UK govt needs to find four top economists after crises force exits

By Philip Aldrick and Tom Rees

 

The UK government is looking to fill roles in four of the country’s most senior economic and statistical posts at the same time. It’s posing a challenge.

 

A series of crises has left two vacancies at the top of the UK statistics body and one at the Office for Budget Responsibility, the fiscal watchdog. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is also looking for a new chief economic adviser to replace second permanent secretary Sam Beckett who is taking early retirement.

 

The government is having to overhaul much of its top rank of public sector economists after a collapse in standards at the Office for National Statistics that has undermined trust in its numbers. The UK also suffered an unprecedented leak by the OBR almost an hour before Reeves delivered her budget speech last month.

 

 

Several potential candidates have turned down invitations to apply for the post of National Statistician and at least one has declined the chair of the OBR, according to some of those encouraged to apply, with low pay and the politicization of the posts cited as reasons. They asked not to be named given the matters were private. Headhunters Saxton Bampfylde have been hired to find a National Statistician and Korn Ferry to recruit a chief economic adviser.

 

The process has been complicated by four roles being filled simultaneously, one of the people who spoke to Bloomberg said. Were the positions filled sequentially, they argued, more internal staff would have had time to prove themselves.

 

Low pay is proving a deterrent particularly for the National Statistician role, said Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Liberum. The post has been advertised with a £200,000 ($270,000) a year salary but requires someone with statistical expertise and management skills to help overhaul the ONS. An economist is tipped to fill the role for the first time, given the particular problems with UK economic statistics.

 

David Spiegelhalter, one of the country’s leading statistical experts and emeritus professor of economics at Cambridge University, told Bloomberg he would not be applying. Martin Weale, a former Bank of England rate-setter, is considered a potential candidate but declined to comment when asked. Interviews for shortlisted candidates are due to be held in the week of Jan. 26.

 

A new chair of the UK Statistics Authority, the oversight board for national statistics, is also being sought but the government this month decided to delay the process until the new National Statistician is in place. Robert Chote, the former chair, stepped down earlier this year after a review into the ONS’ failings. 

 

Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at King’s College London, told Bloomberg he would be interested. He currently chairs the UKSA’s advisory panel on labor market statistics after that data became the epicenter of the crisis at the ONS.

 

The decision to hire Korn Ferry to find Reeves a senior economic adviser suggests the chancellor wants an external candidate. The director-general level job comes with pay of around £150,000.

 

Former OBR chair Richard Hughes, who stepped down due to the budget leak, was on a remuneration package worth just over £200,000. Andy King, a specialist partner at Flint Global and former OBR committee member, is a leading contender.