The UK Statistics Authority has today published its first Assessment reports. These reports cover the following sets of statistics:
- Statistics from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse)
- Recorded Crime in Scotland (Scottish Government), and;
- Enrolments at Schools and in Funded Pre-School Education in Northern Ireland (Department of Education, Northern Ireland)
The reports are available on the Authority’s website. The Authority has designated all three sets of statistics as National Statistics, subject to certain further steps being taken to ensure compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Under the provisions of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, the UK Statistics Authority has a statutory function to assess sets of statistics against the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, with a view to determining whether it is appropriate for the statistics to be designated, or to retain their designation, as National Statistics.
Designation as National Statistics means that the statistics are deemed to be compliant with the Code of Practice. Designation is granted on the basis of the information provided to the Statistics Authority, primarily by the organisation that produces the statistics. The information includes a range of factual evidence and also assurances by senior statisticians in the producer organisation. The views of users are also sought. Should further information come to light subsequently which changes the Authority’s analysis, the Assessment report may be withdrawn and revised as necessary.
Once designated as National Statistics, it is a statutory requirement on the producer organisation to ensure that the set of statistics continues to be produced in compliance with the Code of Practice.