5. The Official Statistics (Wales) Order 2017

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:06 pm on 21 November 2017.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 4:06, 21 November 2017

What I can say here is that, of course, this is an issue of more than Welsh significance, and that there is a regular dialogue taking place between the chief statisticians of the devolved administrations and the national statistician to make sure that leaving the European Union doesn't result in a diminution in the ability to provide information from Welsh citizens in the post-Brexit era. There are benefits of harmonisation that are provided by EU statistical frameworks, which all parts of the United Kingdom observe, and this contributes to the usefulness and the transparency of statistics right across the UK. The national statistician and the chief statisticians are very seized of this issue, and the points that Steffan Lewis raised we can make sure are fed into those ongoing discussions. 

So, just to summarise, Dirprwy Lywydd, the points that Steffan Lewis has raised I think are best responded to in this way, but this Order represents a significant step forward in relation to the Order that was in front of the Assembly in 2013. It's not the end of the journey by any means. I know that there are ambitions to continue to develop the way we do things in this area, and further bodies may well be added in the future. I don't think there is a reason for not supporting the Order, as it is in front of the Assembly today, to make sure we capture the advances that it includes, and I hope that Members will be willing to do that.