The top of the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS) has resigned as a result of “ongoing well being points” imply he couldn’t give the organisation the “full dedication” required to drive it ahead.
Sir Ian Diamond, who was appointed the UK’s nationwide statistician in 2019, has stepped down with speedy impact, the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) stated in a press release, and has been changed by the ONS’s well being statistician Emma Rourke.
Rourke will tackle the day-to-day working of the physique – which is coming below intense scrutiny over the reliability of a few of its most necessary financial indicators – whereas the UKSA seems to be for a long term substitute.
UKSA chair Sir Robert Chote thanked Diamond for his “tireless power and passionate dedication” in a press release.
“He has overseen many successes over his tenure throughout a outstanding interval of financial and societal change,” he added.
Diamond’s resignation comes at a vital juncture for the UK’s fundamental statistics physique. Its labour market knowledge – used to measure unemployment ranges – has drawn the ire of Financial institution of England governor Andrew Bailey and several other different prime economists for its inconsistency.
A pointy decline in response charges because the pandemic – which Financial institution of England chief economist Huw Capsule attributed to individuals now not answering the cellphone – has made it tough for rate-setters and different policymakers to get an correct image of the roles market.
In April, the federal government revealed it had requested former mandarin Sir Robert Devereux to conduct a probe into the ONS in an try to root out the causes of its unreliable datasets.
The investigation’s remit covers the statistics physique’s management, tradition and construction, following a number of high-profile knowledge mishaps, together with publication delays and errors in key financial indicators.
Diamond, whose tenure included steering the ONS by the pandemic, stated it had been an “honour and a privilege” to steer the physique over the previous 5 and a half years.
He added: “The following part of supply for the ONS will proceed to require energetic management, together with overseeing the implementation of the Devereux Evaluation findings.
“Sadly, I’ve made the choice that, attributable to ongoing well being points, I’m unable to offer the dedication to the position of nationwide statistician that I want to and really feel that it’s the proper time for someone else to choose up the baton.”
