'Minister buried bad results'
Alan Johnson has been stripped of powers to decide when to release exam results following embarrassing claims he buried bad news on school tests.
The Education Secretary and his close advisers will in future be kept out of decisions on when to publish flagship test results.
Statisticians in his department have vowed to release the figures on a fixed date every year to remove all suggestion of political involvement.
The move follows damaging allegations this summer that Mr Johnson's spin doctors attempted to downplay disappointing primary school results showing a failure to meet targets.
They were released for the first time ever on the same day as GCSE results, which were more favourable and dominate news bulletins every summer.
An inquiry by the independent Statistics Commission uncovered emails which suggested political advisers had overruled the advice of independent officials on the timing of their release.
Civil servants had warned repeatedly that primary school figures should not be released on the same day as GCSE results.
But their concerns were dismissed, apparently after objections by Mr Johnson's special advisers who "positively want(ed)" the two sets of results to be released at the same time.
The commission, the Government's statistics watchdog, delivered a stern rebuke to the advisers and demanded steps to avoid a repeat of the incident.
Now a letter to the commission from David Bell, the most senior mandarian at the DfES, has revealed that its chief statistician "has decided that the department will have a fixed day for the Key Stage 1 and 2 results".
This would be a different day from GCSE and A-level results to "avoid a clash".
The practice of using fixed dates could be extended to other key statistics not related to national tests.
Richard Alldritt, the commission's chief executive, said yesterday: "This is positive and things are moving in the right direction.
"We see it as part of an ongoing discussion of the issues. Clearly the letter leaves quite a lot of discussion still to be had over what sort of arrangements would indicate to the world at large statistics are clearly separated from policy functions.
"We accepted that the results were published at the earliest opportunity but there is clearly an issue of confidence here and perceptions are very important."
In the letter, Mr Bell reveals the department is "keeping an open mind" about the possibility of "a more visible separation between the policy functions of the department and its statistical operations".
This could result in a separate statistical unit, similar to the NHS information centre, which is a specific body providing figures on health and social care.
A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said publication of the national test results was consistent with the codes of practice.
He added: "We have worked to improve our published procedures in consultation with the national statistician."
Tory education spokesman David Willetts said: "Never again should the department be able to hide poor performance in reading and writing by issuing the results on the same day as GCSE results."
