ScotStat Board Meeting Minutes: October 2024

Attendees and apologies

Board members

• Ana Basari (AB)
• Camilla Barnett (CBB)
• John Curtice (JC)
• Susan McVie (SM)
• Ken Roy (KR)
• João Sousa (JS)
• Lucien Staddon Foster (LSF)

Officials/Speakers/Observers

• Maria Bayer (MB), Equality Data Improvement Programme

• Lee Bunce (LB), Office of the Chief Statistician, Secretariat

• Lisa Clark (LC), Office of the Chief Statistician, Secretariat

• Beth Cocker (BC), Equality Data Improvement Programme

• Alice Gowenlock (AG), Office of the Chief Statistician, Secretariat

• Scott Heald (SH), Public Health Scotland

• Ally McAlpine (AM), Chief Statistician

• Ralph McDevitt (RM), National Records of Scotland

• Amy Wilson (AW), Deputy Director Health Workforce Planning and Delivery , Secretariat

• Jonathon Wroth-Smith (JWS), National Records of Scotland

Apologies

• Roeland Beerten, Board Member
• Janet Egdell, National Records of Scotland

Items and actions

Update from the Chief Statistician

The Chief Statistician gave an update on emergency spending controls now currently in place across the core Scottish Government and in public bodies.

The Scottish Government was able to recruit statisticians before the spending controls were implemented, leaving few vacancies in the statistics group. The ability of the Chief Statistician to impact on workforce planning is limited, however, due to the autonomy of Directorates for their own workforce planning.

The biggest expenditure for most statistical areas is people. However, the Scottish Government also produces three large surveys. There are no current risks to these surveys but Scottish Government are mindful of attempts to make savings.

The Board noted with concern the risk that cuts might impact on statistical services. The Board invites the Office of the Chief Statistician, Public Health Scotland and National Records of Scotland to advise on further developments in future meetings.

ScotStat Board work planning

The chairs of the Board presented their paper on the suggested key areas on which the Board should focus. The paper proposed three key areas, UK coherence, structural changes, and enhancing communication and engagement. The Board agreed to prioritise improving UK coherence in respect of population and migration statistics, exploring potential structural changes, and enhancing communication and engagement around Scottish statistics.

Discussions emphasised the need for better alignment with the Office for National Statistics (ONS), particularly on data comparability, migration statistics, and methods. However, the Board also stressed that Scottish priorities should take precedence where necessary and suggested there should always be a note of how comparable any Scottish statistics publication is with other countries within the United Kingdom.

While supportive of the priorities, the Board acknowledged constraints related to resources and funding, stressing that any new initiatives it launches must be balanced with existing workloads. The Board recognised the need to remain flexible, balancing proactive planning with reacting to emerging events and changes in the policy landscape, particularly regarding UK-wide statistical developments.

The Chairs will meet with AW and LB to discuss the proposals in more detail, and to identify key dates and opportunities for the Board.

Public Health Scotland public consultation on statistics

SH presented on the recent Public Health Scotland consultation on statistics. The consultation received 107 responses, which exceeded expectations and aligned with similar response rates in NHS England.

There was discussion around the global move away from PDFs, with some advocating for a focus on HTML and interactive tools including dashboards. However, the Board noted that changes should be made carefully, ensuring they meet users’ needs and avoid unnecessary complexity.

While dashboards are useful for real-time insights, there are concerns about their ability to preserve historical data that are needed for accountability and monitoring long-term trends. There are also concerns that dashboards do not offer the depth provided by traditional reports. The Board emphasised the need to balance these formats, especially for academic and teaching purposes.

The Board was grateful for the presentation. The Board noted that sometimes the production of a lengthy report can be useful part of the process for identifying key points. It is also important that the statistical historical record is maintained. In particular, trends over time are crucial. The Board would recommend a degree of caution before dropping the lengthy report, and encourage that time series data are retained.

The Board requested that PHS provide further information to the Board on the consultation results to guide future decisions on how best to present and disseminate statistical information.

Equalities data in Scottish Government

BC presented a paper on the Equalities Data Improvement Programme and the Equality Evidence Strategy within Scottish Government, highlighting the programme’s aim to improve how equality data are collected and used across different policy areas to reduce inequalities.

There was discussion about the difficulty in measuring the success of the equality strategy, particularly in linking data to impacts on policy and outcomes. Success is defined as making a tangible difference in reducing inequalities, but proving causal relationships is complex.

There are challenges in harmonising equality data across different governments and organisations. For instance, the UK and Scottish governments may have differing views on certain equality issues, such as sex and gender data, which complicates standardisation efforts. The Board emphasised the need for clear definitions and consistency, separating ideological debates from data collection.

Concerns were raised about the lack of progress in updating administrative data, such as from National Records of Scotland, and the need to ensure coherence across different public datasets. Ensuring up to date, consistent data is essential for evidence-based policymaking.

The Board are interested in seeing the results of the interim review of the Equality Evidence Strategy.

National Records of Scotland review of Census

RM and JWS presented a paper in the response rate for 2022 Census in Scotland.

It was suggested that the lack of UK-wide media coverage during Scotland's census may have contributed to the lower response rate. The Board emphasised that simultaneous media exposure with the UK could have boosted engagement, as seen with the ONS-led census.

Some members questioned whether public trust in government, particularly following the pandemic, affected the response rate. There was debate over whether trust levels were significantly different between 2021 and 2022. RM also highlighted a recent blog post by NRS looking at the characteristics of responders.

The Board discussed the distinction between awareness of the census and motivation to complete it. While awareness may have been lower in Scotland due to separate timing, there was also a question of whether people were simply less motivated to participate.

The Board concluded that future decisions to hold a census or other major statistical exercises on a different day from the rest of the UK should be considered highly risky. The Board recommended that the review document consider the timing of the Census as a potential factor in reduced response rates.

The Board would welcome the opportunity to advise on similar decisions in the future.

Despite the challenges, it was noted that the response rate for Scotland's census, though lower than anticipated, was still higher than in many other countries. There was also recognition of the National Records of Scotland's efforts to correct biases and ensure accurate data.

Any other business

KR highlighted that the Royal Statistical Society’s 2025 Conference will take place in Edinburgh. The Board is interested in exploring ways of participating.

Actions

• AM to provide further updates on the impact of spending restrictions on the production of official statistics.
• AB and JC to meet AW and LB to further discuss the workplan of the Board. The Scottish Government will identify key dates where the Board may be able to influence decisions ahead of time.
• BC to share the Interim review of the Equality Evidence Strategy with the Board when available.
• The Office of the Chief Statistician will engage with the RSS regarding their plans for their 2025 conference in Edinburgh.