Written question asked by Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 1 April 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 April 2008. It was answered by Phil Hope (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 April 2008 on behalf of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Migration: Statistics

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the workplan published by the Interdepartmental Task Force laying out the actions needed to improve the estimates of migration is Government policy.

Answer: The Government welcome the report of the task force and is fully supportive of efforts to further improve migration data. Governance arrangements have been established by the National Statistician, in consultation with Departments, to ensure work progresses according to agreed work plans and she will be responsible for overseeing delivery.On 4 February, the Minister for Local Government, John Healey, announced to the House that a cross-government programme would be put in place, driven by senior officials from central Government and the Local Government Association, and led by the National Statistician. This Programme Board of officials will help steer the work and advise on priorities.A ministerial group will support the National Statistician and help drive forward the changes. This latter group is to be chaired jointly by John Healey, the Minister for Local Government, and Liam Byrne, Home Office Minister of State for Borders and Immigration, for the Government. The UK Statistics Authority will ensure the quality of the statistics that are produced.

Secondary information