UK Statistics Authority - Assessments

One of the UK Statistics Authority’s (UKSA's) roles is to determine whether official statistics comply with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics and, if so, designate them as 'National Statistics'.

The rationale behind the setting up of the Assessment process is two-fold:

• to communicate the extent of compliance with the Code to Parliament and the public; and
• to help the producers of official statistics to enhance the quality of the statistical service over a period of time.

Assessment Reports typically provide an overview of any noteworthy features of the methods used to produce the statistics, and highlight any substantial concerns about quality. They will clearly present the Assessment team’s conclusions in relation to the degree to which the statistics comply with the Code of Practice; the nature of any improvements needed, and; a recommendation to the Authority as to whether the statistics should be, or should continue to be, designated as National Statistics.

Full details about the assessment process can be found in the Monitoring and Assessment section of the UK Statistics Authority website.

Assessment of National Records of Scotland (NRS) Statistics

Our demography statistics were assessed in Autumn 2010 and the UKSA have published a report on each of the assessments within the Assessment Reports section of their website. A PDF (Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format) copy of each report can be found via the relevant links below:

Statistics on vital events in Scotland (84.5 Kb)

Statistics on population and demography in Scotland (143.4 Kb)

Statistics on household estimates and projections in Scotland (132 Kb)

Our Population Estimates and Projections were assessed again in 2014 and the UKSA have published an assessment  report on their website within the Assessment Reports section. A PDF copy of the report can be found via the link below:

Population estimates and projections for Scotland  (0.41MB)

Progress to meeting the requirements is detailed in Annex A to Paper 7 PAMS (15) 21 which can be found in the papers for the meeting for 11 November 2015.
An update on progress was given in Annex A to Paper 5 PAMS (16) 05 which will be found in the papers for the meeting on the 11 May 2015.
One of the requirements was to 'Review the resources allocated to the production of these statistics', this review was carried out and more information can be found on the Review of Statisticians Recruitment page.

Assessment of the 2011 Censuses in the UK

The Statistics Authority is also carrying out a special assessment, in three phases, of the 2011 Censuses in the UK.

Phase 1

Special assessment of the 2011 Censuses in the UK: Phase 1 (98 Kb)

2011 UK Census - Moving from a 6-Month Enumeration Base to a 12-Month Output Base in Scotland (62 Kb)

Phase 2

Special assessment of the 2011 Censuses in the UK: Phase 2 (230.4 Kb)

Overview of Administrative Comparator Data Used in 2011 Census Quality Assurance (83 Kb)

Phase 3

Special Assessment of the 2011 Censuses in the UK: Phase 3 (1.23 Mb)

 
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