Local government in Scotland

Scotland
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Scotland

Local government in Scotland is organised through 32 unitary authorities[1] designated as Councils[2] which consist of councillors elected every five years by registered voters in each of the council areas.

Councils receive the majority of their funding from the Scottish Government,[3] through Aggregate External Finance (AEF). AEF consists of three parts: Revenue Support Grants, Non-Domestic Rates, and Income and Specific Grants.[4] The level of central government support for each authority is determined by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, currently Derek Mackay 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

Origins

The history of Scottish local government mainly surrounds involves the counties of Scotland. The counties have their origins in the sheriffdoms or shires over which a sheriff (a contraction of shire reeve) exercised jurisdiction.

Malcolm III appears to have introduced sheriffs as part of a policy of replacing native "Celtic" forms of government with Anglo Saxon and Norman feudal structures.[5] This was continued by his sons Edgar, Alexander I and in particular David I. David completed the division of the country into sheriffdoms by the conversion of existing thanedoms.[6][7]

From the seventeenth century the shires started to be used for local administration apart from judicial functions. In 1667 Commissioners of Supply were appointed in each sheriffdom to collect the land tax.[8] The commissioners eventually assumed other duties in the county. In 1858 police forces were established in each county under the Police (Scotland) Act 1857.

As a result of the dual system of local government, burghs (of which there were various types) often had a high degree of autonomy.

Modern 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 Local government areas of Scotland 1973 to 1996), 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

Governance and administration

The power vested 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 just over 20,000 people living there (population of 21,670 in 2015).[9]

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.[10] If a person believes that a councillor has broken the code of conduct they make a complaint to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland (CESPLS). The Commissioner 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.[11]

Convener (Provost)

Each council elects a Convener and Depute Convener 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 Convener is called a Lord Provost, whilst in other councils the council may choose the title given to the Convener.[12] Most councils use the term 'Provost'.

The office of Provost or Convener 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.[13] 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.[14]

There is also a statutory Monitoring Officer, who usually heads the Legal Services division of the council, as well as a Chief Financial Officer.[14]

Election results, 2012

 Summary of the 3 May 2012 Scottish council election results[15]
Party First-preference votes Seats won
# % Swing (pp) # Net Gain %
Scottish National 503,233 32.33 +4.48 425 +62 34.75
Labour 488,703 31.39 +3.26 394 +46 32.22
Conservative 206,599 13.27 −2.35 115 −28 9.40
Independents 183,329 11.78 +1.27 196 +12 16.03
Liberal Democrats 103,087 6.62 -6.05 71 -95 5.81
Green 36,000 2.31 +0.11 14 +6 1.14
UKIP 4,289 0.28 +0.22 0 ±0 0.00
Scottish Socialist Party 4,183 0.27 −0.61 1 ±0 0.08
Borders Party 3,755 0.24 +0.12 2 ±0 0.16
Action to Save St John's Hospital 3,474 0.22 +0.03 0 −3 0.00
East Dunbartonshire Independent Alliance 2,973 0.19 −0.09 2 ±0 0.16
Glasgow First 2,547 0.16 +0.16 1 +1 0.08
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition 2,485 0.16 +0.16 0 ±0 0.00
Christian Party 2,344 0.15 +0.12 0 ±0 0.00
All Scotland Pensioners Party 2,328 0.15 +0.08 0 ±0 0.00
Cumbernauld Independent Alliance 1,894 0.12 +0.02 1 ±0 0.08
Unionist 864 0.06 −0.09 0 ±0 0.00
Perth Independent Candidates 805 0.05 +0.05 1 +1 0.08
Solidarity 787 0.05 −0.81 0 −1 0.00
Socialist Labour Party 714 0.05 +0.03 0 ±0 0.00
East Kilbride Alliance 681 0.04 −0.03 0 ±0 0.00
Liberal 595 0.04 −0.02 0 ±0 0.00
National Front 369 0.02 +0.02 0 ±0 0.00
Pirate Party 292 0.02 +0.02 0 ±0 0.00
Christian Peoples Alliance 209 0.01 +0.01 0 ±0 0.00
Communist Party of Britain 94 <0.01 +0.01 0 ±0 0.00
Britannica 73 <0.01 0 ±0 0.00
Official Monster Raving Loony Party 67 <0.01 0 ±0 0.00
Total 1,556,773 100.00 ±0.00 1,223 +1 100.00

