Letter from Sir Robert Chote to Mark Griffin MSP – figures on Scottish Planning Approvals

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 not be used as a standard approach for releasing data. According to the principles of intelligent transparency, data should be available publicly at the same time that officials make statements based on it, with an explanation of context, sources, and limitations. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has raised this issue with the Scottish Government’s Chief Statistician, who has explained that he is currently raising the profile of intelligent transparency beyond the statistics profession within the Scottish Government to ensure that these principles are embedded across Government. The OSR will be working closely with the Chief Statistician to support him in these efforts.

The data for this claim are based on Housing Land Audits data which is sourced from local authorities. We agree that the quality of this data remains unclear based on the limited information included in the response to your Parliamentary Question. Future uses of this claim should clearly indicate that this is a high-level estimate.

We understand that there is a long-term plan to improve the data and statistics on housing in Scotland. The OSR will continue to engage with the Scottish Government as this development work progresses, to ensure that the standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics are adhered to.

Yours sincerely,

Sir Robert Chote
Chair

 

Related links

Mark Griffin MSP to Ed Humpherson – figures on Scottish Planning Approvals

Letter from Sir Robert Chote to Jeremy Balfour MSP – Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland

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). However, I have addressed your comments relating to the OSR’s letter to the Scottish Government, published in July 2022.

This letter set out that the Scottish Government needed to review the approach it took to question development including the “legal and ethical governance arrangements that are in place for asking questions of each age range”. Please note that the OSR did not request the Scottish Government to undertake a review of the survey and data governance processes as a whole.

It is regrettable that the outcomes of this review have not yet been made public and the OSR has now written to the Scottish Government to set the expectation that this is rectified within the next 30 days.

Yours sincerely,

Sir Robert Chote
Chair

 

Related links

Ed Humpherson to Alastair McAlpine: Scottish Health and Wellbeing Census

Jeremy Balfour MSP to Ed Humpherson – Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland

Jeremy Balfour MSP to Ed Humpherson – Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland

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 of Health & Wellbeing Census data captured in schools, they are writing to each of the public bodies you represent, asking for a response to their requests within one calendar month, as per the Information Commissioners Office policy of engagement.

I request that you respond directly to me and I will discuss your with replies with these constituents, as I have been following this case with great concern over recent months since the issues with the data collection and use came to light.

Yours sincerely

Jeremy Balfour MSP

 

Related links

Ed Humpherson to Alastair McAlpine: Scottish Health and Wellbeing Census

Letter from Sir Robert Chote to Jeremy Balfour MSP – Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland

Mark Griffin MSP to Ed Humpherson – figures on Scottish Planning Approvals

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 the course of government business.

The Scottish Government has used this figure on a number of occasions including in a statement to the Scottish Parliament made by Minister for Public Finance Ivan McKee on 12 November 2024, and in its publication of the same date: “Planning and the housing emergency: delivery plan”. The number was picked up and widely reported in national press.

I submitted a series of questions to the Government exploring how this number had been calculated. From the Government’s responses, it was clear that it considered the number to be arrived at through aggregation of local authority housing land audits to create “a broad national picture of the scale of land available across Scotland” (Question S6W-31670). Further questions clearly indicated that the Government had little or no idea of how this number had been calculated. It also indicated in its response that it had little confidence that the land audits used gave an accurate estimate, going on to say that it intended to publish new guidance on housing land data audits to build a clearer picture of available land in Scotland.

Those figures have been questioned by various bodies, including Homes for Scotland. It had called for robust interrogation of the “stalled sites”.

Although the number is described as an estimate, it is clear to me that when a government puts a figure in the official record it implies official validation of the data as accurate. That is why it is important that, even when using estimates, those estimates should be built on robust data sources which have been properly interrogated to ensure the figure is as accurate as possible. It is of particular importance when that figure goes on to be used as the basis for development of government policy. The correct use of statistics and data is vital to ensure public confidence.

The public must have faith in the accuracy and truthfulness of statistics that are cited by Government ministers. As such, I would be grateful if you could investigate and provide guidance on the matter.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Mark Griffin MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland Region

 

Related links

Letter from Sir Robert Chote to Mark Griffin MSP – figures on Scottish Planning Approvals

Letter from Sir Robert Chote to Paul O’Kane MSP – Scottish Government child poverty statistics

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 a high-profile quantitative claim of this sort so as to minimise the danger of them being misled and thereby trust in similar statements being undermined.

In this instance, the First Ministers were referring to a modelled estimate of the difference between the level of relative child poverty expected in 2024/25 and the level that we would have seen in the absence of a number of policy measures (as set out in footnote 4 of the updated Cumulative Impact Assessment). The Scottish Government set out the methodology behind this comparison in an annex to its Cumulative Impact Assessment in 2022 and the 100,000 estimate comes from the update published in 2024.

