Summary

This publication provides information on the history and development of the Health and Wellbeing (HWB) Census in local authority (LA) schools in Scotland from 2015 to 2022.

This is a report on the approach to, and development of, the 2021-22 Health and Wellbeing Census instigated by a compliance check conducted by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in July 2022 and whose findings will:

a) clarify the reasons for the chosen approach to the HWB Census

b) offer greater transparency and openness around our processes, question development and ethics approval

c) provide more information on the data protection arrangements in place

The report sets out the inception of the 2021-22 HWB Census in 2015, the decisions made on the chosen approach over 2016-2021, stakeholder engagements over 2015-2023 (including the establishment of working groups), the approach to question development as well as UK GDPR and data protection considerations in the collection, processing and analysis of HWB Census data.

This report will be a useful source of evidence on what worked well and lessons to learn should the Scottish Government look to gather these types of data in the future. Advice and support from the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), the OSR and other key stakeholders will also be important.