Public trust and confidence
78. Public trust in official statistics is very important as low public confidence can seriously undermine the effectiveness of official statistics.
79. To improve public confidence we have to raise public awareness of the high standards of integrity that are in place for statistics. So we want more debate around whether we are getting the range of statistics the country needs, on a timely and accurate basis.
80. Independent scrutiny of statistics is a key element in public confidence - arguably the single most important aspect.
81. If the LCM, to extend the Statistics and Registration Service Bill to Scotland, is passed it will give us access to an enhanced independent scrutiny body which should go some way to improving public confidence.
82. However, independent scrutiny is not the only element that needs to be considered. Another major deficiency in the existing arrangements is that they work in isolation from Parliament. When the National Statistics Framework was agreed we indicated that we would support Parliament taking a more active role in scrutiny of statistics, though this has not yet happened.
83. We now feel that a Parliamentary Committee should consider all elements of statistics management, but that there should be a strong focus on the key issues of public confidence.
84. Ministers should remain accountable but since it is statisticians who decide the method, format, content and timing of statistics releases we should allow a Committee to question them directly on these matters.
85. We propose to:
- encourage Parliamentary interest; and
- make it clear that a Committee is welcome to question statisticians directly.
86. We believe that further action to open the Scottish Administration's statistics up to public debate is beneficial to all involved and is important in continuing to improve the quality, relevance and integrity of statistics. We want more debate on what statistics are needed, key aspects of how they are produced and how they should be used.
87 . Therefore, in addition to the two key measures of independent scrutiny and Parliamentary involvement, we will continue to build on actions aimed at the public and user interests to increase confidence and to stimulate informed public debate, including:
- separately brand the material that has been produced by the professionally independent statistics staff from Ministerial statements;
- make further improvements to access to statistics, background data, methods used and supporting information to allow users to make their own assessment of the reliability of our statistics;
- engage with key commentators on statistics, including making a baseline assessment of their confidence in official statistics;
- adopt a more pro-active approach with individuals who comment or criticise official statistics;
- develop information on official statistics to be used in schools; and
- develop the existing ScotStat network, including considering general analytical services issues as well as technical statistics matters.
Questions
Are these proposals useful in increasing public confidence in statistics? Should more be done?