Dear Scott  

Thank you for your letter setting out the errors uncovered whilst you were working on the development of new statistics to measure the changing cervical cancer screening programme in Scotland.  

Based on the findings of your investigations, I agree to your request to temporarily suspend the accreditation of the Scottish Cervical Cancer Screening Programme statistics for the years 2016/17 to 2021/22.  

We note that you are continuing to analyse these errors to determine the effect on sub-groups and will continue to update us and users as you investigate this further. The inclusion of the Cervical Screening FAQs identifying the issues and explaining the revisions made, is also a useful addition that will help to keep users informed. 

My team will be happy to engage with you about the most appropriate timing for a review of the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme statistics. This will be with a view to reinstating accreditation once you feel assured that they fully comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics.  

Yours sincerely 

Ed Humpherson
Director General for Regulation