Census programme assurance

It is important that we show our work to design, test and deliver the 2022 census meets a high standard.

Programme assurance gives us, our suppliers and our delivery partners confidence that we're on track to deliver a successful census.

We have 3 levels of assurance within the census programme. We use these to measure how well we are progressing.

First level - weekly reporting

The first level focusses on the day-to-day activity within the census programme.

We use weekly project reports to check what we've done and what's coming up next. This also helps us identify problems quickly and take action to resolve them.

Second level - internal review

The second level involves regular reviews of our progress. These 'stage gates' help us decide if the programme is ready to move from one stage to the next.

For example, we'll check if we have completed all the work needed to build a system before we decide if we are ready to test it. 

Here we also review how well the programme is being managed and controlled so we can identify areas for improvement.

Third level - external review

The third level involves reviews by experts from outside the census programme.

These review teams will tell us what we're doing well, and where we can make improvements.

The reviews cover a range of topics. They focus on ensuring that:

• the census is open and accessible to everyone
• the quality of our work meets the expected standards
• we have good controls in place to manage and deliver the programme on time

Together, the reviews set out our Integrated Assurance Approvals Plan.

We work closely with the Scottish Government and Office for Statistics Regulation to plan these reviews and make improvements to the programme.

Risk management

It's important that we understand the risks involved in delivering the census. Understanding risks means we can reduce or remove them.

We use risk management to make sure we focus most of our effort on the biggest risks we face.