| Information needed | Response |
|---|---|
| Title and link to statistical output | Burden to Households & Individuals of Completing Statistical Surveys issued by Northern Ireland Departments, 2019-20 https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/burden-households-and-individuals-ni-statistical-surveys-201920 Cost to Business of Completing Statistical Surveys issued by Northern Ireland Departments, 2019-20 |
| Name of producer organisation | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) |
| Name and contact details of person dealing with report | Ruth Fulton Ruth.fulton@nisra.gov.uk |
| Name and contact details of Head of Profession for Statistics or Lead Official | Siobhan Carey Siobhan.carey@finance-ni.gov.uk |
| Link to published statement about the breach (if relevant) | Burden to Households & Individuals of Completing Statistical Surveys issued by Northern Ireland Departments, 2019-20 https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/burden-households-and-individuals-ni-statistical-surveys-201920 Cost to Business of Completing Statistical Surveys issued by Northern Ireland Departments, 2019-20 |
| Date of breach report | 12th August 2021 |
| Information needed | Response |
|---|---|
| Relevant principle(s) and practice(s) | Practice T3.4: The circulation of statistics in their final form ahead of their publication should be restricted to eligible recipients. |
| Date of occurrence of breach | 11th August 2021 at 1.31pm
|
A pre-release submission was issued to the Department of Finance (DoF) Minister at 12.22pm on 11th August notifying him, along with a copy list of senior officials who had been granted pre-release access, about the publications and the key findings.
In acknowledging the submission at 1.31pm, DoF Private Office, who provide administrative support to the Minister, copied in a generic mailbox (DoF Press Office) and one other recipient who had not been granted pre-release access. The original email was attached to the acknowledgement.
The error was spotted by the Lead Statistician at 1.38pm who immediately contacted DoF Private Office and the recipients. DoF Private Office were unable to recall the email but offered to immediately contact the recipients asking them to delete the email. In response to the separate email sent to the recipients, both DoF Press Office and the individual recipient and confirmed that the Private Office had been deleted and neither they, nor anyone in their teams, had accessed the enclosed pre-release access email.
No additional recipients accessed the pre-release material, however there was the potential for them to do so.
The Lead Statistician took prompt action to contact the recipients and request that the emails were deleted. The Lead Statistician also discussed the issue with DoF Private Office, reminding them of their obligations under the Pre-Release Access Legislation and Code of Practice for Statistics.
Subsequent discussions with DoF Private Office took place, and following these discussions, a temporary withdrawal of Pre-Release Access to all forthcoming DoF NISRA outputs has been agreed to allow DoF Private Office to address an issue with their system which would result in a reoccurrence.