Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government fully complies with the Code of Practice for Statistics which states that;

‘The circulation of statistics in their final form ahead of their publication should be restricted to eligible recipients, in line with the rules and principles on pre-release access set out in legislation for the UK and devolved administrations.’

Eligible recipients are defined as ‘Persons within government granted pre-release access to statistical releases in their final form ahead of their publication in line with Pre-Release Access to Official Statistics legislation’.

The relevant legislation in Scotland is the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008, which permits carefully controlled pre-release access. The Office for Statistics Regulation treats this Order as an integral part of the Code of Practice for Statistics during their compliance checks.

The Code of Practice acknowledges that it is the role of the Chief Statistician to determine the appropriate arrangements for pre-release access in Scotland. Scottish Government analysts carefully consider on a case by case basis where the public benefit likely to result from pre-release access outweighs the potential detriment to public trust in official statistics by providing access. The lists of recipients for pre-release access are kept to an absolute minimum to fulfil the functions as set out in the order and reviewed prior to each publication, with anyone failing to provide a legitimate reason for still requiring access being removed. Full and detailed records are kept of any pre-release access granted and all recipients are made aware of the strict conditions on access.