Key historical documents

Title	Description
United Nations Fundamental Principles of Statistics ( pdf 59.4 Kb Pdf document)	These Principles were adopted by member states in 1994.
'Official Statistics Code of Practice' (not currently available)	This Code was published in 1995 by Bill McLennan, the (then) Head of the Government Statistical Service (GSS). It applied to all members of the GSS and their statistical work.
'Framework Document - Office for National Statistics'	This document was published by the Government in 1996 to mark the establishment of the new Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS was created by merging the Central Statistical Office (the CSO - established in 1941) with the Office for Population Censuses and Surveys (the OPCS - established in 1970).
'Statistics: A Matter of Trust - A Consultation Document' (Cm 3882) (ISBN 0-10-138822-5)	This 'Green Paper' was published in 1998. It set out the Government's ideas for enhancing the integrity of official statistics in the UK.
'Building trust in statistics' (Cm 4412) (ISBN 0-10-144122-3)	This 'White Paper' was drafted in the light of responses to the Government's earlier Green Paper, and published in 1999. It set out the Government's plans for establishing new arrangements for the production of official statistics.
'Framework for National Statistics'	This document was published by the Government in June 2000 to mark the introduction of new governance arrangements for official statistics in the UK. These arrangements came to be known as the 'National Statistics' system.
'Concordat on Statistics' (Supplementary Agreement to the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK Government, Scottish Ministers, the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Executive Committee) (Cm 5240)	This document was published by the Government in 2001 to ensure effective working relations in the field of official statistics between the UK Government and the devolved administrations set up in 1998.
Code of Practice for Official Statistics (ISBN 978-1-85774-902-1)	This Code was published in 2009 by the UK Statistics Authority, building on and superseding the former National Statistics code of Practice. It applies to all UK bodies that are responsible for official statistics.