cited earlier, among others.
But
certainly there were those people and institutions highly competent
precisely in this area. Here is one instance from OECD reviewing the
statistical system of Russia (as of January 2013):
Chapter
1 provides a summary assessment of the legal and institutional
framework for statistics.
Chapters
2 to 13 provide reviews of Russian economic, labour and trade
statistical domains covering: National Accounts, Population, Business
Register, Business Statistics, Financial Statistics, International
Trade in Goods and Services, Balance of Payments, Prices and
Purchasing Power Parities , Labour and Labour Compensation, Indexes
of Production and Demand, Short-term Financial Statistics and
Business Tendency and Consumer Opinion Surveys.
OECD
Assessment of the Statistical System and Key Statistics of the
Russian Federation
Available
here.
What is most relevant for our purpose
with this document is that the legal and institutional framework for
statistics has been assessed in the light of the Fundamental
Principles of Official Statistics. The introduction says:
Introduction
1.
This chapter provides a summary review of the legal and institutional
framework (LIF) for
statistics
in the Russian Federation, and their conformity with the principles
and practices applied in OECD countries. A review of the evolution of
the legal basis for Russia’s national statistical system precedes
an assessment of the country’s adherence to certain fundamental
principles for official statistics. A list of key references cited
throughout the chapter is included on at the end of this chapter.
2.
A strong and comprehensive legal basis for statistics and solid
administrative arrangements
to
ensure the proper functioning of the statistical system provide the
necessary framework for
development
of official statistics not only at a national, but also at an
international level.
3.
The basis for the assessment of Russia’s legal and institutional
framework for statistics is
adherence
to the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
developed by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 19941.
4.
The Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics contain basic
universal standards that
inspire
the development and harmonisation of official statistics at national
and global levels. They provide a framework for passing laws and
regulations on statistics. The Fundamental Principles can also play a
useful role in clarifying the role and strengthening the position of
the National Statistics Office (NSO) within the overall structure of
government. The UN Fundamental Principles are formulated in a
flexible way in order to leave countries free to decide on the most
suitable way to implement each of them within any particular national
system. However, the implementation approach chosen by a country
should cover the whole system of official statistics and not be
limited to the status and activities of the NSO or other selected
institutions.
…
It then went on and “examines
each
of the ten fundamental principles for official statistics to
determine whether Russia complies with the principle. While it
concludes that partial or full compliance exists in all cases there
are nevertheless areas where further improvements could be made.
These are identified and recommendations are offered.”
The
following is an excerpt for the first principle from the document:
Principle
1
Official
statistics that meet the test of practical utility are to be compiled
and made available on an impartial basis by official statistical
agencies to honour citizens' entitlement to public information.
10.
This is perhaps the most fundamental of the fundamental principles.
It comprises several important elements or sub-principles including
the basic existence of “official statistics”, impartiality
(independence), relevance (practical utility), availability
(dissemination) and equal access. However, while important, these
elements are often difficult to assess directly. For example,
impartiality cannot be established by legislation alone. Laws may
establish the fundamental basis for impartiality but numerous other
factors will determine the ability of statistical authorities to act
in accordance with the principle. …
It then went on to examine (i) Legal
and regulatory basis for statistics, (ii) Independence of the
Statistical Authorities, (ii) Relevance (Practical utility), (iii)
Equal access to statistics, and
(iv) Data dissemination strategy.
As a firm believer in people's right
to know I am very much impressed with Rosstat's data
dissemination practice:
Data
dissemination strategy
44.
The Statistics Law clearly mandates Rosstat with the obligation and
the authority to disseminate statistical information widely. In turn,
Rosstat has taken many steps to implement this mandate. Publications
and flash releases are available on paper and in electronic form on
the Rosstat’s website.
…
- Rosstat has extensive programmes and services to ensure that information is disseminated widely and free. The Statistics Law (article 5.11 and 5.12) and the Statute of Rosstat (article 5.1.) clearly stipulate that official statistical information be distributed free to the President, the Federal Assembly and the Government of the Russian Federation. Furthermore, the Statistics Law also prescribes free distribution to other federal authorities, state authorities, local self-government bodies, courts, prosecutor's offices, Bank of Russia, public non-budgetary funds, trade unions and employers' unions on their written request or in compliance with concluded agreements on information cooperation.
And
particularly for this:
47.
