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The above objectives are translated into a set of standards most of which are set out in codes of practice.
34. The Scottish Government will ensure that its statistics meet international standards and in particular the following
(a) United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/dnss/fundprinciples.aspx
(b) The European Statistics Code of Practice
http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_DS_QUALITY/TAB47141301/VERSIONE_INGLESE_WEB.PDF
35. These requirements are embodied in the National Statistics Code of Practice adopted across the UK, soon to be replaced by a UK Code of Practice for Statistics to be produced by the UK Statistics Authority.
36. National Statistics are currently those that have been so designated by Ministers with the agreement of the UK National Statistician. In future the Authority will decide whether statistics can be designated as National Statistics, though it will only consider statistics that have been proposed for National Statistics status by Scottish Ministers.
37. The key feature of National Statistics is that their production must comply with the Code of Practice - and hence that they meet required standards of integrity and quality. In future they will require to be assessed for compliance by the Authority.
38. The National Statistics Code will also be used for all other Official Statistics in the Scottish Government. However some Official Statistics will not be branded as National Statistics because
(a) quality assurance of the series may be less rigorous albeit still appropriate to the purpose of the statistics.
(b) the quality of the statistics may be undergoing an improvement programme.
(c) there may be some elements of release practices that cannot meet National Statistics s requirements.
39. The Scottish Government's current compliance with the National Statistics Code is set out in its Compliance Statement 8.
40. The National Statistics Code, and indeed international standards, are considered to be the minimum necessary to achieve the Scottish Government's objectives for statistics. Following the review of the National Statistics Code the Scottish Government may introduce additional standards, particularly to ensure the relevance of statistics, the effective co-ordination of statistics with research and analysis and to ensure that there is public confidence that the statistics needed are produced. Arrangements for pre-release access to statistics in their final form before publication are, as required by the Statistics & Registration Service Act 2007, set out in a Parliamentary Order.
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