Instructions for the Council for Statistics Norway
The Council for Statistics Norway is appointed by the King in Council, cf. section 19 of the Statistics Act. The Council shall help ensure that Statistics Norway’s work is performed to the best possible standard. The Council shall assist the director general in statistical matters and in relation to research and analysis. The advice given shall mainly be at a strategic level.
Reference is also made to the description of the Council’s tasks in Chapter 7.4 of Prop. 72 LS (2018–2019).
Chapter 1. Work of the Council
a) The Council shall advise on any matter that is presented to it by the director general.
b) The Council may advise the director general or the Ministry of Finance on its own initiative.
c) The Council may assist the Ministry in its work on external evaluations of Statistics Norway. The Ministry of Finance may also ask the Council for advice on other matters.
d) The Ministry shall request the Council’s views on criteria for a new director general before the position is advertised.
Chapter 2. Documentation
a) The Council shall have access to all documents in Statistics Norway that are necessary to carry out the work of the Council.
b) The Council shall obtain the views of employees in relation to matters that directly affect them.
c) The Council may obtain information from the employees in other matters if the Council deems this necessary.
Chapter 3. Notice of meeting and meeting papers
a) The Council shall meet at least four times a year and as otherwise required.
b) The director general, or his/her deputy, shall attend the meetings of the Council, unless the Council decides otherwise.
c) The Council shall, where possible, be in receipt of meeting papers at least one week before the date of the meeting. Statistics Norway is responsible for preparing the meeting papers and serves as the secretariat for the Council.
Chapter 4. Reporting
a) The Council shall submit an annual public report to the Ministry of Finance on the Council’s assessments of Statistics Norway’s activity, including how it fulfils its mission. The report shall set out the Council’s recommendations and the background to these. The report shall also give an account of how the duty to provide information is applied.
b) Recommendations and advice from the Council shall, as a general rule, be made public.
c) Approved minutes from Council meetings shall be sent to the Ministry of Finance once they are finalised.
The Ministry of Finance adopts these instructions with effect from 1 January 2020.