However, Rosstat has gone beyond the legal requirements and, since
March 2008, all official statistical information and publications on
the Rosstat’s website are available free of charge. Users can
access the Central Statistical Database (currently available only in
Russian), which contains more than 2500 annual, quarterly and monthly
indicators for Russia as a whole, for its regions, sectors of the
economy, by kinds of economic activities, ownership, etc8. The
English-language version of the UniSIS system, to be available by the
end of 2012, will extend this easy free access to non-Russian
speakers as well.
It would be most interesting to see the
results if any one with interest in the Statistics Bill were to
follow this OECD example and go on to examine the contents of the
Bill. Pardon me, I would just content to be the half-blind by-stander
sitting beside the cross-road to point out directions to would be
adventurers! (Please read my “Blind leading the 20/20” post on my
Bayanathi Technology blog if you haven't done so.)
Then there is also the United
Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, Implementation
guidelines (Final draft, subject to editing) (January 2015),
available
here.
Allow me to remark (without reading the
document myself) that it will nicely blend in with the OECD document
for examining the contents of the present Bill. Here is the excerpt
from the UN Implementation guidelines for the first principle:
Principle
1 – Relevance, Impartiality and Equal Access
Official
statistics provide an indispensable element in the information system
of a democratic society, serving the Government, the economy and the
public with data about the economic, demographic, social and
environmental situation. To this end, official statistics that meet
the test of practical utility are to be compiled and made available
on an impartial basis by official statistical agencies to honour
citizens' entitlement to public information.
In the context of the components of
principle-1, namely, relevance, impartiality, and equal access the
Guidelines went on to elaborate their features with extensive links
provided for key documents. For example, the relevance
dimension of principle-1 has been presented under the headings (I)
Objective, (II) Scope of application, (II-1) Legal framework, (II-2)
Consultation of users, (II-3) Work programme, (II-4) Informing users,
and (III) Risks.
All in all, we don't need much
imagination to see that by following the guidelines, we would
practically exhaust the ways by which we could logically analyze the
Statistics Bill. Therefore if we were to examine the Statistics Bill
in the light of these two resources in addition to the Fundamental
Principles and the Handbook
of Statistical Organization, we couldn't go wrong.
In
addition to the implementation guidelines for 10 Fundamental
Principles of Official Statistics, the Guidelines contains as its
part-II the “recommendations
on how to ensure a high level of independence of national statistical
systems. These guidelines differentiate between various forms of
independence (such as institutional, professional and scientific
independence) and recommend good practices in order to ensure
independence. A collection of statistical laws reflecting the
experiences of the national statistical offices complement and
concretize the recommendations in the guidelines.”
Nevertheless,
let me add this as a postscript: I couldn't help noticing a
considerable amount of space being allotted in the Bill for
provisions relating to the constitution, responsibilities, and powers
of the Central Committee for Statistics. This body is I think the
equivalence of National Statistical Council for which a separate
chapter is devoted in the Handbook.
Lately, I came across a paper from someone with first-hand experience
in such a council: The
Case for Communication between National Statistical Councils,
59th World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical
Institute, Hong Kong, 25-30 August 2013, by Richard Alldritt, UK
Statistics Authority. The abstract says:
Abstract
The
number, variety and importance of statistical council bodies has
continued to grow over the ten years since this trend was recognised
in the UN Handbook of Statistical Organization in 2003. Whilst their
precise role and status will necessarily vary depending on the
national context, we can ask if there is some essential core, some
set of fundamental characteristics that a national statistical
council needs to have in order to be credible and relevant
internationally.
This
paper offers some tentative suggestions about those core
characteristics. But more than that, it invites debate in the
international statistical community, including among all those groups
and organisations that have in interest in maintaining the highest
standards of statistical practice. And within that framework, it
proposes that statistical council bodies should exchange information
about their roles and practices so as to inform and stimulate this
discussion, and ultimately so as to help support and guide the work
of such bodies. With these considerations in mind, the paper asks
whether the United Nations or another international body might take
on the challenge of stimulating and facilitating the exchange of
information between national statistical councils
Hence, it may be worthwhile to compare
the provisions given in the Bill for the Central Committee for
Statistics with the suggestions of the Handbook and Alldritt paper
for National Statistical Councils so that we may gain insight and
arrive at suggestions if any.
As
for the little band of friends and my guru to whom I've communicated
my ideas, they may have similar or different ideas and may even have
started working or have already been working on their own on the
Bill. And this is good.
