Organisation
The internal organisation of the Italian National Institute of Statistics is governed by the Organisation regulations, approved by the Prime Ministerial Decree of 28th April 2011.
Istat's headquarters are in Rome. A network of regional offices represents the Institute throughout the country. In each region and autonomous province, in fact, there is a unit which operates in close contact with local bodies.
The Institute's executive bodies are the President, the Governing Board, the Policy-making and Co-ordinating Committee for Statistical information (COMSTAT) and the Board of Auditors. The first two perform governance functions, COMSTAT carries out management functions for Istat in dealings with Sistan’s statistical offices, and the Board of Auditors ascertains that accounting procedures are correctly followed.
At the Presidency of the Council of Ministers the Commission for the Protection of Statistical Information has the task of monitoring the impartiality and completeness of the information produced and on the quality of the statistical methods used for collecting, storing and disseminating data.
President
The President is appointed in accordance with article 16, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree no. 322 of 6 September 1989, through a Presidential Decree, upon the proposal of the Prime Minister, subject to approval of the Council of Ministers.
The President is selected from among full professors of statistical, economic and related subjects; his term of office lasts four years and may be renewed once only.
He is the legal representative of the Institute with regard to issues of a general nature, oversees Istat's performance and ensures its technical and scientific coordination. He attends to relations with institutions and international organisations. He verifies the implementation of guidelines expressed by the Governing Board, to which he reports periodically.
Governing Board
The Governing Board plans, directs and controls Istat's activities. Specifically, it sets out the Institute's strategic courses of action, identifies appropriate indicators which allow evaluations of efficiency, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the results to be made and examines the outcome of guidelines and planning actions. In addition, it assesses the state of implementation of the part of the National Statistical Programme which falls within Istat's competence and of the annual plan and budget management. It also verifies the congruity of results with guidelines issued and programmes approved.
Upon the President's proposal, it sets out the essential courses of action in terms of organisation of executive departments, identifies - within the framework of organisation types as provided for by the regulations - those departments which constitute centres of responsibility, identifies overall staff composition and changes to it, establishes - within ten days of the date of commencement of the reporting year - objectives and programmes, verifying their financial viability, and appoints executive staff to the general management division and departments, setting out their responsibilities and salary conditions. He adopts the ensuing general organisational measures.
The Governing Board consists of the President of Istat, who presides over it, and nine members. The President of the Commission for the Protection of Statistical Information participates as of right. Three members are appointed by COMSTAT from among its own members, and the remaining five are appointed by the President of the Council of Ministers, two of whom are chosen from among full professors or directors of statistical or statistical research institutes.
The term of office for nominated members lasts for four years.
The Director-General of Istat takes part in the Board's meetings and acts as its secretary.
Policy-making and Co-ordinatind Committee for Statistical Information
The governing body of the National Statistical System, it performs steering functions in relation to statistical offices and resolves upon the National Statistical Programme.
The Committee's term of office lasts for four years and its members may be re-elected no more than twice.
In addition to Istat's President, who presides over it, the Committee is comprised of 21 members: 10 representing state administration bodies, one representing Regional Authorities, one representing the Union of Italian Provinces (UPI), one representing the Union of Chambers of Commerce (Unioncamere), three representing the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), two representing public bodies, Istat's Director-General, and two experts chosen from among full professors in statistical, economic or related subjects.
Board of Auditors
The Board of Auditors ascertains that accounts are kept in a compliant fashion and that the final statement of accounts corresponds to accounting records. In addition, it verifies the results attained by the Institute in relation to predetermined targets.
It is appointed for a term of three years by Prime Ministerial Decree and consists of a magistrate of the Council of State (the supreme legal and judicial body), who holds the role of President, an executive of the Presidency of the Council and an executive of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
For further information about the executive bodies composition, please see the Italian version of this page.
