The Cabinet Office has had a rap on the knuckles from Sir Michael Scholar, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, over the publication of unvalidated statistics on public sector employment.

A report it published in June duplicated in less accurate fashion data already reported properly by ONS. It was diuffed up in an article on this website. Read what I had to say here.

Sir Michael's letter to Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude (pictured) is so diplomatically-worded that some might not recognise it as a rebuke. It says that such numbers published by a Government department and concerning issues of major political importance are official statistics and should conform to the Code of Practice.

These numbers, he implies, do not. He offers the aid of the ONS to help the Cabinet Office do better, though I imagine the Cabinet Office already knows of its existence. I look forward to Francis Maude's reply.