Summary of statistical plans within ERAD
Statistical collection and collation activities across the ERAD portfolio may be divided, by operational responsibility, into five categories: agriculture; fisheries; food; environment; and rural. Within each of these, a variety of planned activities are undertaken, in addition to ad-hoc responsive analysis. In many cases, activities are part exercises and required liaison with counterparts in (e.g.) ONS, DEFRA and the EC.
Agriculture
Main Outputs:
Agricultural and Horticultural Census results
Total Income from Farming (TIFF) estimates
Net Farm Income (NFI) estimates from Farm Accounts Survey (FAS)
Responsibility:
Branches 1, 2 and 3 within ERAD-ASD, although SAC are used extensively for field-data collection, particularly for the FAS. All of the main outputs are statutory requirements, with frequency, coverage, and format largely dictated by European Commission or UK stipulations.
Notable 2003 advances:
ScotStat group established for agriculture, to formalise stakeholder discussions of additional data collection and the dissemination of extant data
BCMS data downloads obtained for in-house analysis of cattle movements
Notable 2004 plans:
Revision of data presentation from FAS, in line with ScotStat recommendations
Completion of 2003 Farm Structure Survey, an additional statutory requirement
Revisions to Tenanted Land Survey, in response to Agricultural Holdings Act
Reclassification of farms by Standard Labour Requirements (SLRs) and Standard Gross Margins (SGMs), for UK and EC compatibility
Introduction of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) measures, as used already in England
Fisheries
Main Outputs:
Annual Scottish Fisheries Statistics publication
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/sfs02-00.asp
Weekly quota management reports
EC catch reports (provision of Scottish data)
Responsibility:
Fisheries Statistics Branch within ERAD Sea Fisheries Division, although some reliance is placed upon Fisheries Research Services (scientific programme), the SFPA (data-capture) and the Sea Fish Industry Authority (economic data).
Notable 2003 advances:
UK-wide agreement on an information systems strategy for sea fisheries covering all business areas: statistics, administration and enforcement.
Significant progress made toward building a prototype database containing a subset of the data held by UK fisheries departments. The principle aim of this project is to dramatically improve response time to requests for quota management/catch information.
Notable 2004 plans:
Implementation of the Fisheries Information System Strategy, to increase responsiveness to analytical requests
Introduction of the prototype UK database and revision of existing programs and working practices to exploit this new resource.
Further development work to expand the scope and statistical detail of the data held on the prototype database.
Contribute to development of IS systems to support fisheries enforcement, including those systems used in data-capture
Consult users on the content and scope of the annual publication and implement any suggested changes
Food
Main Outputs:
Global Connections Survey of Food Exports
Food expenditure statistics (UK)
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/ASD/OCEA/00018878/introduction.aspx
http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/efs/default.asp
Responsibility:
Office of the Chief Economic Advisor for Food Exports. Branch 5 of ERAD-ASD is represented on the DEFRA Board responsible for the Expenditure and Food Survey.
Notable 2003 advances:
Introduction of the Global Connections Survey of Food Exports, replacing the previous version run by SCDI.
Notable 2004 plans:
Revisions to the Global Connections Survey, including possible sample boost
Environment
Main outputs:
Key Scottish Environment Statistics
Scottish Environment Statistics Online
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/DD/EAS/00015637/page309788645.aspx
Responsibility:
Environment Statistics Branch within DD-ASD, although most of the data are collected by outside bodies. The role of Branch is mainly to collate key statistics and to sign-post to other data held elsewhere. This includes liaising with data providers to verify data robustness.
Notable 2003 advances:
Further improvements made to the Key Scottish Environment Statistics booklet, including adding a section on public attitudes to the environment.