The statistics of devolution

This chapter reviews the forms of statistical information available across devolved levels of governance in the UK. The focus is not only on statistics from the devolved nations – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – but also on statistics available for other levels where these is significant roles for devolved governance including city regions. Particular attention is paid to the regional / devolved nation Government Expenditure and Revenue Statistics (GERS) given both the salience of these in political argument and their significance in understanding the imbalance in the UK’s space economy. Data for sub-national geographies in England includes not only standard regions and local authorities but other forms including combinations of authorities and Local Economic Partnerships. Data about these levels is very useful for exploring variation within the nation which contains more than 80% of the UK's population.