ScotStat Board Minutes: June 2026

Attendees and apologies

Board members

• John Curtice (JC)
• Ana Basiri (AB)
• Ken Roy (KR)
• João Sousa (JS)
• Lucien Staddon Foster (LSF)

 

Officials/Speaker/Observers

• Ally McAlpine (AM), Chief Statistician
• Paul Matthews (PM), Head of Profession, Office of the Chief Statistician
• Lee Bunce (LB), Office of the Chief Statistician, Secretariat
• Amy Wilson (AW), Deputy Director Health Workforce Planning and Delivery, Secretariat
• Rajiv Naik (RN), Office of the Chief Statistician, Secretariat
• Lee Begbie (LB2), Office of the Chief Statistician, Secretariat
• Catherine Bromley (CB), Public Health Scotland
• Delphine Robineau (DR), National Records of Scotland
• Esta Clark (EC), National Records of Scotland
• Christopher McCrum (CM), National Records of Scotland
• Ian O’Sullivan (IO), Office for National Statistics
• Claudia Jenkins (CJ), Office for National Statistics
• Beth Cocker (BC), Scottish Government
• Molly Halligan (MH), Scottish Government
• Richard Morrison (RM), Scottish Government
• Alan Sloan (AS), Scottish Government
• Gary Sutton (GS), Scottish Government
   

Apologies

• Roeland Beerten (RB)
• Susan McVie (SM)

Items and actions

Actions from last meeting

The Chair noted that actions from the previous meeting will be covered later in the agenda.

 

Update from the Chief Statistician

AM introduced DR to the Board, and she discussed the prospects and challenges of her new role as Director for Statistics, Data Services and Census Delivery at NRS.

AM also updated the attendees about how the new minister has agreed on the suggestion to expand the ScotStat Board with immediate focus on missing expertise areas. LB updated the attendees about the Board review and the potential advertisement for recruiting more Board members.

AM stated that the recent Scottish election was a ‘celebration of democracy’ and proposed that the Board members may consider participating in a session in the very early stages of planning to present ‘Statistical Services in Scotland’ to the new MSPs.

AM mentioned how the focus on Public Sector Reform pursued by the current administration may impact provision of statistical services in the future and how a rationalisation exercise may be required to agree on continuing certain mission critical services. A ‘pause, stop and refocus’ approach will be implemented to ascertain the criticality of the current services portfolio. More cooperation with other administrations to build coherent and harmonised standards will help in achieving the necessary cost savings.

The Board also noted the effective management of statistics during the election period and praised efforts of statisticians to challenge misuse and communicate clearly in policy contexts.

 

Sex and Gender

On the Sex and Gender data collection guidance, AM mentioned that the new Minister has been apprised of the current options considered by OCS. AM also mentioned about the harmonisation guidance on sex which is imminently expected from Government Statistical Service (GSS) and how it will prove useful in deciding the next steps for SG. 

 

Census topic consultation

The NRS team presented the outcomes of the Census 2031 topic consultation and discussed the key priorities of their future work. They stated the focus on new data needs in varied possibilities like housing adaptations for care needs, migration and complex family arrangements. There remains a potential consideration of utilising the available administrative data in filling gaps from collected census information. They discussed the need to achieve UK harmonisation and comparability while addressing Scotland-specific needs. They also discussed incorporating lessons from previous Census to improve question design and data quality.

The Board discussed the lower level of private sector participation and the need to address this. UK harmonisation was also discussed, including the challenges of working towards harmonisation while working to different timescales.

There was a question on future engagement between the census programme and the ScotStat Board.

 

ONS Social Survey Strategy

The ONS team outlined the development of a long-term strategy on social surveys focussing on sustainability and post-census vision. They discussed the development of survey mandation, including evidence on feasibility, acceptability and potential impacts. They mentioned their priority areas of improvement, aimed at building operational resilience, by modernising survey methods and systems. They reiterated the need for close engagement with devolved administrations to reflect and represent their local perspectives in UK-wide developments.

The Board members referred to the possible challenges for survey design, data quality and use of modern methods to gain the necessary public trust and acceptability for mandation. A system-wide approach, of considering the full survey landscape rather than individual surveys in isolation, was suggested.

 

Update on Equality Data Improvement Programme (EDIP)

MH provided an update on the Equality Evidence Strategy 2023-2025 Evaluation, as part of the EDIP, noting that though significant progress has been made on data improvement, the evidence of impact on policymaking remains limited. She stressed the delivery and resourcing challenges faced by action holders, and emphasised the need for an improved focussed and agile approach in the next Equality Evidence Strategy (due to be published in 2027).

The Board members discussed the need to strengthen how impact is measured, including clearer success criteria and robust monitoring from the outset. They asserted the need for continual internal and external engagements to inform future strategy development and relevance.

 

Role of Consultation in production of Education Statistics

Statisticians from the Education Analytical Services provided an overview on how their key priorities are shaped and the consultation practices that they follow. They expressed the need for better engagement with wider users and not just core stakeholders. They explained the use of consultation to support transparency, trust, and appropriate use of statistics, particularly where outputs may be sensitive or at risk of misinterpretation.

The Board members acknowledged the challenges faced by the teams and reflected on the need for better consultation design and early engagement with stakeholders and users alike. They stressed the need for clear shaping of priorities and coverage, not just refining pre-developed proposals. Maintaining focus on data quality and improvement of administrative data systems through closer collaboration with data providers, they asserted, will result in better outcomes.

 

Actions

• The Board will review its workplan once the recruitment of new Board members is complete.
• AM will update on PRA and Sex and Gender Data Collection Guidance developments at the next Board meeting.
• National Records of Scotland to continue to keep the Board updated on preparations for the next Census.