Britain’s most senior statistician has quit as head of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the wake of criticism of potential inaccuracies in some of its economic data.
Sir Ian Diamond said in a statement he had resigned with immediate effect “due to ongoing health issues”.
He had led the agency for the past five years, including overseeing national COVID figures during the pandemic.
However, MPs and Bank of England officials have recently criticised the ONS amid concerns over the reliability of some of its data, particularly its labour market survey.
The organisation’s figures, which cover most aspects of life and death in the UK, are often used to inform the government and public bodies about how they should allocate the use of taxpayers’ money.
The labour market survey is the UK’s official measure of how many people are in work, but response rates have plummeted and the public body has been forced to rework it as a result, with the agency expected to switch to a new model by 2027.
The ONS also recently introduced changes to how it measures inflation. Such data influences the Bank of England’s decisions on interest rates, which in turn affect the cost of borrowing and savings.
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In February, Sir Ian revealed he had been forced to make £34m of cuts in recent years while facing “a number of inflationary pressures”.
The UK Statistics Authority said Emma Rourke, deputy national statistician for health, population and methods, would take his place until “longer-term arrangements” were agreed.
In a statement, Sir Ian said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to lead the ONS over the past five-and-a-half years and I have been immensely proud of the prominent role that independent statistics and data have played in informing the critical decisions of the day.
“Unfortunately I have made the decision that, due to ongoing health issues, I am unable to give the commitment to the role of national statistician that I would like to and feel that it is the right time for somebody else to pick up the baton.”
