My Lords, I join my colleagues in thanking the noble Earl for introducing the debate, and not least for his opening remarks. I share his pessimism about the present situation at government level. We have a great deal to worry about; other speakers have given examples.

I look back to a...

My Lords, I join my colleagues in thanking the noble Earl for introducing the debate, and not least for his opening remarks. I share his pessimism about the present situation at government level. We have a great deal to worry about; other speakers have given examples.

I look back to a...

My Lords, I want to make two points. First, speaking as a statistician, I want to refer to a number of recent social surveys on this subject. They all come out with between 75% and 80% in favour of a Bill along the lines of today’s Bill. The

leading organisation,...

My Lords, I want to make two points. First, speaking as a statistician, I want to refer to a number of recent social surveys on this subject. They all come out with between 75% and 80% in favour of a Bill along the lines of today’s Bill. The

leading organisation,...

My Lords, I, too, am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Giddens, for this opportunity to talk about universities. As all noble Lords have said, they are one of the country's greatest treasures. I have been lucky to spend almost all my working life as an academic, university chancellor,...

My Lords, I, too, am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Giddens, for this opportunity to talk about universities. As all noble Lords have said, they are one of the country's greatest treasures. I have been lucky to spend almost all my working life as an academic, university chancellor,...

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Earl for giving us this opportunity for debate, and congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, on her remarkable maiden speech and on all that she has done and will continue to do for the arts. I have spent much of my own life...

My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Earl for giving us this opportunity for debate, and congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, on her remarkable maiden speech and on all that she has done and will continue to do for the arts. I have spent much of my own life...

My Lords—

My Lords—

My Lords, I also speak as a member of the committee which, like the noble Lord, Lord Lawson, I enjoyed enormously. It was agreeable and, thanks to our chairman, we were led with great calmness through this rather complex issue towards total unanimity. Of course, the statistical side interested me...

My Lords, I also speak as a member of the committee which, like the noble Lord, Lord Lawson, I enjoyed enormously. It was agreeable and, thanks to our chairman, we were led with great calmness through this rather complex issue towards total unanimity. Of course, the statistical side interested me...

My Lords, I have long been involved with issues of basic skills, and I was very disappointed, and rather surprised, that the Bill pays so little attention to this area. Basic skills are absolutely basic to all aspects of education, for all skills and for apprenticeships. I am referring, of...

My Lords, I have long been involved with issues of basic skills, and I was very disappointed, and rather surprised, that the Bill pays so little attention to this area. Basic skills are absolutely basic to all aspects of education, for all skills and for apprenticeships. I am referring, of...

My Lords, I have spent much of my working life in official statistics, inevitably with issues of public trust never very far from my mind, so the initiative and comments of the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton, are very welcome, not least in these generally untrusting times. I am rather optimistic....

My Lords, I have spent much of my working life in official statistics, inevitably with issues of public trust never very far from my mind, so the initiative and comments of the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton, are very welcome, not least in these generally untrusting times. I am rather optimistic....

My Lords, I will confine myself to two aspects of the report: the state of our migration statistics and the committee’s central macro conclusion that the economic impact of immigration was extremely limited—near zero. Given the limit of the empirical evidence available to the committee, and the state of our...

My Lords, I will confine myself to two aspects of the report: the state of our migration statistics and the committee’s central macro conclusion that the economic impact of immigration was extremely limited—near zero. Given the limit of the empirical evidence available to the committee, and the state of our...

My Lords, I speak as a member of the Liaison Committee. I was very pleased that when the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, first made the proposal it was approved by the Committee, as has been noted, and was then passed by the whole House some months ago. I also express...

My Lords, I speak as a member of the Liaison Committee. I was very pleased that when the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, first made the proposal it was approved by the Committee, as has been noted, and was then passed by the whole House some months ago. I also express...

My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, for initiating this short debate. The subject—the future role of Parliament in the reformed system of government statistics—is of enormous importance and I agree with the chairman of the Statistics Commission just quoted that the success...

My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, for initiating this short debate. The subject—the future role of Parliament in the reformed system of government statistics—is of enormous importance and I agree with the chairman of the Statistics Commission just quoted that the success...

My Lords, my views are very similar to those of the previous speakers. The amendment proposed by the other House is not quite what we had in mind throughout our debates. As far as I understand it, it does not cover the place of pre-release in the code and it...

My Lords, my views are very similar to those of the previous speakers. The amendment proposed by the other House is not quite what we had in mind throughout our debates. As far as I understand it, it does not cover the place of pre-release in the code and it...

My Lords, I welcome the Government’s acceptance in principle of this amendment, so that ultimate responsibility for what are now called the residual responsibilities will go back to the Cabinet Office. I remind your Lordships of a nice historical point. When Winston Churchill established the first statistics office in 1941,...

My Lords, I welcome the Government’s acceptance in principle of this amendment, so that ultimate responsibility for what are now called the residual responsibilities will go back to the Cabinet Office. I remind your Lordships of a nice historical point. When Winston Churchill established the first statistics office in 1941,...

My Lords, the issue of pre-release has been with us throughout these debates. I support the amendment proposed by the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, and I shall explain how it fits into the context of the Bill as a whole. The whole thing started back in November 2005, when the...

My Lords, the issue of pre-release has been with us throughout these debates. I support the amendment proposed by the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, and I shall explain how it fits into the context of the Bill as a whole. The whole thing started back in November 2005, when the...

My Lords, I hope I am right in thinking that at this stage we are simply discussing release arrangements and not pre-release. On those, I ally myself completely with the remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes. The idea of the hub is a good development in that it would...

My Lords, I hope I am right in thinking that at this stage we are simply discussing release arrangements and not pre-release. On those, I ally myself completely with the remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes. The idea of the hub is a good development in that it would...

My Lords, this is an important amendment, and I hope that the Minister will accept it. This legislation has had to face a fundamental problem from the very beginning; namely, that we have a decentralised system. One needs only to think how easy it would be if we had a...

My Lords, this is an important amendment, and I hope that the Minister will accept it. This legislation has had to face a fundamental problem from the very beginning; namely, that we have a decentralised system. One needs only to think how easy it would be if we had a...

My Lords, I rise only because I fussed about this point at every stage of Bill. My reactions are the same as those of the noble Lord, Lord Turnbull, and I am grateful to the Government for taking this step, although it is a bit complex.

My Lords, I rise only because I fussed about this point at every stage of Bill. My reactions are the same as those of the noble Lord, Lord Turnbull, and I am grateful to the Government for taking this step, although it is a bit complex.

My Lords, we have had many months of discussion on the Bill—public discussion and consultation and discussion in the other place and here—and much of it has obviously centred on the organisational structure envisaged under the new reforms. I have looked at the present version of the Bill and today’s...

My Lords, we have had many months of discussion on the Bill—public discussion and consultation and discussion in the other place and here—and much of it has obviously centred on the organisational structure envisaged under the new reforms. I have looked at the present version of the Bill and today’s...

My Lords, I support the amendment, and I speak only because my name was mentioned. It is true that in my day the role of the post of what is now called the National Statistician—then the director of the Central Statistical Office—came directly under the Prime Minister. I was directly...

My Lords, I support the amendment, and I speak only because my name was mentioned. It is true that in my day the role of the post of what is now called the National Statistician—then the director of the Central Statistical Office—came directly under the Prime Minister. I was directly...