Local government in Scotland

Local government in Scotland is organised through 32 unitary authorities consisting of councillors elected every four years by registered voters in each of the council areas.

Councils receive the majority of their funding from the Scottish Government, through Aggregate External Finance (AEF). AEF consists of three parts: Revenue Support Grants, Non-Domestic Rates, and Income and Specific Grants. The level of central government support for each authority is determined by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, currently John Swinney MSP, and is distributed by the Finance and Central Services Department of the Scottish Government. Councils obtain additional income through the Council Tax, that the council itself sets

Scottish councils co-operate through, and are represented collectively by, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).

History

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, legislation passed by the Conservative government of Edward Heath (1970-1974) 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 (1990-1997) 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 with shadow councillors elected in 1995 to oversee the smooth transition of control.

Map

Inverclyde Renfrewshire West Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire Glasgow East Renfrewshire North Lanarkshire Falkirk West Lothian Edinburgh Midlothian East Lothian Clackmannanshire Fife Dundee Angus Aberdeenshire Aberdeen Moray Highland Na h-Eileanan Siar Argyll and Bute Perth and Kinross Stirling North Ayrshire East Ayrshire South Ayrshire Dumfries and Galloway South Lanarkshire Scottish Borders Orkney Shetland

Governance and administration

The power invested in local authorities is administered by elected councillors. There are currently 1,222, each paid a part-time salary for the undertaking of their duties. In total, there are 32 unitary authorities, the largest being the City of Glasgow with more than 600,000 inhabitants, the smallest, Orkney, with fewer than 20,000 people living there.

Councillors are subject to a Code of Conduct instituted by the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 and enforced by the Standards Commission for Scotland. If a person believes that a councillor has broken the code of conduct they make a complaint to the Office of the Chief Investigating Officer (CIO). The CIO makes a determination on whether there is a need for an investigation, and then whether or not to refer the matter to the Standards Commission.

Convenor (Provost)

Each council elects a Convenor and Depute Convenor to chair meetings of the Council and to act as a figurehead for the area. In the four city councils in Scotland - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee - the Convenor is called a Lord Provost, whilst in other councils the council may choose the title given to the Convenor. Most councils use the term ' Provost'.

The office of Provost or Convenor is roughly equivalent to that of a Mayor in other parts of the United Kingdom. Traditionally these roles are ceremonial and have no significant administrative functions. Lord Provosts in the four city councils have the additional duty of acting as Lord Lieutenant for their respective city.

Leader of the Council

The Leader of the Council is elected as the leader of the largest political grouping of councillors. The Leader of the Council has no executive or administrative powers designated by statute, but the position is salaried. There is also a Depute Leader of the Council appointed.

Each political group within the council typically appoints a leader, with the largest grouping's leader becoming 'Leader of the Council', and being the central figure of de facto political authority.

Officers

Officers of a council are administrative, non-political staff of the council. Generally the composition of the council's officers are a matter for the council, but there are a number of statutory officers whose roles are defined by central government.

The most significant of these officers is the Head of Paid Service, usually titled the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive is similar in function to a city manager, though certain councillors have executive authority and there is no clear division of powers.

There is also a statutory Monitoring Officer, who usually heads the Legal Services division of the council, as well as a Chief Financial Officer.

Election results, 2007

Follow the introduction of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 local elections are held using the single transferable vote, with this taking place for the first time in 2007. This change in voting system saw all but five councils end up with no one party in control. Labour retained control of the City of Glasgow and North Lanarkshire, while Orkney, Shetland and Na h-Eileanan Siar continue to be controlled by Independent councillors.

The results are summarised below. Further analysis can be found on the page Scottish council elections, 2007

 Summary of the 3 May 2007 Scottish council election results

Parties		First-Preference Votes	Votes %	+/-	Councillors	Net Gain/Loss
	Labour	590,085	28.1	-4.5%	348	-161
	SNP	585,885	27.9	+3.8%	363	+182
	Conservative	327,591	15.6	+0.5%	143	+21
	Liberal Democrats	266,693	12.7	-1.8%	166	-9
	Independent	228,894	10.9	+0.8%	192	-38
	Other	102,897	4.9	+1.3%	10	+6
Total		2,099,945			1,222

Council control

The 32 unitary authorities are controlled as follows. The figures incorporate the results from the 2007 local government election, plus gains and losses from subsequent local by-elections, and party defections.

