The Office for Statistics Regulation wrote about statistics on single-use plastic straws

1 May 2018 · Office for Statistics Regulation

The letter is dated 1 May 2018. A reply dated 16 May 2018 is published alongside it. The Office for Statistics Regulation published it as Statistics on single-use plastic straws; it links to 1 official record. Below are 4 passages from the letter in the regulator's own words.

What the Office for Statistics Regulation wrote

“We were asked to investigate the source and credibility of the statistic in the statement “… a recent study showing 8.5 billion plastic straws are thrown away each year in the UK”.”

“It is important to always include a prominent link to the source of a statistic in a press release, regardless of whether that source is a government official statistics output or an independent report.”

“This process seems sensible and we welcome that the teams considered the context in which the estimate was used.”

“We recognise that, in the absence of a range of estimates, Defra chose to use this estimate.”

From Office for Statistics Regulation, letter of 1 May 2018. Read the full letter.

Records the letter links to

• Defra press release from 17 April.

Correspondence

• Published reply: Single-use plastic straws (16 May 2018)

Receipt