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Parish
Parishes are subdivisions of local authorities in many parts of England, and their councils are the most local level of government. Unlike electoral wards/divisions however, parishes are not found in all parts of England. The Welsh and Scottish equivalents are communities. Note that the full term for administrative parishes is 'civil parishes', to distinguish them from the ecclesiastical parishes which are found in all parts of the UK.
Further information on parishes and communities, including lists of area names and codes.

Parliamentary Constituency
See Constituency

PO Box
If individuals or organisations prefer that their mail is not delivered to an identifiable postal address, they may opt to set up a PO Box. PO Box addresses do not have a specific geographic location; instead the mail is sent to a local delivery office, from where it can be forwarded to the real address or collected by the addressee.

Point
In terms of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a point is a feature that can be defined by a single (x,y) co-ordinate pair.

Point in Polygon
Point in polygon is an overlay operation used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It is used to determine whether a given point lies inside a given polygon (area). For example, it might be used to establish whether a particular address (identified by a grid reference) falls within a particular electoral ward.

Police Force Area
There are 43 police force areas in England and Wales, each covering one or more complete local authorities. Scotland has 8 police force areas, each covering one or more council areas. Northern Ireland is covered by one police force.
Police website: List of police force areas.

Polygon
In terms of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a polygon is a feature defined by a series of sequential co-ordinates that join up to make a closed shape. Examples of polygons include buildings, tracts of water and any geographic units (electoral wards, districts, health authorities etc).

Polygon in Polygon
Polygon in polygon is an overlay operation used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It is used to determine whether a given polygon lies inside (or overlaps) another polygon. For example, it might be used to establish which Census Output Areas fall within a particular electoral ward.

Postcode
Postcodes are assigned by Royal Mail to identify postal delivery areas across the UK. They are also a key means of providing locational references for statistical data.
Further information on postcodes. This includes information on postcode structure, large and small user postcodes and the use of postcodes for referencing data.

Postcode: Non-geographic
Non-geographic postcodes can either be special postcodes assigned to some large users of the postal service, or PO boxes that lie within a (pseudo) postcode district that does not form a discrete part of a postcode area.

Postcode: Terminated
Terminated postcodes are postcodes which are no longer used for mail delivery. The most frequent reasons for this are postcode reorganisations or the demolition/redevelopment of buildings. Terminated postcodes are occasionally re-used by Royal Mail but not before an elapsed period of 2 years. Terminated postcodes are retained on ONS Geography's postcode directories until or unless they are re-used.

Postcode Address File (PAF)
The Postcode Address File (PAF) is a database of all UK addresses and postcodes. It is produced by Royal Mail and is continuously updated.

Primary Care Group (PCG)
Primary Care Groups (PCGs) were a local unit of health administration in England between 1999 and 2002, although by the end of this period many of them had converted to Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). Until the reorganisation of English health geography on 1 April 2002, PCGs/PCTs reported to Health Authorities (HAs). Unfortunately they were defined in different ways in different parts of the country, thus providing a very inconsistent geography.
Further health geography information, including maps and lists of area names and codes.

Primary Care Organisation (PCO)
Primary Care Organisations (PCOs) is a generic term including English Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and Care Trusts (CTs) based on the PCT model, and Welsh Local Health Boards (LHBs). It also incorporates the former English Primary Care Groups (PCGs) and Welsh Local Health Groups (LHGs).
Further health geography information

Primary Care Trust (PCT)
Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are a local unit of health administration in England and since the reorganisation of English health geography on 1 April 2002 have reported to the Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs). Further restructuring of health administration in 2006 reduced the number of PCTs significantly. The majority of PCTs are now defined in terms of local authority districts, but there are exceptions. Although most of England falls within a PCT, some areas have Care Trusts (CTs) instead. PCTs did exist before 1 April 2002 and, together with Primary Care Groups (PCGs), reported to Health Authorities (HAs). Their remit was however much more limited than that of the current PCTs.
Further health geography information, including maps and lists of area names and codes.

Prison Service Area
Prison service areas cover England and Wales. There are 11 in England and 1 in Wales. The English prison service areas correspond with the Government Office Regions (GORs), with the exception that the South East and East Midlands GORs have each been split into 2 prison service areas.
More information can be found on the HM Prison Service website

Proportional Symbol Map
Proportional symbol maps display data by using symbols that vary in size in proportion to the data values.

This page last revised: Wednesday, 23 May 2007