Scottish Government Statistical Units OGC View Service

Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics - Level 2 (Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics - Level 2)

The Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics, abbreviated as NUTS (from the French 'Nomenclature des Unités territoriales statistiques') is a geographical classification that subdivides territories of the European Union (EU) into regions at three different levels (NUTS 1, 2 and 3, respectively, moving from larger to smaller territorial units). At the local scale, two levels of Local Administrative Units (LAU) are also defined: LAU 1 and LAU 2 (formerly referred to as NUTS 4 and NUTS 5, respectively). NUTS areas aim to provide a single and coherent territorial breakdown for the collection, development, and harmonisation of EU regional statistics. Further, eligibility for aid from European Structural Funds (for those regions whose development is lagging behind) is assessed at NUTS 2 level. The NUTS classification was originally developed by Eurostat in the early 1970's, however, only gained legal status with Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 which entered into force in July 2003. A first regular amendment ((EC) No 105/2007) replaced the 2003 version of NUTS with the 2006 version, enacted on 1 January 2008. The current classification is valid until December 31, 2011. For Scottish NUTS areas, the NUTS 1 region covers the whole of Scotland, whereas NUTS 2 subdivides Scotland into 4 regions, and NUTS 3 to 23 regions. Above NUTS 1 is the 'national' level of the EU Member State - the United Kingdom. For Local Administrative Units (LAU) there are currently 41 units at LAU level 1 and 1,222 at level 2. Codes for NUTS regions are prefixed by the characters 'UKM', where 'UK' identifies the member state, the United Kingdom, and 'M' indicates Scotland.

Local Administrative Units - Level 1 (Local Administrative Units - Level 1)

Local Administrative Units (LAU) - Level 1 are part of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) hierarchical classification of UK areas created by the European Office Statistics (Eurostat) in order to produce regional statistics which are comparable across the European Union. There are 3 NUTS levels moving from larger to smaller areas, NUTS 1 is Scotland, NUTS 2 divides Scotland into 4 areas and NUTS 3 divides Scotland into 23 areas. NUTS areas are stable and are only amended periodically. NUTS 4 and NUTS 5 have been superseded by Local Administrative Units (LAU), which were introduced in July 2003 as there was a requirement for statistics at local level which were compatible with NUTS. LAUs are amended to reflect administrative boundary changes. LAU boundaries were created by National Records of Scotland (NRS) from existing geographies. LAU Level 1 (formerly NUTS level 4) are Council Areas, Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) or a combination of both. Scotland is covered by 41 LAU1 areas.

Intermediate Zone Centroids 2001 (Intermediate Zone Centroids 2001)

Intermediate zone centroids are point features that represent the population weighted centre of intermediate zones - the geography used for the dissemination of results from Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) that unsuitable for release at data zone level. Centroids were calculated from a population weighted sum of data zone centroids that fall within an intermediate zone. Eastings and northings for each data zone were multiplied by their population, summed based upon the intermediate zone in which they fell, and then divided by the total population of the intermediate zone. These centroids are in turn used to link intermediate zones to other (higher) geographies via a spatial join, producing a 'best-fit' match between intermediate zones and other SNS geographies. There are 1,235 intermediate zones across Scotland, and each have been assigned an individual code that follows the Scottish Government's standard naming and coding convention. The code prefix is S02, which has been assigned to designate intermediate zones. In most cases, intermediate zones were also been assigned a name by the relevant Community Planning Partnership. From time to time Local Authorities may choose to update these names, and this dataset will be updated to reflect these changes.

Intermediate Zone Boundaries 2001 (Intermediate Zone Boundaries 2001)

Intermediate zones are a statistical geography that sit between data zones and local authorities, created for use with the Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS) programme. Intermediate zones are used for the dissemination of statistics that are not suitable for release at the data zone level because of the sensitive nature of the statistics, or for reasons of reliability. Intermediate Zones were designed to meet constraints on population thresholds (2,500 - 6,000 household residents), to nest within local authorities (as they were in 2001), and to be built up from data zones. The aim was also to build intermediate zones by grouping together data zones with similar social characteristics, to have fairly compact shape and to take into account physical boundaries. Intermediate zones are a stable geography and can be used to analyse change over time. There are 1,235 intermediate zones across Scotland, and each have been assigned an individual code that follows the Scottish Government's standard naming and coding convention. The code prefix is S02, which has been assigned to designate intermediate zones. In most cases, intermediate zones were also been assigned a name by the relevant Community Planning Partnership. From time to time Local Authorities may choose to update these names, and this dataset will be updated to reflect these changes.

Data Zone Centroids 2001 (Data Zone Centroids 2001)

Data zone centroids are point features that represent the population weighted centre of data zones - the core geography used for the dissemination of results from Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS). Centroids were calculated from a population weighted sum of Census Output Area centroids that fall within a data zone. Eastings and northings for each Output Area were multiplied by their population, summed based upon the data zone in which they fell, and then divided by the total population of the data zone. These centroids are in turn used to link data zones to other (higher) geographies via a spatial join, producing a 'best-fit' match between data zones and other SNS geographies. This is Version 2 of the dataset, as the original version was shown to produce bias to the north and east. There are 6,505 data zones across Scotland, and each have been assigned an individual code that follows the Scottish Government's standard naming and coding convention. The code prefix is S01, which has been assigned to designate data zones. In some cases, data zones have also been assigned a name. To date, Local Authorities that have named their data zones include Eilean Siar (Western Isles), Falkirk, Fife, Highland, Moray, Shetland, South Lanarkshire, Stirling and West Lothian.

Data Zone Boundaries 2001 (Data Zone Boundaries 2001)

Data zones are the core geography for dissemination of results from Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics (SNS). The data zone geography covers the whole of Scotland and nests within local authority boundaries. Data zones are groups of Census output areas which have populations of between 500 and 1,000 household residents, and some effort has been made to respect physical boundaries. In addition, they have compact shape and contain households with similar social characteristics. Data zones are a stable geography and can be used to analyse change over time. There are 6,505 data zones across Scotland, and each have been assigned an individual code that follows the Scottish Government's standard naming and coding convention. The code prefix is S01, which has been assigned to designate data zones. In some cases, data zones have also been assigned a name. To date, Local Authorities that have named their data zones include Eilean Siar (Western Isles), Falkirk, Fife, Highland, Moray, Shetland, South Lanarkshire, Stirling and West Lothian.