Access to the Health and Wellbeing Census data: FOI release

Information requested

A series of questions in relation to the Health and Wellbeing Census and the Scottish Public Benefit and Privacy Panel (SPBPP).

Response

In relation to a request to access the Health and Wellbeing Census data from Strathclyde University, what was the reason this request did not progress to final approval, when it had already been approved by SPBPP?

The application was initially only conditionally approved by SPBPP in October 2023. Following this, the initial application was not progressed any further by the researcher. However, in June 2024, the researcher submitted a new, and updated, data access request to the SPBPP.

Have all current (and previous members of SPBPP in place at the time the Strathclyde application was considered) been briefed about the Office for Statistics Regulation’s public intervention about this data in July 2022, the ICO letter to the Scottish Government in August 2023, and the ethics briefing written by Prof Lindsay Paterson and provided to Jenny Gilruth and other key stakeholders and referenced in the written question S6W-30190? Please can you provide all documentation around this/these briefing/s and dates they took place?

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested as no such briefings have taken place with members of the SPBPP panel. The SPBPP panel members are responsible for scrutinising the application for access to SG data sets; published NRS census data; linkage to SG data sets and published NRS census data; research and other well-defined and bona fide purposes to ensure that any successful application complies with data protection legislation and is in the public interest. Further details of the SPBPP application process can be found here: Scottish Government statistics: request our data - gov.scot.

Have any other requests for access to the Health and Wellbeing Census data been received by SPBBP and, if so, what is the status of these?

Yes. There have been 2 requests received by the SPBBP which requested access to the Health and Wellbeing Census data. One has been approved, whilst the other has currently been approved with conditions.

Have any other requests for access to the Health and Wellbeing Census data, without data linkage been received from any internal or external requesters and declined/accepted by Analytical Division Heads?

Yes, there were three internal requests and one external request for Health and Wellbeing data.

About FOI

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