Local government of Scotland
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Template:PoliticsScotland The local government of Scotland is organised into 32 unitary authorities covering the mainland and islands of Scotland. Each local authority is governed by a council consisting of elected councillors, who are elected every four years by registered voters in each of the council areas.
Scottish councils co-operate through and are represented collectively by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).
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History
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Between 1890 and 1975 local government in Scotland was organised with county councils (including four counties of cities) and various lower-level units. Between 1890 and 1929, there were parish councils and town councils, but with the passing of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, the functions of parish councils were passed to larger district councils and a distinction was made between large burghs (i.e. those with a population of 20,000 or more) and small burghs. This system was further refined by the passing of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947.
In 1975, the Conservative government of Edward Heath introduced a system of two-tier local government in Scotland (see Regions of Scotland), divided between large Regional Councils and smaller District Councils. The only exceptions to this were the three Island Councils, Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney which had the combined powers of Regions and Districts. The Conservative government of John Major decided to abolish this system and merge their powers into new unitary authorities. The new councils vary widely in size — some are the same as counties, such as Clackmannanshire, some are the same as former districts, such as Inverclyde and some are the same as the former regions, such as Highland. The changes took effect in 1996.
Governance and administration
The power invested in these authorities is administered by elected councillors. There are currently around 1,200 in total, each paid a part-time salary for the undertaking of their duties. Each authority elects a Provost or Convenor to chair meetings of the authority's council and act as a figurehead for the area. The office of Provost or Convenor is roughly equivalent to that of a Mayor, though they are elected for the duration of a council (4 years).
The four main cities of Scotland, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee have a Lord Provost rather than a Provost, who have the additional duty of being Lord Lieutenant for their respective city.
The councillors are elected every four years.
Each council has a chief executive who is similar in function to a city manager, though certain councillors have executive authority and there is no clear division of powers. The council is both executive, deliberative and legislative in nature.
There are in total 32 unitary authorities, the largest being the City of Glasgow with more than 600,000 inhabitants, the smallest, Orkney, with less than 20,000 people living there.
Council areas
The 32 unitary authorities are controlled as follows. The figures incorporate the results from the 2003 local government election, plus gains and losses from subsequent local by-elections, and party defections.
| Council area | Political control | Labour Party (Lab) | Scottish National Party (SNP) | Liberal Democrats (LD) | Conservative and Unionist Party (Con) | others (oth) |
| City of Aberdeen | LD-Con | 14 | 6 | 20 | 3 | 0 |
| Aberdeenshire | LD-oth | 0 | 18 | 28 | 11 | 11 |
| Angus | SNP | 1 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Argyll and Bute | oth | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 22 |
| Clackmannanshire | Lab | 10 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | oth-SNP-LD (minority) | 15 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 11 |
| City of Dundee | Lab-LD (minority) | 10 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| East Ayrshire | Lab | 23 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| East Dunbartonshire | LD | 9 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 0 |
| East Lothian | Lab | 17 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| East Renfrewshire | Lab-LD | 8 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| City of Edinburgh | Lab (control dependent on casting vote of the Lord Provost) | 29 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 0 |
| Eilean Siar (Western Isles) | oth | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Falkirk | SNP-oth | 12 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Fife | Lab (minority) | 36 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 5 |
| City of Glasgow | Lab | 71 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Highland | oth | 8 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 54 |
| Inverclyde | LD | 6 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| Midlothian | Lab | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Moray | oth | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| North Ayrshire | Lab | 20 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| North Lanarkshire | Lab | 54 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Orkney | oth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Perth and Kinross | SNP-LD-oth | 5 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 2 |
| Renfrewshire | Lab | 21 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Scottish Borders | oth-Con | 0 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 14 |
| Shetland | oth | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 17 |
| South Ayrshire | Con (control dependent on casting vote of the Provost) | 14 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| South Lanarkshire | Lab | 49 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Stirling | Lab | 12 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| West Dunbartonshire | Lab | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| West Lothian | Lab | 18 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| TOTAL | - | 504 (14 councils, plus 2 shared control) | 187 (1 council, plus 3 shared control) | 176 (2 councils, plus 6 shared control) | 126 (1 council, plus 2 shared control) | 229 (6 councils, plus 5 shared control) |
Community Councils
Community councils represent the interests of local people. Local authorities have a statutory duty to consult Community Councils on planning, development and other issues directly affecting that local community. However, the Community Council has no direct say in the delivery of services. In many areas they do not function at all, but some work very effectively at improving their local area.
Elections for Community Councils are determined by the Local Authority but the law does state that candidates cannot stand on a party-political ticket.