The Government Statistical Service - UK Statistics Authority

Techniques are also being developed
for improving the measurement of
internal migration of students
Objectivity and Analytical
Underpinning
Scottish Government ministers have
agreed that, although Scotland Performs
is a ministerial publication, decisions
on all analytical issues concerning the
website should be made by a high level
analytical group, which consists of the
Chief Professional Officers in the Scottish
Government. This group is currently
chaired by the Chief Statistician in
Scotland.
To support analytical groups, statisticians
in the Scottish Government are involved
in the updating and maintenance of the
Scotland Performs website, to ensure it
maintains objectivity and rigour.
Links to local outcomes
The National Performance Framework
also has a local dimension, with each of
the local authorities in Scotland compiling
a Single Outcome Agreement (SOA).
The SOAs outline each local authority’s
desired local outcomes, and how by
delivering these they will contribute to
the national outcomes.
The Statistics group, in partnership with
other analysts in the Scottish Government,
has worked over the past year to provide
support to local authorities in the
production of their SOAs.
Accessibility
Each indicator page on Scotland Performs
links to a technical note which explains
where the data come from, definitions,
what the baseline figure is, background
methodology and where further
information and publications can be
found.
To further improve access to the
underlying data, Scottish Neighbourhood
Statistics 6 includes special reports
for the national indicators at their
available geographies, as well many of
the indicators used commonly across
SOAs. This allows the national and local
indicators to be considered in the context
of other information about the data.
Notes – Chapter 4
1 House of Commons Treasury Select
Committee, Counting the Population,
Eleventh Report of Session 2007/08,
May 2008.
2 Code of Practice for Official Statistics,
UK Statistics Authority, January 2009.
3 www.scotland.gov.uk/
Publications/2007/11/12115041/0
4 www.scotland.gov.uk/
Publications/2007/11/13092240/9
5 www.scotlandperforms.com
6 www.sns.gov.uk
Chapter 4 | 69