Dear Ms Duncan-Glancy, Thank you for your letter of 21 March outlining concerns around the First Minister of Scotland’s use of statistics about the poverty-related educational attainment gap. At First Minister’s Questions on 27 February, he said: “the overall poverty-related attainment gap [in Scotland] has reduced by 60 per cent since 2009-10”. The Scottish Government […]
Dear Mr Balfour, Thank you for your letter of 27 February 2025. We are pleased that the Scottish Government has now published the Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland: Background Report. We consider that this document provides valuable information to users and demonstrates that the Scottish Government has reviewed its approach to developing questions for the Health […]
Dear Sir Robert, Scottish Government Attainment Gap Statistics I am writing to seek the assistance of the UK Statistics Authority in establishing the accuracy of claims made by the First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney MSP, regarding the Scottish Government’s progress on closing Scotland’s poverty-related attainment gap. These claims appear to be at odds with […]
Dear Mr Griffin, Thank you for your letter regarding the claim made by the Minister for Public Finance on 12 November 2024 that “164,000 homes across Scotland have planning permission but are not yet built”. As noted in your letter, the supporting data was subsequently published in response to your Parliamentary Questions, but this should […]
Dear Sir Robert Thank you for your response to my letter of 19 Dec 2024. My constituents are grateful that after 30 months, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) is following up its original request to the Scottish government to publish a review around the legal and ethical governance arrangements relating to the Scottish Health […]
Dear Mr Balfour Thank you for your letter raising your concerns about the Scottish Health and Wellbeing Census (HWBC). Many of the issues about data governance and sharing procedures discussed by your constituents are out of remit for the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and fall within the remit of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). […]
Dear Sir/Madam Please find attached a letter from two of my constituents who are writing in their capacity as Chair of [redacted] School Parent Council and an individual parent of a child at [redacted] School, both schools being located within the [redacted] Council school catchment area. Following some serious concerns regarding the collection and use […]
Dear Ed, RE: Misleading figures on Scottish Planning Approvals I am concerned that a figure that is being used by the Scottish Government, which claims that 164,000 homes across Scotland have planning permission but are not yet built is not based on accurate data and so should not be used as a verifiable statistic in […]
Dear Mr O’Kane, Thank you for your letter expressing concern about statements made by both the current and previous Scottish First Minister that Scottish National Party (SNP) policies are “lifting” an estimated 100,000 children out of poverty. Under the principles of intelligent transparency, it is always advisable to think how an average person would interpret […]
Dear Sir Robert Re: Scottish Government Child Poverty Statistics I am writing to seek the assistance of the UK Statistics Authority in establishing both the accuracy of statements made by the First Minister and former First Minister, and the methodology used by the Scottish Government, to claim that they have already, or they will lift […]