The Central Statistics Office (CSO) will be moving to achieve a higher degree of autonomy as by January 1 next year the organisation will be transformed into the National Statistical Institute (NSI) and removed from Central Government.
As it stood now, the current Statistics Act was “froth” with the statement “subject to the approval of the minister,” said the CSO’s director Sean O’Brien, who added that was the case with many national statistical offices (NSOs) around the Caricom area.
O’Brien was speaking at the launch of the Project for the Regional Advancement of Statistics in the Caribbean (PRASC) at Hilton Conference Centre, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.
The project is funded by the Canadian Government.
“Independence must not just be present but it must be seen to be present and as such the new National Statistical Institute will be removed from Central Government to be given a more autonomous footing as a statutory agency or body,” O’Brien added.
He said over the next year the exact form of the NSI would be determined.
Another issue was that many people, outside of statistics, failed to understand the difference between the NSO and the National Statistical System (NSS), O’Brien said.
But, he added, no NSO could produce official statistics without the help of the NSS.
“For example we cannot produce health statistics outside of the help of the Health Ministry. We cannot produce education statistics without the co-operation of the Education Ministry.
“And many of these... what we call satellite statistical agencies outside of the NSO... need some sort of statistical mentoring,” O’Brien said.
He added it was also critical that the standard of international best practice was also maintained to ensue the methodologies by which actual statistics were being produced were of a robust character and worthy of decision-making.
“At present, the CSO and I suspect the NSOs around the Caribbean were not in an ideal position so as to fulfill the role of supervisor of the national statistical system.
“So that the new NSI in T&T would be empowered to go into the ministries and ensure compliance with best international practices,” O’Brien added.
He said the data to be collected from the satellite agencies would then be worthy to compile into official statistics which in turn be used for planning and achieving.
Saying the launch of PRASC was timely, O’Brien said it came at a time when the CSO was at a “crossroads,” as he described the expected change as a “very challenging task.”
He added: “PRASC is here at a time when we need them the most. We need statistical capacity-building at this point in our history more than we ever did before because in the context of T&T we do not want the change from the CSO to the NIS to be cosmetic.
“We do not want it to be merely a change in name. We want it to move from an organisation at one level to an organisation at a much higher level and to enable this we need statistical capacity-building.”
He said the transformation of the CSO was critical as the UN’s handbook on statistical organisation dictated that national statistical offices (NSOs) should have a high measure of independence.
“As you may know and with many NSOs around the Caribbean area we are a part of the Central Government. Notwithstanding that the CSO does enjoy a high degree of independence.
“In the 20-odd years that I have been at the CSO there has been no report or hint of any government minister or any representative of the political directorate who has even tried to influence the data that we put out,” O’Brien added.
Gerard Latulippe, the High Commissioner of Canada to T&T, who also spoke, said Caricom had identified some statistical gaps in both social and economic statistics, which made it difficult for policymakers to make informed decisions that benefited their countries and the region.
The gaps, Latulippe added, also made it difficult to monitor key development measures in the areas of economic growth, poverty, health, education and migration.
“In most governments statistics, including administrative ones, often do not get the attention they deserve but they are critical to any government’s decision- making to be able to make sound decisions and for countries to assess their successes and challenges,” he noted.
MORE INFO
PRASC will aim to strengthen the statistical system of the Caribbean in order to address identified gaps to improve socio-economic measures and support evidence-based policymaking.
The Caribbean community has identified some statistical gaps in both social and economic statistics, which make it difficult for policymakers to make informed decisions that benefit their countries and the region.
The gaps also make it difficult to monitor key development measures in the areas of economic growth, poverty, health, education and migration.
Through the PRASC, Statistics Canada intends to work with the NSO of 14 eligible Caricom countries and in collaboration with other organisations active in the region to develop methods and approaches that can eventually be used by the statistical system of all Caribbean countries. Specifically, the initiative will focus on four components to:
• Enhance the systems of national accounts.
• Improve business statistics by working on a robust business survey infrastructure.
• Improve household statistics, including sex-disaggregated socio-economic indicators, by working on a robust survey infrastructure for household surveys.
• Improve sharing of statistical information and expertise at the national and regional levels.