The independent watchdog which advises on the quality of official government statistics has called for changes in the way they are managed in order to improve public trust.

A report published by the Statistics Commission on Tuesday said legislation would be required to ensure the protection of official statistics.

Its recommendations include the creation of a new, more robust, statutory code of practice which would be binding on all government departments
and agencies which collect or use statistics.

It would be enforced by a new commission accountable to parliament, replacing the existing one.

The commission would approve the code of practice and would have powers to obtain information in pursuit of its enforcement.

The post of national statistician, currently held by Len Cook, would be given greater influence within Whitehall, with the new commission ensuring that the his is followed by government departments.

"The current non-statutory arrangements for official statistics introduced four years ago were an improvement on what went before but are not strong enough," said Statistics Commission chairman David Rhind.

"We want to see legislation introduced that will require government departments and agencies to follow a new statutory code of practice for official statistics, enforced by a statutory commission reporting to parliament."

The report has now been has submitted to Treasury ministers recommending that they take steps to introduce new legislation to "ensure official statistics can be trusted".

'Fiddled figures'

The report came as the Conservatives accused the government of fiddling official figures for political gain.

Oliver Letwin said the prime minister had been pressurising civil servants into "proving" that additional spending is getting through to the frontline rather than being swallowed up by bureaucracy.

Quoting from a leaked memo, Letwin accuses the prime minister of saying "it was of fundamental importance that the major investment in public services which the government was making was seen to deliver".

"There was currently a mismatch between the public's experience of local service improvement and of their knowledge of the statistics which made up the national picture," Blair is alleged to have said in the March 4 meeting.

Senior civil servants, including the Cabinet secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull, have dismissed the claims - flatly denying that they have been subjected to political interference.

They point out that a review into measuring public sector productivity was established under Sir Tony Atkinson last December.

Whilst Letwin has welcomed the review, he is continuing to express reservations about ministers' conduct.

He said: "If, however, Sir Tony's review is purely a technical exercise, which does not involve ministers in any way, what was the purpose of the cabinet committee meeting held on March 4, at which ministers [reportedly] discussed the preparation and presentation of productivity figures?"