Section 5: Functions and powers of Director

5. Functions and powers of Director (1) Subject to this Act, the Director— (a) may take a census in Mauritius; (b) may collect, compile, analyse, abstract, publish and otherwise disseminate statistics relating to the commercial, industrial, financial, agricultural, social, demographic and economic activities, and general conditions, of the people of Mauritius as specified in the First Schedule; (c) shall coordinate and monitor statistical activities of all producers of official statistics, including public sector agencies, to— (i) ensure that approved statistical standards and procedures are applied; (ii) ensure that standard concepts, definitions classifications are used to enhance harmonisation and comparability of statistics; and (iii) minimise unnecessary overlapping and duplication in the collection and publication of statistical information; S38 – 3 [Issue 4] Statistics Act (d) shall collaborate with Ministries and Government Departments in the collection, compilation, analysis, publication and dissemination of statistical information, including statistics derived from the activities of those Ministries and Departments; (e) shall generally organise a coordinated scheme of social and economic statistics, and statistics of sustainable development, relating to Mauritius; (f) may conduct voluntary pilot surveys to test questionnaires and statistical procedures; (g) shall ensure the independence, accuracy, relevance, integrity, timeliness and professional standard of statistical information produced by Statistics Mauritius; (h) shall ensure the security and confidentiality of information collected under this Act; (i) shall determine and exercise final responsibility for the discontinuance of a statistical collection of Statistics Mauritius; (j) may determine the pricing policy of statistical products and services supplied by Statistics Mauritius; (k) shall cause the statistics collected under this Act to be compiled, tabulated and analysed and, subject to this Act, may cause the statistical information or abstracts of them to be published and disseminated, with or without observations, in such manner and by such media as he may determine; (l) shall develop and maintain registers or lists which may be of use in producing statistics; (m) shall facilitate the correct interpretation of statistics produced by Statistics Mauritius by presenting information on sources, methods and procedures of statistics in a transparent manner; (n) shall convene meetings of users of official statistics to review user needs for such statistics; (o) may hold other meetings and set up committees of statisticians, suppliers or users of statistics and other interested parties, for the purposes of this Act or for general educational purposes, on his own initiative or on request; (p) may comment on erroneous interpretation and misuse of statistics; (q) shall seek to ensure appropriate public-awareness of statistical collections and activities of Statistics Mauritius; (r) shall be the focal point of contact with international agencies on statistical matters; (s) shall, with the approval of the Board, publish a Code of Practice for Official Statistics which shall be based on the values of the [Issue 4] S38 – 4 Revised Laws of Mauritius United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the African Charter on Statistics, and any other internationally accepted principles relating to statistics; (t) shall, at the request of the Board, assess and determine all be the focal point of contact with international agencies on statistical matters; (s) shall, with the approval of the Board, publish a Code of Practice for Official Statistics which shall be based on the values of the [Issue 4] S38 – 4 Revised Laws of Mauritius United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the African Charter on Statistics, and any other internationally accepted principles relating to statistics; (t) shall, at the request of the Board, assess and determine whether the Code of Practice for Official Statistics has been complied with in relation to any official statistics; (u) shall, with the approval of the Board, publish, not later than 3 months after the end of every year, a list of official statistics; and (v) shall ensure that an assessment of the quality of official statistics is carried out by an independent and competent body at least once every 3 years. (2) The Director shall make the arrangements for, and do, all the things necessary for the performance of his duties under this Act, and may for that matter retain the services of an independent contractor. (3) The Director shall have the sole responsibility for deciding— (a) the procedure and method to be employed in the provision of; and (b) the extent, form, and timing of publication and dissemination of, any statistics produced or to be produced by Statistics Mauritius. (4) The Director shall, for the purposes of this Act, set up an electronic system to receive, process and analyse statistical information and to disseminate the required statistics. [S. 5 amended by s. 28 (d) of Act 20 of 2011 w.e.f. 31 August 2011.]