This kind of analysis is a reasonable way to estimate the impact of Scottish Government policies on child poverty, even though, just like alternative estimates, the calculations are bound to be uncertain and dependent to some degree on methodological choices. But the average person hearing such a statement might well assume that the First Ministers were claiming that child poverty is 100,000 lower than when the SNP took office. And, as you point out, the Scottish Government’s official statistics on Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland conclude that the proportion of children in Scotland living in relative and absolute poverty remains broadly stable. Comparing the number of children living in relative poverty from 2004-07 (pre-SNP) to the latest datapoint of 2020-23 shows a decrease of 10,000 children (250,000 to 240,000). For children living in absolute poverty the decrease is 40,000 children (250,000 to 210,000).

Given this potential confusion, Ministers would be well advised from time to time to accompany this type of claim with a reminder of the methodology underpinning it so that they are not suspected of making an unduly flattering comparison.

Yours sincerely,
Sir Robert Chote
Chair

 

Related links

Paul O’Kane MSP to Sir Robert Chote – Scottish Government child poverty statistics

Paul O’Kane MSP to Sir Robert Chote – Scottish Government child poverty statistics

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 100,000 children out of poverty, as per the Child Poverty Cumulative Impact Assessment published by the Scottish Government on the 28th of February 2024.

On the 9th of May 2024, John Swinney claimed at First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) in the Scottish Parliament, that the SNP had ‘delivered measures such as the Scottish child payment, which is taking 100,000 children out of poverty today’. This was the second time Mr. Swinney had made this claim on that day alone.

The former First Minister, Humza Yousaf, has also made similar claims on a number of occasions, including in Parliament on the 2nd of May. Meanwhile, social media graphics and videos advertised by the SNP have promoted this claim as fact repeatedly.

According to the most recent statistics, however, child poverty rates have broadly remained static in Scotland, with approximately 240,000 Scottish children (24%) living in relative poverty. Indeed, single year statistic estimates actually suggest an increase in the number of children in poverty in 2022-23 to 260,000 children.

Given these statistics do not seem to reflect real progress on reducing child poverty, and do not correlate with claims made by SNP politicians as outlined above, Scottish Labour put in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request into the methodology and modelling used by the Scottish Government as evidence for their claims. I have attached the FOI response we received for ease of reference.

As you can see, the modelling used by the Scottish Government uses a counterfactual scenario that presumes a number of policies were not in place. Yet, the levels forecast for this counterfactual scenario are comparable to existing poverty levels, indicating that it cannot be an accurate reflection of any alternative scenario, and therefore could give an inaccurate and misleading account of the effect of Scottish Government policies.

The guidance also makes clear, contrary to some statements by SNP politicians, that this figure is an unconfirmed forecast to be reached 2024-25 and is not lifting children out of poverty but just keeping more Scottish children from going into poverty.

The guidance given to the Scottish Government explicitly states that ‘the estimated impact under this approach [the modelling used by the Scottish Government] does not equate to observable changes in poverty over time, or even… to the contribution of Scottish Government policies to those changes. For this reason, we refer to the impact of the policy package as ‘keeping’ children out of poverty rather than ‘lifting’ them out of poverty.’

You will note, as outlined in the instances mentioned above, that this advice seems to have been ignored repeatably by the First Minister and former First Minister in Parliament, and by the SNP on social media more widely.

Given both recent poverty statistics and official advice to Scottish Ministers appearing to contradict the claims of the First Minister about ‘lifting 100,000 children out of poverty’, I would welcome your view on both the language used by Scottish Government politicians, as well as the model used by the Scottish Government, which seems misleading given they compare the benefits of the policies they have implemented to an entirely unrealistic and abstract world.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,
Paul O’Kane MSP
West Scotland Region
Scottish Labour Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Social Security, and Equalities

 

Related links

Letter from Sir Robert Chote to Paul O’Kane MSP – Scottish Government child poverty statistics

Response from Sir Robert Chote to Sandesh Gulhane MSP – minimum unit pricing

Dear Dr Gulhane,

Thank you for your letter of 3 July regarding publications about the impact of minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol in Scotland.

You raised concerns about the communication of Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) evaluation of the MUP policy, which concluded in a final report published in June (that synthesized evidence from a number of studies). You also raised concerns about a Scottish Government press release welcoming that report and an earlier health impact study published in March by authors from PHS, the University of Glasgow and the University of Queensland. We have also looked at an ‘at a glance’ document produced by PHS.

