UK Statistics Authority issues blow to Ministry of Justice.
Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid Shailesh Vara has received an embarrassing letter from UK Statistics Authority chief Sir Andrew Dilnot that criticises the MoJ’s use of barrister earnings statistics.
It states that the MoJ “could have increased compliance” with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, before highlighting a specific claim made in a press release that criminal barristers’ average earnings are £84,000 per year. The letter continues:
“We understand that this figure represents the mean fee income from public funds for fulltime barristers where any barrister with a fee income of less than £10,000 is excluded. This figure includes VAT, which barristers must pay to HM Revenue and Customs, and expenses such as travel costs. Use of the mean, rather than the median, results in a higher estimate as the calculation is influenced by a small number of larger payments.”
Read the letter in full here:
Images Letterfromsirandrewdilnottoshaileshvaramp1303201 Tcm97-43693