National Records of Scotland

Preserving the past, Recording the present, Informing the future

Our Products

Our Products

Non-National Records of Scotland (NRS) Geographies

NRS Geography receives a large number of enquiries relating to our work and products, and also on topics or data we don’t deal with.

To make things easier for users we have provided the list below to help point you in the right direction.

Please Note:
These are all external links and will take you outwith the NRS website.
Google Chrome users, to view the Rich Site Summary (RSS) Feeds below you will need to add the RSS Feed Reader to your browser.

Digital Boundaries we don’t hold

Ordnance Survey Website

Provides a wide range of digital products that are available to view online or download for your own use via there OpenData products.

The Boundary-Line product provides a complete set of local government administrative boundaries and electoral boundaries which is ideal for statistical analysis. This data is updated twice a year, May and October.

Scottish Government Website

The Scottish Government have made various digital boundaries available to download via the following links:

Statistical Units Feed (Data Zones, Intermediate Zones, Local Administrative Units (LAU), and Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS)).

Human Health and Safety Feed (Community Health Partnerships and Health Board areas).

Protected Sites Feed (National Parks, National Scenic Areas and Environmentally Sensitive Areas).

You can also request via the ‘Spatial Data Management Team’ [email protected] any other non-NRS geography, such as Community Health Partnerships Sub Sectors, Enterprise Regions, Regeneration Outcome Agreements, Strategic Development Planning Areas, and Travel to Work areas.

Community Right to Buy
The Community Right to Buy allows communities with a population of less than 10,000 in Scotland to apply to register an interest in land and the opportunity to buy that land when it comes up for sale.

Urban Rural Classification
The Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification provides a standard definition of rural areas in Scotland. This classification is updated every two years to incorporate the most recent Small Area Population Estimates (SAPE) produced by National Records of Scotland (NRS) and Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF).

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
The Scottish Government Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation identifies small area concentrations of multiple deprivation across all of Scotland in a consistent way. It allows effective targeting of policies and funding where the aim is to wholly or partly tackle or take account of area concentrations of multiple deprivation.

Community Councils in Scotland 
All enquiries in relation to support, advice, and training for Community Councils should be directed to the relevant local authority or the Scottish Government.

Registers of Scotland Website

Ownership of Land
Information regarding ownership of land can be obtained from Registers of Scotland.

Boundary Changes

Boundary change details are published in Statutory Instruments (SIs). Many of these are available online at the Legislation Service website (which replaced the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) and Statute Law Database (SLD) websites), your local library and council should also be able to provide information.

Boundary changes currently in review

  • Local Authorities and Electoral Wards
    The Local Government Boundary Commission Scotland is responsible for carrying out reviews of the boundaries of local authorities and electoral wards. Further information is available on the Local Government Boundary Commission Scotland website.
  • Scottish Parliamentary Regions and Constituencies
    The Boundary Commission for Scotland is responsible for reviews of constituencies in Scotland for the UK Parliament; and constituencies and regions for the Scottish Parliament. More detailed information can be found on the Boundary Commission for Scotland website.

Enquiries
Please contact our Geography Customer Services if you need any further information.
E-mail: [email protected]

A list of common definitions and acronyms used in these pages is available on our Glossary page.