Code History Database: UK Statistical Geography Codes and Relationships (2009-2019)

The Code History Database (CHD) from the Government Digital Service contains GSS nine-character codes for UK statistical geographies from 1 January 2009. The dataset, updated with a bug fix on 29 July 2019, provides details of codes, relationships, hierarchies, and archived data. It is intended for use with the Register of Geographic Codes (RGC).

Use Cases

• Mapping historical changes to UK geographic codes based on the 'Changes.csv' file mentioned.
• Identifying equivalent or superseded geographic areas based on the 'Equivalents.csv' file mentioned.
• Analyzing hierarchical relationships between UK statistical geographies based on the described functionality.
• Integrating historical geographic identifiers with current registers for longitudinal studies.

Strengths

• Provides a temporal record of geographic codes from 1 January 2009.
• Includes a documented bug fix applied on 29 July 2019, indicating maintenance.
• Designed for interoperability with the Register of Geographic Codes (RGC).

Limitations

• Last updated 2019-07-29 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Likely compiled from official UK statistical geography registers.

Time Range

From 1 January 2009 to June 2019.

Freshness

Snapshot as of June 2019, with a bug fix applied in July 2019.

Geography

United Kingdom