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Department of the Environment (DOE)

Northern Ireland Environment Agency

Driver & Vehicle Agency

Official Statistics Policies

Official statistics, as set out in Section 6 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, are statistical outputs which are intended to inform politicians, officials and the wider public about the national position on specific topics on an ongoing basis. Official statistics should be produced in line with the 8 principles and 3 supporting protocols set out in the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The Code will serve to establish common standards and, by doing so, help to ensure a coherent and trustworthy service to the users of statistics.

All statistics produced by the Department are designated as 'Official Statistics' although none yet have been designated as 'National Statistics', which would indicate that there is a statutory requirement on them to meet the standards of the Code. DOE would hope in the future to have their main statistical products formally assessed in order to verify that they are fully code compliant and hence be accredited with National Statistics status.

The UK Statistics Authority, which was established as part of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, is now responsible for the development and maintenance of the Code.

Access to Official Statistics in advance of official publication is governed by legislation. Further information on how DOE meets its obligations with regard to pre-release access is provided below.

DOE Statement of Compliance with the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order (Northern Ireland) 2009 Opens in a new window.(last updated 30-09-2011)

DOE statistical releases to which pre-release access is granted Opens in a new window.(last updated 02-01-12)

The Department furthers demonstrates its commitment to the Code of Practice by publishing a series of supporting statements related to its use of administrative data, publication strategy, confidentiality arrangements, revisions policy, customer service and complaints procedure. These are included in the following document.

Code of Practice for Official Statistics - Supporting Statements Opens in a new window.(last updated 30-09-11)
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