Agency’s chief faces critics in flood-hit Somerset

Britain’s statistics watchdog has criticised the Treasury for a chart which gave voters a “false impression” about the scale of Government investment in infrastructure, including flood defences.
Royal Marines from 40 Commando help to place sandbags to protect a property in Moorland, Somerset.Royal Marines from 40 Commando help to place sandbags to protect a property in Moorland, Somerset.
Royal Marines from 40 Commando help to place sandbags to protect a property in Moorland, Somerset.

The graph was included in the National Infrastructure Plan published alongside Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement last December, and appeared to show spending was spread broadly across a range of priorities from energy and transport to floods.

But UK Statistics Authority chairman Sir Andrew Dilnot said the way the information was presented “could leave readers with a false impression of the relative size of investment between sectors”.

Related topics: