Correspondence between Scottish Government and His Majesty's Revenue and Customs regarding information sharing: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for correspondence between Scottish Government and His Majesty's Revenue and Customs regarding information sharing with a view to replacing the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation with an indicator of household income.

Response

We are currently planning to publish an update to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation toward the end of 2026, and announced this in a blog on the Scottish Government website last year. The timing allows us to incorporate data using the 2022 Census data zones.

The current income domain for SIMD is constructed using information from His Majesty's Revenue and Customs and Department for Work and Pensions on individuals with low incomes or claiming low income related benefits. We therefore do not hold any correspondence with HMRC with respect to accessing data for a replacement for SIMD. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

Given the nature of SIMD, which is explicitly recognised as an area-based and not individual or household-based metric, an individual-level measure may be more appropriate in some applications. Development of any such metrics would be led by the relevant portfolio area in Scottish Government.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.