Cabinet Office minister Darren Jones has paused recruitment for a new UK Statistics Authority chair.
Sir Robert Chote left the position in September, with deputy chair Penny Young taking over as interim. Recruitment for a new chair of the UKSA launched in July and interviews had initially been expected to finish in the first week of November.
Jones, who is chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the chief secretary to the prime minister, has given two reasons for cancelling the recruitment process in a letter to Simon Hoare, the chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
In the letter, sent on 4 December but published by the committee yesterday, Jones said he decided that the new national statistician should be recruited first, and that the government should pause the recruitment of a new chair until it hears the recommendations from PACAC’s inquiry into UKSA.
“After careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to close the current recruitment campaign,” Jones said in the letter. “On reflection, I believe it is important to first sequence the appointment of the national statistician and wait for your committee's recommendations from your live inquiry into the UKSA before launching a new campaign in 2026.
Jones said Young “has kindly agreed to remain in post as interim chair until we appoint a new chair”.
The UKSA chair role is one of several top jobs the government has been recruiting for as it looks to overhaul the statistics system following mounting criticism of the Office for National Statistics.
Sir Ian Diamond was the national statistician and permanent secretary at the Office for National Statistics before he quit in May. Since then, the government has split those roles, carrying out a recommendation from Sir Robert Devereux’s scathing review of the ONS, published in June.
Darren Tierney took on the role of ONS perm sec in August, moving over from the Cabinet Office, and Emma Rourke has been filling in as acting national statistician while the hunt goes on for a permanent official for that role. Last week, Rourke announced that she would be leaving the ONS at the end of the year.
The recruitment campaign to find a new national statistician closed to applications at the end of November. Shortlisted candidates are expected to undergo assessments and panel interviews next month.
The ONS has also brought in James Benford from the Cabinet Office in a new role as director general for surveys and economic and social statistics.