Methodology
Useful local data needs context.
UK Places is a guide to source-led local records. We summarise a figure only when we can say what it measures, when it was reported and where to check it.
1. Start with a named source.
Every subject belongs to a specialist data project with its own methodology. UK Places links there rather than recreating its full work.
2. Keep unlike measures apart.
An election result, crime rate, payment file, support count, food hygiene share and school calendar answer different questions. We do not combine them into a score or use one to explain another.
3. Show the date and the limit.
We show the relevant period and explain the main boundary of a measure: recorded crime is not all crime, published payments are not a whole budget, and a food hygiene rating reflects a business's last inspection rather than conditions today. Scottish councils use a pass or improvement scheme with no 0 to 5 rating, so no share is shown for them. School holiday dates are the education authority's published calendar, which does not establish every school's dates: academies, local clusters and INSET days can differ.
4. Geography comes from official codes.
Each place is one of the 361 UK local authorities, keyed on its ONS GSS code. A constituency is linked to the local authorities that share its ground in the ONS Postcode Directory, counting an authority where at least ten live postcodes fall in both. Links to other sites use the page each source confirms for that code, never a guessed address.
When a place is added
A place profile is published only when the source coverage is clear enough to create a useful starting point. We do not use estimates in place of published figures, and we do not fill gaps with a generic national description.
Corrections and updates
Source projects update on their own schedules. UK Places records the source date beside each local figure and revises the profile when the source changes materially. A source link is always the best place to verify the live record.