{
  "area": "West Lothian",
  "councilCode": "S12000040",
  "healthBoard": "NHS Lothian",
  "intro": "A council-area deep-dive: West Lothian's published local indicators set against the Scottish picture. This is an exploratory profile, not a scored composite, council data is partial and mixes rates, counts and vintages.",
  "themes": [
    {
      "name": "Population health",
      "indicators": [
        {
          "label": "Drug-misuse deaths",
          "value": "16.5",
          "unit": "per 100,000 (5-yr)",
          "period": "2019–2023",
          "scotland": "23.6",
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": true,
          "sourceOrg": "NRS (via NHS Lothian DRD Report 2023)",
          "sourceUrl": "https://services.nhslothian.scot/publichealth/wp-content/uploads/sites/105/2025/01/NHS-Lothian-Drug-Related-Deaths-Report-2023_FINAL.pdf",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "Age-standardised 5-yr rate; West Lothian sits below the Scottish rate."
        },
        {
          "label": "Alcohol-specific deaths",
          "value": "41",
          "unit": "deaths",
          "period": "2024",
          "scotland": null,
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "NRS",
          "sourceUrl": "https://nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/alcohol-specific-deaths-2024",
          "confidence": "med",
          "note": "Count (NRS publishes no council per-100k rate in narrative); 43 in 2023. Scotland 20.9 per 100,000."
        },
        {
          "label": "Probable suicides",
          "value": "24",
          "unit": "deaths",
          "period": "2023",
          "scotland": null,
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "NRS",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/probable-suicides-2024/",
          "confidence": "low",
          "note": "Count; small-area and volatile (30 in 2021, 18 in 2022). Scotland 12.7 per 100,000 (2024)."
        },
        {
          "label": "Life expectancy at birth",
          "value": "77.1 M · 80.5 F",
          "unit": "years",
          "period": "2019–2021",
          "scotland": "≈76.5 M · 80.7 F",
          "direction": "lower_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "NRS Council Area Profile",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/council-area-profiles/west-lothian",
          "confidence": "med",
          "note": "3-year aggregate; the latest 2022–24 values weren't cleanly extractable from the NRS interactive profile."
        },
        {
          "label": "Population",
          "value": "186,440",
          "unit": "people",
          "period": "mid-2024",
          "scotland": null,
          "direction": "context",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "NRS",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/council-area-profiles/west-lothian",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "+1.2% on 2023, among Scotland's faster-growing councils (Scotland +0.7%)."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Living standards",
      "indicators": [
        {
          "label": "Fuel poverty",
          "value": "18",
          "unit": "% of households",
          "period": "2017–2019",
          "scotland": "24",
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": true,
          "sourceOrg": "Scottish Government (SHCS LA analysis)",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-house-condition-survey-local-authority-analysis-2017-2019/pages/6/",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "Among the 5 lowest LAs; LA-level data lags the national headline (Scotland 34% in 2023)."
        },
        {
          "label": "Most-deprived datazones",
          "value": "37",
          "unit": "datazones (SIMD 2020, worst 20%)",
          "period": "2020",
          "scotland": null,
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "Scottish Government (SIMD 2020)",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.gov.scot/collections/scottish-index-of-multiple-deprivation-2020/",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "Of ~239 WL datazones (~15.5%, below the 20% national share); the 15%-most-deprived count rose +6 since 2016."
        },
        {
          "label": "Median house price",
          "value": "£221,000",
          "unit": "(Mar 2026)",
          "period": "2026",
          "scotland": "£187,000",
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": false,
          "sourceOrg": "ONS UK HPI",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/housingpriceslocal/S12000040/",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "+2.7% year-on-year; above the Scottish average, an affordability pressure for buyers."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Work",
      "indicators": [
        {
          "label": "Employment rate (16–64)",
          "value": "74.4",
          "unit": "%",
          "period": "y/e Dec 2023",
          "scotland": "74.7",
          "direction": "lower_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "ONS Annual Population Survey",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/labourmarketlocal/S12000040/",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "Broadly level with Scotland."
        },
        {
          "label": "Claimant-count unemployment",
          "value": "2.7",
          "unit": "%",
          "period": "Apr 2025",
          "scotland": "3.1",
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": true,
          "sourceOrg": "West Lothian Council Poverty Profile 2025 (DWP claimant count)",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/media/66993/Poverty-Profile-2025/pdf/Poverty_Profile_2025.pdf",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "0.4pp below Scotland, 1.4pp below the UK."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Childhood & social floor",
      "indicators": [
        {
          "label": "Children in relative poverty (AHC)",
          "value": "13.8",
          "unit": "%",
          "period": "2024/25",
          "scotland": "14.8",
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": true,
          "sourceOrg": "DWP/HMRC Children in Low Income Families (relative, after housing costs)",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics-2022-to-2025",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "About 4,736 children, just below the Scottish rate on the DWP local measure."
        },
        {
          "label": "School leavers to positive destinations",
          "value": "95.6",
          "unit": "%",
          "period": "2024–25",
          "scotland": "95.7",
          "direction": "lower_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "Scottish Government",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-attainment-and-initial-leaver-destinations-no-8-2026-edition/",
          "confidence": "med",
          "note": "Level with the national average."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Housing",
      "indicators": [
        {
          "label": "Homelessness applications",
          "value": "1,169",
          "unit": "(2023/24)",
          "period": "2023/24",
          "scotland": null,
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "West Lothian Council Homeless Strategy 2025–2028 (Scottish Government HL1)",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/media/69316/Homeless-Strategy-2025-to-2028/pdf/Homeless_Strategy_2025_to_2028.pdf",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "Down from 1,468 in 2019/20, falling locally against the rising national trend."
        },
        {
          "label": "Temporary-accommodation placements",
          "value": "1,806",
          "unit": "(2023/24)",
          "period": "2023/24",
          "scotland": null,
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "West Lothian Council Homeless Strategy 2025–2028 (Scottish Government HL1)",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/media/69316/Homeless-Strategy-2025-to-2028/pdf/Homeless_Strategy_2025_to_2028.pdf",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "Placements over the year (not a point-in-time snapshot); rising."
        },
        {
          "label": "Social-housing waiting list",
          "value": "11,269",
          "unit": "applicants (2023/24)",
          "period": "2023/24",
          "scotland": null,
          "direction": "higher_is_worse",
          "betterThanScotland": null,
          "sourceOrg": "West Lothian Council Homeless Strategy 2025–2028 (Scottish Government HL1)",
          "sourceUrl": "https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/media/69316/Homeless-Strategy-2025-to-2028/pdf/Homeless_Strategy_2025_to_2028.pdf",
          "confidence": "high",
          "note": "+41% over five years, a record high."
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "caveats": [
    "Experimental council deep-dive, a profile of indicators, not a scored composite (West Lothian's data is partial and mixes rates, counts and vintages).",
    "Vital statistics (deaths, life expectancy) are small-area, multi-year aggregates.",
    "Health-service measures (NHS waits) are published by health board (NHS Lothian), not council, so they are not shown here.",
    "Indicators span different vintages (fuel poverty 2017–19; drug deaths 2019–23; poverty 2024/25).",
    "Recorded crime and LGBF service indicators are omitted, no clean primary council figure was available."
  ]
}