Ruth Levitas on "Troubled Families"

Troubled Families in a Spin by Ruth Levitas should be essential reading for anyone who cares about statistical integrity in the pursuit of public policy. If even half of what Levitas claims is true such integrity seems to be in short supply at the Department of Communities and Local Government.

It's a tale of civil servants pulling a number out of their collective arses and then systematically obstructing any independent attempt to evaluate the leaning tower of bullshit they create on the basis of it. Particularly appalling is the use of cynical word games to evade statutory duties under the Freedom of Information legislation. 

Behaving like this simply reduces the legitimacy of government and makes the public cynical and disengaged. But perhaps that is the idea. If people stop trusting and believing the political and administrative classes but have no power to do anything about it, that leaves them pretty much free to do anything they want & tell us whatever they want about it. All very convenient.