How to read this evidence
Dates and area boundaries matter. A council-area total is not automatically a city total. Missing observations stay missing; they are never treated as zero.
A city identity and its wider local authority are different geographies. Shared-authority cities reuse the same authority evidence and must display its full scope.
Missing/suppressed/failed observations remain null with a reason; they are never replaced by another city or zero.
Survey, census, administrative records and population estimates retain distinct evidence types.
Scottish crime counting rules and annual periods differ from Police UK street-level mapped crime. No common UK ranking is produced.
Census periods differ between nations: England/Wales and Northern Ireland 2021, Scotland 2022.
Source checking and automated validation are not independent analytical review or AQuA certification.
How the neighbourhood and trend findings are calculated
Interpretations are derived from the same official figures supplied in this package; no alternative figures are typed into the page.
Ward contrasts require matching source, measure, period, units and boundary vintage. Ranges describe only wards with available comparable figures; no mean of ward percentages is calculated.
Differences between percentages are percentage points. Neighbourhood comparisons are descriptive, not causal claims, personal risk scores or proof of service performance.
Recent changes require an observation from exactly one year earlier. Long-run comparisons retain their actual endpoints and source definition; cash housing values are not adjusted for inflation.
Proposed responses and delivery questions are analysis, not a claim that a council has approved funding, adopted a policy or completed work.
How the nearest cities are selected
The three nearest other official UK cities, measured in a straight line between the official representative place points, not by road or ferry distance. Cities across national borders are included. The same council area is not counted twice. These are geographical neighbours, not a ranking of similar economies or services. Each figure is compared only when its period, definition, unit and source are compatible. The national reference is the origin city's own nation, not an average of the selected cities.
The comparison uses the council areas named beside each figure. Distances are between official city location points, not road distances. Missing or incompatible figures stay visible with an explanation.
See the local and national comparisons →This work follows principles from the AQuA Book: transparent sources, proportionate checks, uncertainty and reproducible calculations. Automated and agent checks are not independent analytical assurance or certification.
Interpretations and proposals are labelled separately from official commitments. Source-change monitoring produces review candidates; it does not automatically approve publication.
Official statistical sources
Census 2022 unrounded usual resident population by output area
National Records of Scotland · Open Government Licence v3.0
Complete unrounded output-area population counts summed using the official NRS OA2022-to-council/ward lookup. Census date 20 March 2022.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 678,338 bytes
f7af756710c56f335d9332c08f95a68a5775aec4f25f17b21ab979257ed40148 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 2,922,015 bytes
0e4096a321cba2318dc5d2e35c197bf815ac333aebdf4cb0ddce82112b57a261
UV101b — Usual resident population by sex by age (6)
National Records of Scotland · Open Government Licence v3.0
UK Facts calculation: output-area counts summed using the official NRS 2022 geography index only when every required cell is numeric. The source dash has no verified definition in the archive or its disclosure notes, so affected sums are withheld; it is not treated as zero. Dash-cell counts are retained in diagnostics. Cells are privacy-adjusted and may not add to independently published totals. Each percentage uses its own table denominator.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 73,578,316 bytes
6e1673bafa2d31a4342a767bb96872639697232706c0fa4cde5250da71afc58f - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 2,922,015 bytes
0e4096a321cba2318dc5d2e35c197bf815ac333aebdf4cb0ddce82112b57a261 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 5,913 bytes
3400b1c0c94874c84184d791a4eaecbd1066457cbe161da5bc26379dc2dd93c3 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 59,787 bytes
be907a0f95206b3c5bf7810718ebd9601bf4faeddda246eccea975e9c4ed188d
