Statistics authority rules on Dromey vs Shapps row

Grant Shapps, the hyper-energetic housing minister, has been under fire from Labour who accuse him of playing fast and loose with statistics. Andrew Dilnot of the UK Statistics Authority has now ruled on a complaint by Jack Dromey, shadow housing minister, about Mr Shapps. You can see the ruling here.

In the meantime, here is FT Westminster’s assessment of Dilnot?s findings.

1] Stock of Dwellings 1997 to 2010

(JP: Labour complained that Shapps had said there was a net loss of 45,000 or 200,000 homes in 13 years of the last Labour government. In fact, it says, there were 2m new homes over the period.)

“Mr. Dromey is correct to state that the published official statistics, produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) indicate that the dwelling stock (all tenures) increased by some 2 million between 1997 and 2010.

However, in his answer to the Parliamentary Question, the Minister refers to ?affordable homes?. These are homes that are provided at below market prices, whether for renting or home ownership.

There is a statistical series for the annual additions to this stock (which is

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Source: http://blogs.ft.com/westminster/2012/07/statistics-authority-rules-on-dromey-vs-shapps-row/

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