Review of pre-release access in Scotland

Introduction

Pre-release access is the practice of making official statistics in their final form available before publication to specific individuals not involved in their production.

Aims and research questions

The Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Act 2021 states that Scottish Ministers should commission an independent review of previous changes to pre-release legislation, namely the reduction and removal of pre-release access to economic and market sensitive statistics in Scotland which was introduced in the Act. The Scottish Government extended this remit to cover a review of pre-release access more widely. In December 2024, the Office of the Chief Statistician at the Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish Centre for Social Research to conduct this review.

The aim of this project was to conduct an independent review to evaluate how the current processes around pre-release access to Official Statistics are working in Scotland and identify possible options for the Scottish Government.

A number of detailed research questions were agreed at the outset of this review:

1. What are the trends and patterns in levels of public trust of official statistics?

2. What were the drivers for decisions made in the Office for National Statistics and in the Welsh Government regarding their pre-release access period, and how do these apply to the Scottish context?

3. What has stakeholders’ experience been of the changes to Economic and Market Sensitive Statistics?

4. In what ways, and for what reasons, do different actors and departments use the current 5 working day pre-release period for access to statistics?

5. What are the benefits and challenges associated with the current 5 working day pre-release period for access?

6. What are stakeholders’ views on public levels of trust in statistics and their opinion of the extent to which the longer pre-release period causes detriment to public trust?

7. What impact would changes to the pre-release arrangements have on different groups, including the public?

8. What would be the benefits and challenges associated with changes to the pre-release arrangements?

Pre-release Access (PRA) in a UK and international context

The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) was established under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007^[1] and has responsibility for the statistical system across the four UK administrations. The UKSA is an independent statutory body operating as a non-ministerial department, reporting directly to each of the devolved parliaments/assemblies. In the UK, under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, Cabinet Office Ministers and Ministers in the Devolved Administrations are responsible for determining, by Order in their respective Parliaments, the principles and rules governing pre-release access to official statistics.^[2]

In Scotland prior to 2021, pre-release access could be permitted for any types of statistics, including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), retail sales, economic and market-sensitive statistics. In 2021, the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Act changed the law to introduce a phased approach to reducing and subsequently removing any pre-release access to GDP and Scottish retail sales,^[3] which is in line with the approach taken to these statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) since 2017.^[4] The Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Act also reduced pre-release access for economic and market-sensitive statistics to a maximum of one working day.

There are some differences in the pre-release access period to other (non-market sensitive) types of statistics across the UK. In Scotland and Wales, PRA can be granted up to a maximum of 5 working days prior to publication for certain departments and certain types of official statistics whereas, in the UK and Northern Ireland, this is up to a maximum of 24 hours unless in exceptional circumstances. In 2017, ONS ended any pre-release access to statistics, other than in exceptional circumstances.^[5] As of November 2024, ONS produces 124 of the 802 official statistics publications for the UK.[6]

The Pre-release Access to Official Statistics (Scotland) Order 2008 sets out the reasons for which PRA may be granted. These include:

• To ensure that the Scottish Ministers and office-holders or officials advising them are able to comment publicly on the statistics based on a correct understanding of them;
• To allow the Scottish Ministers and office-holders or officials advising them to consider the implications of the statistics for their policies and programmes so as to ensure that any public comments they make about those policies and programmes at or after the time of publication reflect a proper understanding of the statistics;
• To allow office-holders or officials advising the Scottish Ministers to assure the quality of any statistical public statement to be issued by those office-holders or officials;
• To ensure that other statistics available to the Scottish Ministers, and office-holders or officials advising them, about the same subject-matter as the statistics to which pre-release access may be granted are not relied on by them to the detriment of the exercise of their functions or any public comment they make relating to those other statistics, without their being informed of the statistics to which pre-release access may be granted;
• To ensure, where a publication or other material is being prepared by or on behalf of any public body or office-holder for publication at the same time or shortly after the statistics to which pre-release access may be granted, that any statistics contained in that publication or material are correct or that the publication or material is otherwise properly informed by the statistics to which pre-release access may be granted;
• To enable a Minister of the Crown, the head of a government department, a member of the Welsh Assembly Government or a Northern Ireland Minister to make public comments in connection with the publication of the statistics based on a correct understanding of them;
• To enable a public body whose functions are described by or relevant to the statistics (or a public body representative of that body) to comment publicly on them based on a correct understanding of them;
• To give any other person access, unless in the opinion of the person responsible allowing that access would be to the detriment of public trust in the integrity of official statistics.

