Chief Statistician
The Chief Statistician, Rob Wishart, has overall responsibility for the implementation and coordination of professional statistical standards across Scotland. These high professional standards that statistical staff follow ensure the statistics are produced free from any political interference.
In his role as Chief Statistician, he is responsible for the following:
In fulfilling his role as Chief Statistician, Rob works in consultation with the General Registrar for Scotland and the Director of the Information Services Divisions of NHS National Services Scotland who are responsible for the statistical work of their organisations.
The Chief Statistician also functions as the statistics Head of Profession for Scottish Government directorates; in this role he has overall responsibility for the following:
- The format, content and timing of Scottish Government official statistics publications
- The quality and integrity of official statistics produced by the Scottish Government
- Ensuring and developing the professional competence of Scottish Government statistical staff
In fulfilling his role as Head of Profession, the Chief Statistician works closely with Senior Statisticians who work in the Analytical Services Divisions of Scottish Government Directorates
Rob has been Chief Statistician in the Scottish Government since May 1999.
He previously worked in local government, in Strathclyde Regional Council throughout its existence and then with Glasgow City Council, on a wide variety of research and information issues with an emphasis on demographic change, housing and deprivation, and on social policy development and implementation.