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[16]
Parties First-Preference
Votes[17]		 Votes % +/- Councillors Net
Gain/Loss
Labour 590,08528.1−4.5%348−161
SNP 585,88527.9+3.8%363+182
Conservative 327,59115.6+0.5%143+21
Liberal Democrats 266,69312.7−1.8%166−9
Independent 228,89410.9+0.8%192−38
Other 102,8974.9+1.3%10[18]+6
Total2,099,945 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 [19] Lab SNP LD Con Grn Oth Total
City of Aberdeen LD-SNP 10 13 15 4 0 1 43
Aberdeenshire[20] Con-LD-Lab-Other 2 28 12 14 1 11 68
Angus Con-LD-Lab-Oth 2 13 3 5 0 6 29
Argyll and Bute Oth-LD-Con 0 10 8 3 0 15 36
Clackmannanshire Lab (minority) 8 8 0 1 0 1 18
Dumfries and Galloway Con-LD (minority) 14 10 3 18 0 2 47
City of Dundee SNP (minority) 8 14 2 3 0 2 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
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Outer Hebrides) Ind 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-LD-Lab 7 18 21 0 0 34 80
Inverclyde Lab-Con-Oth 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-Con-LD 30 24 2 8 0 3 67
Stirling Lab-Con 8 9 0 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

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.

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ In this context the phrase is descriptive, not prescriptive; "unitary authority" does not have the specific legal meaning that it has in England.
  2. ↑ s.2 Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994
  3. ↑ Local Government Overview Report 2009 (Exhibit 1, Page 7), Audit Scotland
  4. ↑ Core Revenue Funding, Scottish Executive website, accessed 28 April 2007
  5. ↑ John of Fordun wrote that Malcolm II introduced the shire to Scotland and also the thane class. Shires are certainly mentioned in charters by the reign of King Malcolm III, for instance that to the Church of Dunfermline, AD 1070-1093
  6. ↑ Wallace, James (1890). The Sheriffdom of Clackmannan. A sketch of its history with a list of its sheriffs and excerpts from the records of court compiled from public documents and other authorities with preparatory notes on the office of Sheriff in Scotland, his powers and duties. Edinburgh: James Thin. pp. 7–19.
  7. ↑ The earliest sheriffdom south of the Forth which we know of for certain is Haddingtonshire, which is named in a charters of 1139 as "Hadintunschira" (Charter by King David to the church of St. Andrews of the church of St. Mary at Haddington) and of 1141 as "Hadintunshire" (Charter by King David granting Clerchetune to the church of St. Mary of Haddington). In 1150 a charter refers to Stirlingshire ("Striuelinschire"). (Charter by King David granting the church of Clackmannan, etc., to the Abbey of Stirling)
  8. ↑ The sheriffdoms listed were Edinburgh (i.e. Midlothian), Hadingtoun (i.e. East Lothian), Berwick, Roxburgh, Selkirk, Peebles, Lanerk, Dumfreize, "the sherifdome of Wigtoun and stewartrie of Kirkcudbright", Air, Dumbartan, Bute, Renfrew, Striviling (i.e. Stirlingshire), Linlithgow (i.e. West Lothian), Perth, Kincairdine, Aberdene, Inverness and Ross, Nairne, Cromarty, Argyle, Fyfe and Kinross, Forfar (i.e. Angus), Bamf (i.e. Banff), Sutherland, Caithnes, Elgine (i.e Moray), Orkney and Zetland, Clakmannan. "Act of the convention of estates of the kingdome of Scotland etc. for ane new and voluntar offer to his majestie of seventie two thousand pounds monethlie for the space of twelve moneths". Records of the Parliaments of Scotland. University of St Andrews. 23 January 1667. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  9. ↑ "Orkney Islands Council Area - Demographic Factsheet" (PDF). National Records of Scotland. September 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  10. ↑ Ethical Standards in Public Life framework: "Ethical Standards in Public Life". The Scottish Government. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  11. ↑ Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland "Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland". Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  12. ↑ s.4, Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994
  13. ↑ http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/ssi/ssi2007/ssi_20070183_en_1
  14. 1 2 http://www.gov.scot/library/documents3/ethic-07.htm
  15. ↑ "Scottish Elections :: Local Elections 2012 - election results".
  16. ↑ Figures from the Electoral Commission's Scottish Parliamentary and local elections 2007 statutory report
  17. ↑ Votes for parties are back-calculated from percentages and the total vote, so are subject to rounding error
  18. ↑ 8 Scottish Green Party, 1 Scottish Socialist and 1 Solidarity councillor. Separate vote figures not found
  19. ↑ COSLA
  20. ↑ http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/elections/local/

External links

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