New Producers of Official Statistics in Scotland

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About Statistics in Scotland

Most of the statistics produced and published by the Scottish Government are National Statistics. This is the name for official statistics which have been, or are scheduled to be, assessed for compliance with the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Official statistics in Scotland are also produced by Crown Bodies and a number of other public bodies named by Parliamentary Order.

The primary aim of official statistics in Scotland is to provide an accurate up-to-date comprehensive and meaningful picture of the economy and society to support the formulation and monitoring of economic and social policies by government and others.

This is a list of Scottish Government statistical outputs. Please Browse Topic pages for more information about individual outputs.

Guidance for New Producers of Official Statistics in Scotland

This section provides guidance and other information for public bodies producing and publishing statistics under official statistics procedures in Scotland.

Official statistics producers should aim to meet the requirements of the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Official Statistics and the Pre-Release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order where possible. The following document provides some practical guidance on the key requirements of the code and order.

Guidance for Public Bodies Publishing Official Statistics in Scotland

The Scottish Government has twice held seminars for producers of official statistics in Scotland. On the 24th February 2011 and 26th April 2012. The slides used during these seminar are available below.

24th February 2011 - 'Official Statistics New Producers' Seminar'. Code of practice, pre-release access, the support available from Scottish Government, how official statistics become National Statistics and the role of the UK Statistics Authority.
26th April 2012 - 'An Introduction to Producing Official Statistics'. Code of practice, pre-release access, the support available from the Scottish Government, the Ministerial relationship with official statistics and the role of the UK Statistics Authority.

Producers may be interested in joining the Public Sector Analyst Network which is available for staff from local government and other public bodies as well as academics who have an interest in analytical issues. The network runs workshops on a wide range of statistical topics as well as short-lived working groups to tackle common issues. There is no requirement for members to be analysts by profession or to have had any analytical training.

Scotland Public Sector Analyst Network

Some further useful information is available via the links below.

UK Statistics Authority and the Code of Practice
UK National Statistician - The UK National Statistician is the UK Statistics Authority's and the UK Government's principal adviser on official statistics.
UK National Statistician Guidance Booklets
Scotstat - A network for users and providers of Scottish official statistics. It aims to improve communication amongst those interested in particular statistics and to facilitate the setting up of working groups on specific statistical issues

Page updated: Monday, April 30, 2012

Scottish Government