Our remit covers the production and use of official statistics and does not extend to research or policy evaluation. As such, we have not conducted a full investigation of the content or methodology of the PHS reports. Instead, we have focused on how statistical evidence has been communicated and we consider that the findings in the final PHS report are communicated clearly and impartially.

Communication of the PHS evaluation report (published June 2023)

The original version of the Scottish Government press release stated that:

“In their final report of a series, researchers said that ‘robust, independent evaluation’ and the best available, wide-ranging evidence drawing on 40 independent research publications, showed that the MUP has been effective in its main goal of reducing alcohol harm with the reduction in deaths and hospital admissions specific to the timing of MUP implementation”.

This wording might suggest to many readers that most or all of the studies referred to examined the health impact of MUP. But the evaluation report explains that of the 40 papers included, only eight provided evidence on alcohol-related health outcomes. The remaining 32 examined other potential effects of the policy such as on alcohol consumption, social outcomes, compliance by retailers and product prices. Of the eight papers which studied health outcomes, one looked at deaths and hospitalisations and found a beneficial quantitative impact on these outcomes. Based on the other seven papers, the report concluded that there was “no consistent evidence that MUP impacted on other alcohol-related health outcomes such as ambulance callouts, emergency department attendances and prescribing of medication for alcohol dependence”.

Communication of the PHS/Glasgow/Queensland study (published March 2023)

The Scottish Government press release and the PHS ‘at a glance’ document both referred to the results of the PHS/Glasgow/Queensland study. However, information about the level of uncertainty associated with the reduction in hospitalisations and deaths was not included in either output, despite being emphasised in the study. For example, the figures are estimates based on statistical modelling and the reduction in hospital admissions was not found to be statistically significant.

Summarising technical data, especially for a public audience, is challenging. Press releases, factsheets, tweets and other communications require condensed information, but it still serves users best to include caveats about the uncertainty or limitations of statistical evidence. In this case, caveats did not carry through from the final PHS report to the press release and ‘at a glance’ document.

The Office for Statistics Regulation has discussed these issues, and its broader guidance on communicating uncertainty, with PHS and the Scottish Government. It is good to see that, as a result, PHS has updated its at-a-glance summary and the Scottish Government has updated its press release to ensure that the uncertainty around the estimates is more clearly communicated. I am also pleased to report that both have committed to improving the communication of uncertainty in future outputs.

 

Yours sincerely,

Sir Robert Chote
Chair

 

Related links

Letter from Sandesh Gulhane MSP to Sir Robert Chote – minimum unit pricing

Letter from Sandesh Gulhane MSP to Sir Robert Chote – minimum unit pricing

Dear Sir Robert,

I am writing to request a review of the Public Health Scotland report ‘Evaluating the impact of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Scotland: A synthesis of the evidence’ and the associated publicity and ministerial statements.

It purports to be “the final report from the PHS evaluation of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Scotland”.

It is likely to be used in Scottish Government decision making on whether to continue with MUP and whether to raise the minimum unit price of alcohol.

However, I am concerned the report and associated publicity and ministerial statements significantly overstate the health impact of MUP, and under-represent the significant uncertainty in the wider body of research and among the scientific community.

I will outline my concerns in turn.

The press release

On 27 June 2023 the Scottish Government distributed the following press release.

It states the conclusion that MUP “has saved lives, reduced hospital admissions and had a positive impact on health” was drawn from “robust, independent evaluation’ and the best-available, wide-ranging evidence drawing on 40 independent research publications”.

It also states: “This follows a study published in March by PHS and University of Glasgow showing MUP reduced alcohol consumption by 3%, deaths directly caused by alcohol consumption by 13.4% and hospital admissions by 4.1%. compared to what would have happened if MUP had not been in place.”

However, this conclusion is not drawn from 40 publications. 32 of these publications referenced in the “final report” are silent on health impacts and focus on other issues such as consumption.

Of the eight publications that do address health impacts, seven of them are inconclusive.

Only one study concluded MUP had reduced deaths — the PHS and University of Glasgow study mentioned in the press release.

This study was led by Grant MA Wyper, public health adviser to PHS.

This “final report” does not “follow the PHS and University of Glasgow study”. It merely restates its findings.

Furthermore, it was not “independent”. It was commissioned by PHS and led by a PHS adviser.

The PHS/Glasgow University report was itself a retread of a report that appeared in The Lancet the previous day.

These reports are presented as two distinct studies in the latest PHS “final report” as Wyper et at (2023a) and Wyper et al (2023b).

This “final report” does not build on the Wyper study. The seven other studies addressing health impacts are inconclusive.

