Dear Roger Compliance Check of Scottish Prison Population Statistics As you are aware, we recently completed our compliance check of the Scottish Government’s Scottish Prison Population statistics against the Code of Practice for Statistics. This review was requested by the team responsible for the statistics with the aim of preparing for a potential assessment later in 2021. It is positive […]
Dear Roger Proportion of care homes in Scotland allowing and enabling indoor visiting I am writing about a statement made by the First Minister in Scottish Parliament on 17 September 2020. In response to an oral question from Willie Rennie MSP about the tragic situation of a constituent whose mother was in a care home, […]
Dear Roger Transparency of data related to COVID-19 I am writing to draw your attention to the statement and blog published today by the Office for Statistics Regulation on communicating data during the pandemic. Our aim is to uphold public confidence in statistics that serve the public good. During the pandemic there have been high […]
Dear Roger Scottish House Condition Survey Statistics As you are aware, we recently completed our review of the compliance of the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) statistics against the Code of Practice for Statistics. I am pleased to confirm that these statistics should continue to be designated as National Statistics. We initiated this review following […]
Dear all, Local Authority Collected Waste Management statistics We have reviewed compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics of the four sets of waste statistics published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and […]
Dear Roger Use of COVID-19 prevalence rates by Scottish Government On 3 July First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in her COVID-19 speech, claimed that the prevalence of the virus in Scotland is five times lower than it is in England. The sources used to underpin this claim have been difficult to identify. The explanation provided to my team […]
Dear Roger SCOTTISH INDEX OF MULTIPLE DEPRIVATION 2020 STATISTICS I am writing to you following our review of the Scottish Government’s Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 (SIMD) statistics against the Code of Practice for Statistics. The statistics were reviewed against the three pillars of the Code: trustworthiness, quality and value. SIMD statistics are an important tool for identifying the most disadvantaged areas and for supporting decisions about addressing local needs. […]
Dear Ed, The use of unpublished statistics in Scottish Government press release Thank you for your letter of 8 July relating to the use of an unpublished statistics on routine serology (antibody) testing in a Scottish Government news release on 23rd June. This was an oversight, for which we apologise. As you are aware, there […]
Dear Scott and Roger The use of unpublished statistics in Scottish Government news release On 23 June, a news release ‘COVID-19 antibody testing’ was published on the Scottish Government website detailing a letter written to NHS boards from the Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith about the use of serology testing for COVID-19 in Scotland. […]
Dear Roger RURAL SCOTLAND KEY FACTS STATISTICS We recently conducted a review of the compliance of Scottish Government’s Rural Scotland Key Facts statistics against the Code of Practice for Statistics. We are pleased to confirm that these statistics can continue to be designated as National Statistics, subject to your team addressing the recommendations highlighted below. […]