Trust in official statistics - the role of the UK Statistics Authority in Scotland Neil Jackson Scotstat Conference, 29 October 2009

Coverage of presentation Evidence on trust in official statistics The UK Statistics Authority’s monitoring and assessment functions Assessment in Scotland – the story so far Engaging with users

ONS Omnibus, 2007 Figures are generally accurate Figures are produced without political interference Government uses figures honestly %% Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Views about official statistics in GB

Views about official statistics in Scotland Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2007 On a scale of 0 to 10, how confident are you that official statistics published by the Scottish Executive are accurate? % Low Medium High 30 DK/NA 9 Mean 5.43

EU Eurobarometer 2007 Do you trust official statistics?

UK Statistics Authority

The Authority’s statutory objective to promote and safeguard the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007

Monitoring Monitoring reports Migration statistics Listening to the user voice Barriers to trust in crime statistics Review of pre-release access Issues log M&A notes

M&A note on knife crime statistics

Assessment aims to determine whether the Code of Practice for Statistics has been complied with and to designate the statistics as National Statistics (or not to designate …) to help the producers of official statistics to enhance the quality of the statistical service over a period of time to communicate to Parliament and the public the extent of compliance with the Code

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Code of Practice for official statistics Principle 1: Meeting user needs Principle 2: Impartiality and objectivity Principle 3: Integrity Principle 4: Sound methods and assured quality Principle 5: Confidentiality Principle 6: Proportionate burden Principle 7: Resources Principle 8: Frankness and accessibility

Initial assessments of Scottish Government statistics Recorded Crime in Scotland Scottish Health Survey Scottish House Condition Survey Scottish Crime and Justice Survey Statistics on Children Looked After by Local Authorities in Scotland

Initial findings from assessment Process welcomed by producers – some have started their own self-assessment reviews Good engagement with government users, but less so with external users Good confidentiality protection Presentation and accessibility – some scope for improvement More documentation needed on aspects of the Code

Typical requirements from initial assessment reports Publish a plan for engaging with users Publish a statement on the needs of users and the uses of the statistics Publish annually the cost of the burden on suppliers Include a clear statement on data quality in the publication Publish a statement of administrative sources

Next round of assessments Labour market statistics Schools statistics 2001 census Cancer & cancer screening NHS workforce statistics Child protection statistics Transport statistics Lifelong learning statistics Business statistics Environment and rural statistics

Workshops on trust in statistics Listening to the users’ voice Do you trust official statistics? What are your views on the devolved Scottish statistics that you use? How can the Authority best engage with you? What would be a good topic for an Authority monitoring report?

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