Sir Robert Chote appointed as Chair of the UK Statistics Authority

Sir Robert Chote has been appointed by Her Majesty the Queen as the new Chair of the UK Statistics Authority.

Sir Robert is a former head of the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Institute for Fiscal Studies and is currently serving part-time as the first chair of the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council, an independent body created in 2021 to bring greater transparency and independent scrutiny to NI’s public finances. He also chairs the external advisory group of the Parliamentary Budget Office in the Republic of Ireland.

The appointment was the subject of an open recruitment exercise following the Governance Code for Public Appointments, a pre-appointment hearing with the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, and approval by Parliament.

Sir Robert will take up the post on 1 June 2022, for a non-renewable five year term.

Welcoming the appointment, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office Lord True said:

I am delighted that Sir Robert Chote will take up this important role as Chair of the UK Statistics Authority. Sir Robert has all the attributes, experience and independence of judgement needed to lead the UKSA Board and the regulation of UK statistics.

I would like to thank Sir David Norgrove for his work over the previous five years and Ms Sian Jones for her short period of cover as interim Chair from April to May.

Notes for editors

1. The post of Chair of the UK Statistics Authority is a Crown appointment, made with the approval of Parliament following a pre-appointment hearing before the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee on 29 March and a formal motion debated on the floor of the House of Commons on 25 April.
2. Sir Robert Chote is appointed to succeed Sir David Norgrove whose five-year term of office ended on 31 March 2022; since then the interim Chair has been Sian Jones.
3. The UK Statistics Authority is an independent body operating at arm’s length from government as a non-ministerial department, directly accountable to Parliament. It was established on 1 April 2008 by the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

About Sir Robert Chote

1. Sir Robert is a former head of the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Institute for Fiscal Studies and was Economics Editor of the Financial Times and the Independent. He is currently serving part-time as the first chair of the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council, an independent body created in 2021 to bring greater transparency and scrutiny to Northern Ireland’s public finances. He also chairs the external advisory group of the Parliamentary Budget Office in the Republic of Ireland.
2. Robert was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours list for services to fiscal policy and the economy.