Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation information: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for information on producing the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

1. Has the Scottish Government started production on further version(s) of the SIMD between 2021- 2024?

If further version(s) of the SIMD is currently under production:
2a. When was production started on further version(s) of the SIMD?

2b. What resources, human, financial, and in-kind, did the Scottish Government allocate to the production of the SIMD between 2021-2024?

2c. What departments from the Scottish Government are allocated to working on producing the SIMD between 2021-2024?

2c. What steering groups, working groups and statistical groups were formed by the Scottish Government to produce the SIMD between 2021-2024?

If further version(s) of the SIMD is not under production:
3a. Please provide documents relating to the decision to delay or discontinue production of the SIMD.

3b. Are there any plans to recontinue producing the SIMD in the future?

4. Please provide any publications from the Scottish Government which state that production of further versions of the SIMD had been started, delayed, or discontinued.

Response

The response below deals with points 1 - 2 and 4 of the request. We will be producing an update to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation toward the end of 2026. 

The next update of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation is planned toward the end of 2026. This is when it is anticipated that the underlying data for the index will be available using the 2022 Census geographies. Work on the SIMD update started from 2021 onward with reviewing the content of SIMD 2020, and reflecting on options going forward. At that stage, the resources for developing SIMD consisted of one member of staff. The current staff complement is three staff in the Communities Analysis Division, covering poverty and deprivation statistics. It is anticipated that the access to services domain will require about 6 months worth of staff time from the Scottish Government Geographic Information Science and Analysis Team. The current estimate of costs associated with producing the next iteration of SIMD is approximately £20,000.

Commissioning the data required for the SIMD update will commence in 2025, once the 2022 Census geographies are available on the datasets used for the construction of SIMD. Scottish Government will shortly be publishing a blog to update users on the timing of the next iteration of SIMD at Statistics Statistics - Scottish Government Blog (blogs.gov.scot).

In addition to the core team within the Scottish Government, SIMD involves processing data for over 30 indicators from a range of data providers, including

• Scottish Government Education Analytical Services
• Department for Work and Pensions
• Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
• National Records of Scotland
• Public Health Scotland
• Scottish Qualifications Authority
• Higher Education Statistics Agency
• Skills Development Scotland
• Police Scotland

The current SIMD update continues to build on the substantial review done in 2013 and 2014. Given the scale of the review, it has been decided to build on that development work for SIMD 2026, while keeping the final product fairly consistent with SIMD 2020. Once SIMD 2026 is published, there will be a review looking at the options going forward.

An internal advisory panel is being set up in Scottish Government to provide a sounding board for the development plan and help shape the dissemination and communication strategy. This involves officials from regeneration, economic development, community planning and rural policy areas. There is a longstanding four nations working group, involving analysts who produce the English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish indices of multiple deprivation. This working group serves to share insights and learning across the UK and ensure consistency as far as practicable.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.