Developing a modern statistical system - a review of Scotland's Census 2022

Introduction

In 2022, the Chief Statistician commissioned his team in Scottish Government to undertake a review to examine whether statisticians had sufficient seniority and influence to effectively respond to challenges during the 2022 Census programme. This follows reports by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) on Scotland’s Census in 2019 and 2023.

In 2019 the OSR report said ‘We note that the seniority of the statistical leadership role in NRS is at a lower grade relative to that in the other Census offices. Census outputs are one of the most important sources of official statistics, and each Census represents a significant and complex programme. While it falls outside the direct remit of our assessment, we would encourage the Scottish Government and NRS to review the seniority of this role, and would be happy to input into their discussions.’

In 2023 the OSR report said ‘In our previous assessment report, we encouraged the Scottish Government and NRS to review the seniority of the census statistical leadership role in NRS. We do consider this may help provide the required senior leadership and encourage better staff retention and progression for Scotland’s Census programme in the future.’

This review has been commissioned by the Chief Statistician in response to that suggestion and to include consideration of the impact of leadership decisions. As the review unfolded, he asked that the review consider these questions with a focus on what we can learn for the future delivery of strategically important statistical exercises across the Scottish Statistical System.

Complex and important statistics programmes, such as Scotland’s Census 2022, impact the quality of other nationally important statistical products and require sound decision making from early development.

Population statistics underpin the statistical system, fiscal frameworks used to allocate funding across the UK, and are the basis for reporting other statistics. However, there are other important ‘Cross-cutting Statistical Components’ that provide a similar basis for comparison. One of the recommendations of this report is to define this term more closely, but it is likely to include the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, Geospatial Geographies and a range of surveys conducted across all areas of devolved responsibility.

The public need to have confidence in the outputs produced by Official Statistics producers. The Chief Statistician needs confidence that the right leadership decisions are being taken in these programmes of work across the Scottish Administration, and to be assured that these statistical outputs are delivered to the required quality and at the point they are needed. This review focuses on the work of NRS and the Census, but the recommendations take a broader view of the support needed for good statistical leadership that can be implemented across cross-cutting official statistics.

National Records of Scotland and the Census in Scotland

NRS is part of the Scottish Administration and is a Non-Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government with the purpose to collect, preserve and produce information about Scotland's people and history and to make it available to inform current and future generations. The Chief Executive of NRS is also the holder of two statutory offices, the Registrar General for Scotland which has registration and statistical responsibility, and the Keeper of the Records of Scotland with responsibility for record keeping and archives.

The Registrar General for Scotland has been responsible for conducting the Census in Scotland since 1861. The Registrar General for Scotland (RG) has the responsibility for conducting a count of Scotland’s population under the Census Act 1920. For the delivery of the 2022 Census, the RG chaired the Census Programme Board with the programme being led by a Senior Statistician as Director of Census Statistics. The NRS Accountable Officer had responsibility for efficient and effective use of resources to deliver the Census at the same time as the other statistical, registration, archive and corporate functions of NRS.

Official statistics producers in Scotland

Official statistics are statistics produced by Crown bodies and other organisations listed within an Official Statistics Order, on behalf of the UK government or devolved administrations. They provide a factual basis for assessment and decisions on economic, social and environmental issues at all levels of society.

A list of all producers of official statistics in Scotland on devolved matters is included in this publication.