Council area	Political control	Lab	SNP	LD	Con	Grn	Oth	Total
City of Aberdeen	LD-SNP	10	13	15	4	0	1	43
Aberdeenshire	LD-Con	0	22	24	14	0	8	68
Angus	Con-LD-Lab-Oth	2	13	3	5	0	6	29
Argyll and Bute	Oth-SNP	0	10	8	3	0	15	36
Clackmannanshire	Lab (minority)	8	7	1	1	0	1	18
Dumfries and Galloway	Con-LD (minority)	14	10	3	18	0	2	47
City of Dundee	SNP (minority)	10	13	2	3	0	1	29
East Ayrshire	SNP (minority)	14	14	0	3	0	1	32
East Dunbartonshire	Con-Lab (minority)	6	8	3	5	0	2	24
East Lothian	SNP-LD	7	7	6	2	0	1	23
East Renfrewshire	Lab-SNP-Oth-LD	7	3	1	7	0	2	20
City of Edinburgh	LD-SNP	15	12	17	11	3	0	58
Na h-Eileanan Siar	Oth	2	4	0	0	0	25	31
Falkirk	Lab-Oth-Con	14	13	0	2	0	3	32
Fife	SNP-LD	24	23	21	5	0	5	78
City of Glasgow	Lab	46	22	5	1	5	0	79
Highland	Oth-SNP	7	18	21	0	0	34	80
Inverclyde	Lab (minority)	9	5	4	1	0	1	20
Midlothian	Lab (minority)	9	6	3	0	0	0	18
Moray	Oth-Con	2	9	0	3	0	12	26
North Ayrshire	Lab (minority)	12	8	2	3	0	5	30
North Lanarkshire	Lab	40	23	1	1	0	5	70
Orkney	Oth	0	0	0	0	0	21	21
Perth and Kinross	SNP-LD	3	18	8	12	0	0	41
Renfrewshire	SNP-LD	17	17	4	2	0	0	40
Scottish Borders	Oth-Con-LD	0	6	10	11	0	7	34
Shetland	Oth	0	0	0	0	0	22	22
South Ayrshire	Con (minority)	9	8	0	12	0	1	30
South Lanarkshire	Lab (minority)	30	24	2	8	0	3	67
Stirling	SNP (minority)	7	7	3	4	0	1	22
West Dunbartonshire	SNP-Oth	10	9	0	0	0	3	22
West Lothian	SNP-Oth	14	13	0	1	0	4	32
TOTAL	-	348	363	166	143	8	194	1222

Election results, 2003

 Summary of the 1 May 2003 Scottish council election results

Parties		Votes	Votes %	+/-	Wards	Net Gain/Loss
	Labour	611,843	32.6	-3.7%	509	-42
	SNP	451,660	24.1	-4.6%	181	-23
	Conservative	282,895	15.1	+1.6%	122	+14
	Liberal Democrats	272,057	14.5	+1.9%	175	+18
	Independent	189,749	10.1	+3.0%	230	+39
	Other	67,533	3.6	+2.0%	4	-6
Total		1,875,737			1,222

Council control

The 32 unitary authorities were controlled as follows, before the 2007 elections. 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 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	Lab (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	30	1	14	13	0
Na h-Eileanan Siar	Oth	4	3	0	0	24
Falkirk	SNP-Oth	12	11	0	2	7
Fife	Lab (minority)	35	13	23	2	5
City of Glasgow	Lab	69	4	3	1	2
Highland	Oth	8	6	13	0	53
Inverclyde	LD	6	0	13	0	1
Midlothian	Lab	14	1	3	0	0
Moray	Oth	5	3	1	1	16
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	14	3	1	0
Scottish Borders	Oth-Con	0	2	8	11	13
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	9	2	4	3
Stirling	Lab	11	1	0	10	0
West Dunbartonshire	Lab	16	3	0	0	3
West Lothian	Lab	18	11	0	1	2
TOTAL	-	495 (15 councils, plus 2 shared control)	190 (1 council, plus 2 shared control)	179 (2 councils, plus 5 shared control)	126 (1 council, plus 2 shared control)	232(6 councils, plus 4 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.