The ONS is one of those wasteful quangos that slurps our money. One that should be axed in some small attempt by a spendthrift state to live within its means.
After all, if all they can do is tell us what we already knew…
Wellbeing is not just about money – if you can see a tree you’re likely to be happier, reveals latest government research
I could have told them that and I would have cost a damn sight less, too. That said, we do not need government to be poking about asking us personal questions on matters that are none of its concern.
“if you can see a tree you’re likely to be happier”
Especially if it’s chopped up in my log store.
Heh!
Or in the stove, providing a warm, flickering yellow glow and lots of lovely heat on a cold, damp day. 😉
I can see a tree. In fact there’s a few of them, with birds and stuff. I hope they’re not planning to tax me on them 👿
What’s the ONS?
I like the Office of National Statistics. I understand that, some time ago, it was ‘leant upon’ to ask leading questions in a survey. The then CEO refused point blank. We can rely upon the ONS for actual factual information. I could never have taken on the Independent newspaper about ASH’s claim that pub attendances were increasing without the ONS stats. (I won, by the way).
Seconded.
I doubt I could have convinced Panorama to pull Joan Bakewell’s scaremongering over OAP alcohol consumption/lives saved with minimum pricing if it hadn’t been for the readily available statistics.
They’re a long way from perfect, but they are as close to impartial stats as we can easily get at the moment.
I regularly use their (or more properly, our) figures/stats when arguing with various authorities/media outlets.
Okay, fine, point taken. What we do not need are stupid surveys that waste time and money and are something that the government can do nothing about and shouldn’t be in its remit anyway.
That, I would agree with wholeheartedly.
A trimmed down ONS acting merely as a repository/distributor for independent statistical information would do fine and be a whole lot cheaper.
As an added bonus it would make the impending office share with the Patent Office (I still can’t bring myself to use their ‘new’ trading name) less chaotic.
and shouldn’t be in its remit anyway
Yup…the only time they need worry about whether anyone is “happy” is the day before a General Election.
If they’ve bent over backwards in the previous years to do the job they’re paid to do then they should have no worries at all.
If they’ve spent their time pissing our cash up the wall, selling us out to foreign interests, turning the UK into an open prison and corrupting our kids in any number of ways etc etc….well that (and more) just might be something for them to worry about.
These so-called “Happiness Surveys” are little more than a test of how easily we can be distracted. I vote for an “Unhappiness Survey”. 😐