Explanatory note

This Order provides for the rules and principles relating to the granting of pre-release access to official statistics that are wholly Northern Ireland devolved statistics. Official statistics are defined in section 6 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (the Act).

The rules and principles are set out in the Schedule and describe the persons who may receive pre-release access to official statistics, the circumstances in which access may be given, and the obligations of the persons giving and receiving such access.

A decision whether to grant pre-release access is taken by the person responsible. Pre-release access is defined in section 11(8) of the Act. The person responsible is defined in section 67 of the Act.

Part 1 sets out the rules and principles which are generally applicable to the granting of pre-release access to official statistics. Pre-release access to official statistics can be given for a maximum of 24 hours unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Part 2 makes special provision in relation to international obligations and third party publications.

A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.