The conclusion that MUP has reduced deaths was not robust, nor drawn from wide-ranging independent evidence. It was drawn from a single PHS report.

Also, the report itself states that the 4.1 per cent reduction in hospitalisations was not statistically significant.

Therefore, the Scottish Government cannot definitively say “MUP reduced…hospital admissions by 4.1%”.

The Lancet study

The assertion that there were 13.4% fewer deaths “compared with what would have been observed in the absence of MUP legislation” overstates the uncertainty in statistical modelling.

No statistical model can say definitively what “would have” happened, as The Lancet study acknowledges in its methodology.

Indeed, “would have” becomes “might have” in the discussion section of the study.

“Study outcomes were assessed using a controlled interrupted time series study design, allowing us to determine the difference between outcomes we observed and our best representation of what might have happened under the counterfactual situation that MUP legislation was not enacted in Scotland.”

It concludes deaths rose faster in England in the absence of MUP therefore MUP “averted…an average of 156 deaths” each year in Scotland.

An additional 156 deaths a year would be a significant acceleration of the trend seen in the preceding 20 years, which was generally downward in the first decade and plateaued in the low thousands before the pandemic.

An acceleration this size was not witnessed in any of the regions of England with a similar population and demographic to Scotland, for example North West England, which saw a post-pandemic increase of a similar magnitude to Scotland despite the cheaper alcohol.

Criticisms of the Lancet study

Dr Adam Jacobs, Senior Director, Biostatistical Sciences at Premier Research, challenged the methodology behind the 13.4 per cent increase.

He said: “It is plausible that the MUP policy would bring down deaths and hospitalisations due to alcohol consumption, but I don’t think this paper shows it convincingly.”

Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, The Open University, rightly took issue with the “causal interpretation” in The Lancet study.

He said: “This is an observational study, and no matter how well other factors are controlled for, it can never prove conclusively that the changes observed in deaths were due to the minimum unit pricing policy. In my view there hasn’t been enough caution given around assuming this relationship is causal…”

“We can’t say that MUP definitely led to a 13.4% reduction in deaths, though that does clearly remain an important possibility…”

“While it’s possible that the deaths or hospitalisations would have decreased enough to be detectable in the follow-up period here of 32 months after MUP, it’s also possible…that they aren’t clearly detectable on that time scale, though (if they really exist) the effect should show up, and indeed be much larger, later. And given what the time lag specifications look like in the Holmes paper, in another 7 or 8 years the reductions in deaths would be immense, implausibly immense indeed, given the size of the estimate after just over 2.5 years.

“Or it’s possible that what is being picked up in the new study is an effect of a change in alcohol consumption that occurred considerably earlier than MUP, so couldn’t have been caused directly by MUP…”

“So overall, in my view, there remains some doubt about whether MUP definitely caused the alcohol consumption change and therefore whether it is responsible for reductions in deaths.”

The “final report” at a glance

The at a glance conclusion states:

“Overall, the evidence supports that MUP has had a positive impact on health outcomes, including alcohol-related health inequalities.”

However, the finding for health above states:

“MUP reduced deaths directly caused by alcohol consumption by 13.4% and hospital admissions by 4.1%.

“Reductions were greatest for men and those living in the most deprived areas of Scotland.

“There is no consistent evidence of impact, positive or negative, on other health outcomes.”

This is not “overall” evidence. It’s a single study.

The conclusion should have stated:

“One study supports that MUP has had a positive impact on deaths and there is no consistent evidence of impact, positive or negative, on other health outcomes.”

The “final report” briefing

The briefing concludes:

“Taken together, the evidence supports that MUP has had a positive impact on health outcomes.”

Taken together, the evidence does not support this. A single questionable study estimated the reductions of deaths. The rest of the evidence was inconclusive.

The “final report”

Section 3.3 on page 33 confirms evidence relating to alcohol-related health outcomes was drawn from eight papers, not the 40 papers that the press release suggests.

It confirms the 13.4 per cent death reduction figure was drawn solely from the Wyper paper (Item 25 in the bibliography) and confirms the 4.1 per cent reduction in hospitalisations in Wyper was “non-significant”.

It cites Wyper at length but gives short shrift to the other inconclusive papers.

It states:

“The five other papers that contributed relevant quantitative evidence found no evidence of impacts in alcohol-related health outcomes, either positive or negative: there appears to have been no effect at a population level on alcohol-related ambulance callouts, (Manca 2022) prescriptions for treatment of alcohol dependence (Manca 2023) emergency department attendance (So 2021) or the level of alcohol dependence or self-reported health status in drinkers recruited through alcohol treatment services in Scotland, relative to England. (Holmes 2022).”