UV302 — General health
National Records of Scotland · Open Government Licence v3.0
UK Facts calculation: output-area counts summed using the official NRS 2022 geography index only when every required cell is numeric. The source dash has no verified definition in the archive or its disclosure notes, so affected sums are withheld; it is not treated as zero. Dash-cell counts are retained in diagnostics. Cells are privacy-adjusted and may not add to independently published totals. Each percentage uses its own table denominator.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 73,578,316 bytes
6e1673bafa2d31a4342a767bb96872639697232706c0fa4cde5250da71afc58f - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 2,922,015 bytes
0e4096a321cba2318dc5d2e35c197bf815ac333aebdf4cb0ddce82112b57a261 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 5,913 bytes
3400b1c0c94874c84184d791a4eaecbd1066457cbe161da5bc26379dc2dd93c3 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 59,787 bytes
be907a0f95206b3c5bf7810718ebd9601bf4faeddda246eccea975e9c4ed188d
UV404 — Household tenure - Households
National Records of Scotland · Open Government Licence v3.0
UK Facts calculation: output-area counts summed using the official NRS 2022 geography index only when every required cell is numeric. The source dash has no verified definition in the archive or its disclosure notes, so affected sums are withheld; it is not treated as zero. Dash-cell counts are retained in diagnostics. Cells are privacy-adjusted and may not add to independently published totals. Each percentage uses its own table denominator.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 73,578,316 bytes
6e1673bafa2d31a4342a767bb96872639697232706c0fa4cde5250da71afc58f - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 2,922,015 bytes
0e4096a321cba2318dc5d2e35c197bf815ac333aebdf4cb0ddce82112b57a261 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 5,913 bytes
3400b1c0c94874c84184d791a4eaecbd1066457cbe161da5bc26379dc2dd93c3 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 59,787 bytes
be907a0f95206b3c5bf7810718ebd9601bf4faeddda246eccea975e9c4ed188d
UV501 — Highest level of qualification
National Records of Scotland · Open Government Licence v3.0
UK Facts calculation: output-area counts summed using the official NRS 2022 geography index only when every required cell is numeric. The source dash has no verified definition in the archive or its disclosure notes, so affected sums are withheld; it is not treated as zero. Dash-cell counts are retained in diagnostics. Cells are privacy-adjusted and may not add to independently published totals. Each percentage uses its own table denominator. Scottish degree-or-higher excludes HNC/HND and is kept distinct from the wider Level 4+ measure used elsewhere.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 73,578,316 bytes
6e1673bafa2d31a4342a767bb96872639697232706c0fa4cde5250da71afc58f - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 2,922,015 bytes
0e4096a321cba2318dc5d2e35c197bf815ac333aebdf4cb0ddce82112b57a261 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 5,913 bytes
3400b1c0c94874c84184d791a4eaecbd1066457cbe161da5bc26379dc2dd93c3 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 59,787 bytes
be907a0f95206b3c5bf7810718ebd9601bf4faeddda246eccea975e9c4ed188d
Census 2022 output areas, council areas and electoral wards
National Records of Scotland · Open Government Licence v3.0
Official OA2022 to CA2019 and EW2022 lookup. Current ward codes must match exactly; no name-based reassignment.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 2,922,015 bytes
0e4096a321cba2318dc5d2e35c197bf815ac333aebdf4cb0ddce82112b57a261
House prices and private rents: Stirling
Office for National Statistics / HM Land Registry · Open Government Licence v3.0
Official local housing data feed. House prices are provisional, not seasonally adjusted; rents use the Price Index of Private Rents. Local short-term estimates are variable. Country references use only the explicitly country-coded ctry object, never the local place object.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 629,649 bytes
049f1817817c3d2f269de447360ae357aaaf666832b1b9189ce0d0574ac68685
House prices and private rents: City of Edinburgh
Office for National Statistics / HM Land Registry · Open Government Licence v3.0
Official local housing data feed. House prices are provisional, not seasonally adjusted; rents use the Price Index of Private Rents. Local short-term estimates are variable. Country references use only the explicitly country-coded ctry object, never the local place object.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 629,618 bytes
