Changing the International Territorial Level geography for Scotland: consultation

Introduction

The International Territorial Levels (ITLs) are geographic boundaries used in the production of statistics in the United Kingdom. They were created by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to produce regional statistics within the UK, and to allow international comparisons.

The ITL geographies are general purpose geographies, meaning they are used across a wide range of topic areas. They aim to balance current administrative boundaries with sensible community geographies so that statisticians can provide evidence that informs public policy and serves the public good.

The Office for National Statistics are currently reviewing existing ITL boundaries for the UK, and the Scottish Government have developed proposals for revised ITL boundaries in Scotland. The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on these proposed changes. These views will help inform our final recommendation to ONS.

The proposals are driven by two main considerations. Firstly, we propose to align ITL boundaries to local authority boundaries in Scotland, so that each region is either a local authority or a group of local authorities. This will make it easier to produce statistics using ITL boundaries.

Secondly, we propose to alter ITL regions so that populations are more balanced. This will ensure that comparisons made between ITL regions are more meaningful. These changes are described in more detail in this document.

Changes to ITL boundaries may have an impact on existing users who use statistics based on current boundaries. To ensure that the proposed changes do not negatively impact on existing users it will be important that statistics producers, including Scottish Government and the Office for National Statistics, continue to publish statistics using alternative geographies where there is a clear user need.

As a result, this consultation also seeks to understand how existing statistics are used, and what measures statistics producers can take to ensure that user needs continue to be met.

Once this consultation has concluded and new ITL boundaries are agreed with the Office for National Statistics, the revised geography will be implemented from 1 January 2025.

Responses to this consultation are invited by 1 October 2024. Please respond to this consultation using the Scottish Government’s consultation hub. More information on how to contribute to this consultation is included at the end of this document.