Ministerial statements

On June 27, Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister tweeted:

“When @ScotGov proposed Minimum Unit Pricing over a decade ago, it was a pioneering approach to tackling alcohol harm and some had their doubts.

“Increasing evidence is now vindicating our approach. It’s saving over 150 lives a year.”

Analysis: There is no increasing evidence. There is one consistently rehashed and questionable PHS paper and about half a dozen inconclusive papers.

On June 27, The SNP tweeted MUP has led to “a major reduction in alcohol related deaths”

Analysis: Alcohol related deaths have risen since MUP was imposed. The SNP omitted the crucial caveat that the reduction was based on a hypothetical model.

Please investigate the matters raised in this correspondence and advise.

 

Yours faithfully,

Dr Sandesh Gulhane
MSP, Glasgow Region
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
NHS GP

 

Related links

Response from Sir Robert Chote to Sandesh Gulhane MSP – minimum unit pricing

Response from Sir Robert Chote to Gillian Martin MSP – A&E comparisons

Dear Ms Martin,

Thank you for your letter of 7 March regarding statements made by the Prime Minister in a BBC programme that aired on 8 January. In this programme, the Prime Minister made reference to the relative performance of the NHS in the different countries of the UK. He said:

“…you mention A&E waiting times; in Wales and Scotland for example, they’re operating at worse levels than they are in England.”

You asked us to investigate the accuracy of these claims and the appropriateness of the measure chosen for comparison.

The monthly official statistics for November 2022 (the latest publicly available at the time of the interview) presented a mixed picture of Accident and Emergency (A&E) performance, as shown in this table.

For waits under four hours, NHS Scotland had better performance for major A&E departments (known in England as Type 1 emergency departments) whereas NHS England was performing marginally better when all types of emergency unit were included [1]. On both measures, emergency units in all three administrations are falling short of the official targets for waiting times.

Parallels between A&E performance across the UK must be drawn with an appreciation of the limitations in comparability between countries. While the Prime Minister used the most readily available measure, which is published regularly across all three countries, it is possible to make other comparisons. The publication you mention by NHS Digital [2] (as was) says that the nearest like for like comparison between administrations can be found in waiting times for Type 1 and major emergency departments, rather than all types of emergency units, to account for the different models of service provision across the four nations. Even so, policy differences in emergency health provision mean that these units will not be treating exactly the same type of patients, so when making these numerically more robust comparisons, users should still be aware that they are not exact. We have made officials responsible for briefing the Prime Minister aware of this case, to ensure that they are aware of the trade-offs between coverage and comparability involved.

I have written previously to Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP about A&E waiting time statistics [3], and I noted the importance of being able to accurately compare performance between UK administrations. In April, NHS England published a supplementary file of data on 12-hour waiting times for Type 1 departments [4], as well as the usual data on 4-hour waiting times, to facilitate comparisons across a broader range of measures. I welcome this development.

Yours sincerely,

Sir Robert Chote
Chair

 

Percentage of attendances that met the 4-hour target for A&E waiting times by GB administration, November 2022

CountryType 1 / Major emergency unitsAll types of emergency unit
England54.5%68.9%
Scotland64.1%67.5%
Wales57.8%67.3%

 

Sources:

 

FOOTNOTES

[1] In England, this means Types 1, 2 and 3 A&E departments. Type 1 departments provide a consultant-led 24-hour service with full resuscitation facilities and designated accommodation for A&E patients Type 2 departments are consultant-led A&E services for a single specialty, such as emergency ophthalmology or dental clinics. Type 3 departments (or Urgent Treatment Centres) are led by a doctor or nurse and treat minor injuries and illnesses without an appointment.

[2] Hospital Accident and Emergency Activity, 2021-22; Home Nations Comparative Analysis (Spreadsheet), NHS Digital, 15 September 2022

[3] Letter to Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP on waiting time statistics, UK Statistics Authority, 16 December 2022

[4] Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) Data, February 2023 Statistical Commentary, NHS England, April 2023

 

Related links

Letter from Gillian Martin MSP to UK Statistics Authority – A&E comparisons

Response from Sir Robert Chote to Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP – statistics on the cost of living

Dear Ms Duncan-Glancy,

 

Thank you for your letter of 24 January regarding Scottish Government figures on the cost of living. I directed the Office for Statistics Regulation to examine your concerns on this issue, and its substantive reply from Director General Ed Humpherson is enclosed.

 

Yours sincerely,

Sir Robert Chote
Chair of the UK Statistics Authority

 

Related links:

Letter from Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP to Ed Humpherson: Misleading figures on Cost of Living Measures

Response from Ed Humpherson to Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP: statistics on the cost of living