0:00
we all make mistakes but some get made
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on a grander scale than others so it
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won't be a good day in the office at the
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ONS that's the Office for National
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Statistics which admitted to making a
0:10
mistake in its April inflation figures
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causing it to overexaggerate how much
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prices rose throughout the month the
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mistake came down to the calculations
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around a niche measurement the cost of
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vehicle excise duty its attacks placed
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on every vehicle that uses the UK's
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public roads and it was subject to a
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variety of changes last month including
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an increase on rates for hybrids and
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doubling for new vehicles these
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complicated changes made it hard to
0:34
predict how much Brits would have to be
0:35
paying for the tax but most analysts had
0:38
expected the cost to increase between 6
0:41
15% instead the ons reported a 26% jump
0:45
in how much Brits were spending on the
0:46
tax immediately baffling analysts as to
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how they got the forecast so wrong but
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it turns out they hadn't the ONS
0:53
admitted that it had actually been
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overestimating the number of vehicles in
0:56
their first year of registration that
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would be subject to the price increases
0:59
in an apology this morning and although
1:01
it might not sound like it can move the
1:03
needle much the discrepancy bumped
1:05
inflation in April up from 3.4 to 3.5%
1:09
the government body said it would not be
1:10
amending the figures so the incorrect
1:12
numbers will stand but they would use
1:14
the correctly weighted data from May
1:16
onwards the error comes as the ONS has
1:18
faced intense pressure over its handling
1:20
of important data especially around the
1:22
low response rate of its labor market
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surveys which used to measure
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unemployment levels while the body is
1:28
planning an overhaul of its labor force
1:29
survey it might not be able to launch it
1:31
until later next year prompting
1:33
criticism from the Bank of England and a
1:34
review from the Cabinet Office into its
1:36
leadership culture and various data
1:38
mishaps the ONS's leadership team is
1:40
also changing after its head Professor
1:42
Sir Ian Diamond resigned last month due
1:45
to health reasons the turmoil at the
1:47
heart of the ONS goes to show that even
1:49
the government bodies that look the
1:50
dullst on the outside can be carnage on
1:52
the inside for everything you need to
1:54
know about the story head to cityam.com
