National statistics are to be slimmed down as the government pushes for efficiency savings.

The Office of National Statistics is facing a shrinking budget and a controversial move from London to Newport in Wales in the drive to save money.

But senior statisticians and key users of the ONS’ statistics have begun to express concern at the moves, the Financial Times has reported.

Cuts include a 20 per cent reduction in the sample size of labour market data, 10 per cent cuts in the survey samples for earnings, employment and profits, and a 5 per cent reduction on the survey for the basket of goods used to calculate inflation.

The Bank of England has expressed concern about “a severe impact on a range of statistics” and has also complained about the difference between systems of calculating average earnings.

The new average weekly earnings series showed 7.3 per cent annual growth in February compared with 5.2 per cent recorded by the established average earningsindex.

The last round of cuts in the collection of statistics was in the 1980s when the chancellor Nigel Lawson failed to predict the economic boom and spiralling inflation.

Statisticians are also concerned that the move to Newport will adversely affect the quality of figures.

Professor Tim Holt, president of the Royal Statistical Society and former director of the ONS, said new recruits to the Welsh town “are not produced by our universities to the standard that ONS needs”.