Statistics Bill 2016 - II

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.

…

46. 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.