There are some other differences between Scotland and the UK relating to the publication of statistics. The ONS is an independent producer of official statistics and is responsible for collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population and society at national level and for England and Wales. In Scotland, the Scottish Government collects and publishes official statistics and statistics production sits as part of the Scottish Government, under the oversight of the Office of the Chief Statistician. The Scottish Government does not publish a list of those persons given pre-release access, whereas the UK^[7], Wales^[8] and Northern Ireland^[9] government websites publish the title of statistical reports to which pre-release access arrangements apply and a list of all those persons (job titles and organisations) to whom pre-release is granted.

There are several publications and codes of practice which are relevant to this review. At an international level, equal access to official statistics by users is generally seen as important for impartiality and independence, broadly recognized as best practice for adhering to the UN Fundamental Principles and the EU Code of Practice. Within the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, introduced in 1994 and reindorsed in 2013^[10] and 2014^[11] is the following compliance criteria under the principle of “Relevance, impartiality and equal access”:

“All users should have equal and simultaneous access to statistical releases. Privileged pre-release access to any user is not recommended and, if any, should be limited, controlled and publicised.”

The European Statistics Code of Practice (ESCOP)^[12] is based on 16 principles is the cornerstone of the common quality framework of the European Statistical System. Its last revision in 2017 includes aspects related to the access to statistical releases and accessibility, on an equitable basis, by all users. In relation to the principle on professional independence (Principle 1), it states that the sole responsibility for deciding on statistical methods, standards and procedures, and on the content and timing of statistical releases is with the heads of National Statistics Offices (NSOs).^[a]

The ESCOP principle on impartiality and objectivity (Principle 6) also states that pre-release access is permissible, but only with a well justified reason and it must be clearly publicized:

“Statistical authorities independently decide on the time and content of statistical releases, while taking into account the goal of providing complete and timely statistical information. All users have equal access to statistical releases at the same time. Any privileged pre-release access to any outside user is limited, well-justified, controlled and publicised. In case of breach, pre-release arrangements are reviewed so as to ensure impartiality.”

The UKSA Code of Practice for Statistics published in January 2009^[13] states under principle 2 on ‘impartiality and objectivity (on page 6) to:

“Make official statistics equally available to all, subject to statutory provisions for pre-release access.”

As well as stating (under Protocol 2 on page 14):

“Statistical reports should be released into the public domain in an orderly manner that promotes public confidence and gives equal access to all, subject to relevant legislation…Subject to compliance with the rules and principles on pre-release access set out in legislation, limit access before public release to those people essential for production and publication, and for quality assurance and operational purposes. Publish records of those who have access prior to release.”

Independent reviews have been conducted into pre-release access to statistics in Europe, including one by Alleva and Gandolfo (2020) highlighting the difference between granting pre-release access to the government and to the media.^[14] This argues that there should not be any pre-release access granted to government officials as this is a breach of the principle of equal access. However, it notes that there is a greater case for media access with NSOs also being responsible for communicating statistics they produce in a way that is accessible to the public. The review proposes two approaches for embargoed pre-release access to the media based on case studies from the Italian National Statistical Institute (Istat): 1) 30 minutes prior to publication in a secure facility or 2) for more complex data-rich publications to be delivered to newsrooms 24 hours prior to the publication. It is acknowledged that to facilitate this internationally would require NSOs to be upskilled to prepare for the communication of statistics with support from the national, European and global Statistical Systems, academics and international organisations dealing with statistics.