The Provision of The Scottish Household Survey and The Scottish Health Survey (2024)

Tender description

The Scottish Government has a requirement to place contracts with an external service provider(s) to deliver the next iteration of the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) and the next iteration of the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS). Lot 1: The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) The SHS was first commissioned in 1998, when devolution preparations had identified a need to improve information sources in Scotland. It has run every year since then, and provides critical information on the characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of the population (social survey), as well as the physical condition of dwellings (physical survey). It is used by the Scottish Government and external stakeholders to inform policy making, evaluation and spending decisions across a wide range of areas, including poverty, housing, transport, local government, public services, internet, sport, culture, natural environment, volunteering, social capital and justice. The survey underpins multiple published performance frameworks (including the National Performance Framework and the Local Government Benchmarking Framework), and enables the monitoring of progress against legislative targets (including fuel poverty and climate change). Lot 2: The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) The SHeS is a large-scale household survey providing information on the health and health-related behaviours of the Scottish population. The survey first ran in 1995 and was repeated in 1998 and 2003 before becoming continuous from 2008 onwards. The survey aims to allow the monitoring of trends over time and to provide results for Health Boards and local authorities and for sub-groups of the population - for example equality groups and by deprivation. The Survey is crucial to understanding changes in population health and health risk factors such as smoking, drug use, alcohol consumption, obesity diet and physical activity over time, to informing policy and demonstrating change. It allows the monitoring of inequalities and provides both national and local level evidence. Our on-going challenges around inequalities, levels of obesity, use of alcohol and drugs and mental health are areas where the evidence from the Scottish Health Survey has been key in helping to make the case for further investment and prioritisation.