FOI Ref: FOI/2022/3934
You asked
Please supply any information you hold regarding the review of the Scottish Household Survey against the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics with regard this matter, and any findings or outcomes.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We plan to publish the outcome of our review of the Scottish Household Survey - as it relates to correspondence between Roger Halliday and Ed Humpherson, January 2022 and May 2021 - in April 2022.
Therefore, the information you have requested is exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as there is an intention to publish this information in the future and we believe it is reasonable in all circumstances to withhold this information.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test.
We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by the Office for Statistical Regulation (OSR) when publication schedules are set. We must be able to determine our own publication timelines to ensure we appropriately fulfil our functions. This includes ensuring there is enough time to undertake and finalise a thoroughly researched and balanced investigation and that these investigations receive the appropriate level of sign off and scrutiny by senior members of OSR. As regulators, it is our role to support confidence in statistics by addressing harms and making sure that statistics serve the public good. Ad hoc release of our reviews before an investigation has been completed and signed off could lead to inaccurate conclusions being drawn from our investigation, which would jeopardise our function by misleading the public. This will have an impact on public trust in the regulation of official statistics in a time when accurate scrutiny of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
If you would like to contact OSR directly on this, or any other matter, please email regulation@statistics.gov.uk.