3057246c9126d7cac63feff987f012938773dce161375840215e6c4e7cb58936
House prices and private rents: Fife
Office for National Statistics / HM Land Registry · Open Government Licence v3.0
Official local housing data feed. House prices are provisional, not seasonally adjusted; rents use the Price Index of Private Rents. Local short-term estimates are variable. Country references use only the explicitly country-coded ctry object, never the local place object.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 627,129 bytes
0a2a7325f44aa4a34af33d402de5995b6522d2ef86db6ec74842c7012484b734
House prices and private rents: Perth and Kinross
Office for National Statistics / HM Land Registry · Open Government Licence v3.0
Official local housing data feed. House prices are provisional, not seasonally adjusted; rents use the Price Index of Private Rents. Local short-term estimates are variable. Country references use only the explicitly country-coded ctry object, never the local place object.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 633,290 bytes
02c9a408489fa36eb8e67a157b1239fd89dca32c7c5d7eb935a8ac0a0f9129cd
House prices and private rents: Scotland
Office for National Statistics / HM Land Registry · Open Government Licence v3.0
Official local housing data feed. House prices are provisional, not seasonally adjusted; rents use the Price Index of Private Rents. Local short-term estimates are variable. Country references use only the explicitly country-coded ctry object, never the local place object.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 629,671 bytes
360ac3169de29445ae72bafcc6196d6268f8451f4f35273dca100328a8c8f99d
May 2026 UK wards and local authorities
Office for National Statistics · Open Government Licence v3.0; contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026
Current ward membership checked independently against the official ward-to-authority lookup; generalised clipped boundaries.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 111,343 bytes
6bad734d6a4a73890bad615afa82c234713e63061560d1c60b251f75b4ec6408 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 113,042 bytes
2acb89c196b41ed8411fece1afa2cea2d4bcc299c2221e4d6a3fdfa13d094daa - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 30,994 bytes
39d9516cb669b93d85324b151fabb533f5154bcb306fc754e159bb785465bed3 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 4,173,213 bytes
b1029280ba709fec26f262d96dbd13cc77d58c712b26ead4bee39b7d1e0abc4e - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 6,844,428 bytes
da09f780c2de8f8dcdd62316918ff2485b524ce81445e43bee19eaae23691d16 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 1,697,491 bytes
4efe7c017106a4833f34f27f6f9bf96bc6d3f0e389c174a018b49ca838aa84e4
Recorded Crimes and Offences, council areas, 1996/97 onwards
Scottish Government / Police Scotland · Open Government Licence v3.0
Published Scottish annual recorded crimes, separately from offences. Different recording/counting rules from England and Wales; no UK crime ranking.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 11,911,296 bytes
4d030a937e411d619d0105233132fc563e4efca266eb7b530520cac70a8bb6f4
UK House Price Index full monthly series — 2026-07
HM Land Registry / Office for National Statistics / Registers of Scotland / Land and Property Services · Open Government Licence v3.0
Published UK House Price Index average price, all property types and all buyers, not seasonally adjusted. Entire series comes from the 2026-07 official full-file release, preserving its historical revisions and exact area codes. It is a mix-adjusted average, not the median price paid.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 35,012,747 bytes
654a541934ba7b393a741e23bc0c6fb668690f562feb8a7b4fff62d653fd6607
Annual mid-year population estimates by local authority
ONS, National Records of Scotland and NISRA via Nomis · Open Government Licence v3.0
All ages, both sexes, usual residents. Source series rebased to the 2021/2022 censuses; latest revisions replace older estimates.
Open source →Requests and evidence receipts
- Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 4,529 bytes
3be82414a340f240616b46e656ee9dbf229f91940042bf68e31169d324719557 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 784,364 bytes
2c5c59816f8c8823955d26f9c40aef6cebf3ad6f5085bb5a62364a0d0594f7e5 - Source response · retrieved 2026-10-17 · 36,066 bytes
b5b49a3cd824412808b377780d8c7df2c2aee3f489217a73f2b539c77ca426ed
