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Norman Lamont, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has admitted in a letter to New Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ that key economic statistics, which could be worth millions of pounds to City dealers, are distributed to up to ten government ministers before publication. Lamont reveals that Treasury ministers see inflation figures nine days before they are published – a privilege unmatched in other Western countries.

Officials with knowledge of the government’s Central Statistical Office are concerned that sensitive economic statistics could have been leaked to the financial markets in the past. ‘There have been a number of occasions when we have thought someone must be leaking,’ says one senior ex-CSO official. ‘You are not only giving the information to ministers, but also to all their hangers-on. That is how leaks happen.’ Last autumn, Bill McLennan, the government’s chief statistician, asked Lamont for much tighter controls on advance notification of statistics. The Chancellor has yet to decide on the proposals.

Civil servants have become increasingly concerned that ministers and their political advisers use advance knowledge of official statistics to influence opinion in the City and the media in the run-up to the announcement of figures.

According to Jack Hibbert, the government’s chief statistician between 1985 and 1992: ‘There have been a number of occassions in the past when stories have appeared in the press saying what the figures are going to be inone or two days’ time . . . but when someone uotes exactly the figure which is going to come out the next day it is hard to believe they just made an inspried guess. ‘It is news management by ministers which is suspected and it is very difficult to prove.’

Marjorie Mowlam, Labour’s shadow minister for open government, called for a new regulatory framework for official statistics and a policy of openness. ‘We want to see the swift disclosure of information to the public. The onus should be on public knowledge, not political advantage.’

In his letter, Lamont admits that there are no written guidelines covering which ministers see statistics and when. ‘Treasury ministers see, on a need to know basis, the CSO press bulletins and notices not more than two or three days prior to their release,’ he writes.

‘However, for the export side of the trade figures and the Retail Price Index early estimates are provided six and nine days, respectively, before release. At most, ten ministers – from the Treasury and Department of Trade and Industry and the Prime Minister – receive a limited number of press releases one and a half days prior to publication.’

Of nine other Western countries surveyed by New Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ, none routinely gives ministers more than a day’s notice.

Despite having been asked twice by New Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ, Lamont has declined to give a direct answer to the question of whether such statistical information has been leaked, not necessarily by the minister concerned.

According to the Stock Exchange, it is Lamont’s own department, the Treasury, which is responsible for ensuring there is no misuse of official statistics.