What is our Aim and Vision?
The fundamental aim of GROS is to work with Scottish Ministers to improve the well-being of Scotland and its people by collecting, processing, safeguarding, and making available information about Scotland's people in a useful, responsible, and efficient way.
What kind of organisation is GROS?
GROS is a Government Department, established by Act of Parliament in 1854. It is associated with, but not part of, the Scottish Executive, and the Registrar General and his staff are part of the Scottish Administration under the Scotland Act 1998. All the functions of the Registrar General in relation to registration, statistics and the Census are devolved. The Scottish Parliament has legislative responsibility for these functions and the Registrar General is responsible to Scottish Ministers for them. Financial and human resource support to GROS is provided by the Scottish Executive. The Registrar General and the staff of GROS are in a common pool with staff from the Scottish Executive and therefore are part of the Home Civil Service. GROS’s statistical operations form part of the Government Statistical Service, and its main statistical products are prepared in accordance with National Statistics procedures.
The Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform answers in the Scottish Parliament on matters relating to GROS, advised by the Registrar General. The First Minister is responsible under statute for appointing the Registrar General. The Registrar General reports on various statistical matters (births, deaths – including information on cause of death – marriages, civil partnerships, adoptions, divorces and household and population estimates) to Scottish Ministers during the year, and the Registrar General’s Annual Report (called the Registrar General’s Annual Review of Demographic Trends) is laid before the Scottish Parliament each summer. This is supplemented by additional publications, all of which are accessible on the GROS website (www.gro-scotland.gov.uk). The Registrar General is also responsible under statute for laying Census reports before the Scottish Parliament and again these are supplemented by detailed statistics that are available on a website (www.scrol.gov.uk) that allows customers to conduct their own analyses. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration includes GROS within his jurisdiction, the Registrar General being the Principal Officer of the Department for this purpose. The Registrar General encourages Members of the Scottish Parliament to write directly to him on matters for which he is responsible.
Scottish Ministers, with the approval of the Scottish Parliament, allocates resources to GROS, but are not involved in its day-to-day management.
What are the main functions of GROS?
GROS’s functions are:
The following principles underpin how GROS delivers its services:-
How is GROS organised?
GROS is divided into three main business areas (Divisions). These are:-
What Governance Arrangements are in place?
The main management board for GROS is called the Departmental Strategy and Planning Group (DSPG) and meets at least four times per year. For 2005-06 DSPG had the following membership:-
Registrar General |
- Duncan Macniven (Chair) |
Deputy Registrar General |
- Paul Parr |
Head of Statistics Division |
- Peter Scrimgeour |
Head of Corporate Services Division |
- Eddie Turnbull |
Scottish Executive Human Resources Group representative |
- Gary Mack |
Scottish Executive Finance Group representative |
- Sandra Stewart |
Secretary |
- Craig Stewart |
A board structure has been established under the DSPG to ensure the effective governance and operations of the Department.
Board Structure
Each Division has its own Programme Board that meets roughly every two months and monitors key performance measures and progress against plans. We have an Audit Committee that meets at least three times each year. An Information Systems Executive Board looks after the Department’s IS Strategy and ensures that appropriate IT services are in place to support the business of GROS, which by its nature is very heavily dependent on IT. Finally, each time GROS embarks on a major initiative (eg the 2011 Census) a Project or Programme Board is established to manage the process.
How does GROS set objectives and monitor progress?
The Management and Business Plan (GROSPlan - 2005-06) is the key document used in our Department for setting objectives and monitoring progress throughout the year. GROSPlan forms the basis for all primary and subordinate planning and objective setting, and is available to all staff on our Intranet. Our business planning and review is based on:-
GROS uses a four tier objective setting approach (see diagram below). Firstly, Strategic and Corporate Objectives are set for a three to four year timeframe and are fully reviewed annually. These objectives are directly linked to the budget allocation that GROS receives from the Scottish Parliament (through the Budget Bill). The other tiers of objectives normally have a one year timeframe. The second tier of objectives are called Key Business Objectives and these are the primary ones used within the Department to achieve improvements in our business. It is these objectives that form the basis of this review of performance. Operational Objectives are set for teams and sections within the Department and are normally associated with a Key Business Objective. Finally, individual members of staff have objectives for the year which relate to the tiers above. This enables individual members of staff to shape the higher objectives and gives them clarity about their contribution to the business of GROS.
Objective Setting
