Dear Alastair
Alternative Release Times for Official Statistics
Thank you for your letter of 27 April 2022. Firstly, congratulations on your interim appointment. I have enjoyed working closely with Roger Halliday, and greatly appreciate the effective working relationship this has helped OSR to build with analysts in Scotland. I am now very much looking forward to working with you in the Chief Statistician role, and I hope we can meet when I am next in Edinburgh.
As you note, in line with our change to the Code of Practice for Statistics on 5 May 2022, statistics previously exempted from publishing at 9.30am can be granted an alternative release time – this time should enable the statistics to best serve the public good.
I agree the coherent release of both the Scottish labour market statistics, the Public Sector Employment in Scotland statistics, and the COVID-19 infection survey results with the related figures published by the Office for National Statistics is important, and I am content to approve that the following statistics continue to be published at the alternative release times detailed below:
- Labour Market Trends at 7.00am
- Public Sector in Employment in Scotland at 7.00am
- Covid Infection Survey at noon
Please ensure that users of these statistics are alerted to their time of release, and that the reasons for the alternative release times are clearly outlined. This will help maintain public confidence in the statistics.
Yours sincerely
Ed Humpherson
Director General for Regulation