Michael Baxter
Michael Arlen Baxter (born 18 May 1956, Ilford, Essex) is a British Government statistician.
Education
Michael Baxter was (like his brother, Laurence Baxter) educated at Ilford County High School and University College London; his father had also been to UCL.
Career
Michael Baxter has spent his entire career in the British Government Statistical Service. In that time, he has made contributions in several areas, including demography, seasonal adjustment and national accounts.
OPCS:- His first job was at the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. He produced the first-ever published official forecasts of the population changes of London boroughs. His demographic analyses of the British censuses of 1971 and 1981 demonstrated that the undercount in both censuses was much higher than had previously been thought.
Road accidents- At the Department Of Transport, he worked on road accidents. His most notable work there was his report to Parliament on the effect of compulsory seat belt wearing on numbers of road accident casualties.
Head of methodology- He was promoted to Head of methodology at the Central Statistical Office. His work on improving seasonal adjustment led to techniques that have been adopted internationally.
He also devised the procedures used to reconcile the United Kingdom national accounts and a procedure now used in many countries to interpolate from annual to monthly or quarterly data.
Retail Prices Index- He worked on the Retail Prices Index, 1994-1998. In that time, he produced the standard reference on the RPI, the Technical Manual. He headed the UK Government's research into claims that the Retail Price Index was biased. This was reported in the national press.
National accounts- He devised techniques to measure the output of several parts of national and local government, Laying the foundations subsequently taken forward by Alwyn Pritchard. These techniques have been endorsed by the OECD and are being used in several other countries.
Animal welfare- His only non-statistical job was as head of animal welfare at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food during the 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis.
Department for Transport- He then went back to Transport to work on neighbourhood statistics and measurement of accessibility of services.
Department of Health- He is now at the Department of Health, as head of pharmacy statistics.
Other activities
Michael Baxter was for several years a member of the national executive of the First Division Association. He has been National Secretary of B'nai B'rith Young Adults, secretary of the Redbridge Jewish Community Council and a member of the Council of the United Synagogue.