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Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to ascouncils. Each council providespublic services, includingeducation,social care,waste management,libraries andplanning.^[1] Councils receive the majority of their funding from theScottish Government, but operate independently and are accountable to their local electorates.^[2] Councils raise additional income via theCouncil Tax, a locally variable domesticproperty tax, andBusiness rates, a non-domestic property tax.^[3][4]

Councils are made up ofcouncillors who are directly elected by the residents of the area they represent. Each council area is divided into a number ofwards, and three or four councillors are elected for each ward.^[1] There are currently 1,226 elected councillors inScotland.^[5]Local elections are normally held every five years and use thesingle transferable vote electoral system.^[1] The most recent election was the2022 Scottish local elections and the next election will be the2027 Scottish local elections.

Council administrations typically comprise a group of councillors within the council who are able to command majority support.^[6]Minority administrations andmajority administrations may be formed.^[7] Althoughcoalition administrations are more typical, occasionally a majority administration is formed by a singlepolitical party, but this is uncommon due to theproportional voting system used in Scottish local elections.^[7] Despite being uncommon on the Scottish mainland, it is possible forindependent politicians to form an administration.^[6]

TheConvention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) is anumbrella organisation formed in 1975 to represent the views of Scotland's thirty-two councils to central government.^[8]

The history of Scottish local government mainly surrounds involves thecounties of Scotland. The counties have their origins in thesheriffdoms orshires over which asheriff (a contraction ofshirereeve) exercised jurisdiction.

Malcolm III appears to have introduced sheriffs as part of a policy of replacing native "Celtic" forms of government withAnglo Saxon andFrenchfeudal structures.^[9] This was continued by his sonsEdgar,Alexander I and in particularDavid I. David completed the division of the country into sheriffdoms by the conversion of existingthanedoms.^[10][11]

From the seventeenth century the shires started to be used for local administration apart from judicial functions. In 1667Commissioners of Supply were appointed in each sheriffdom to collect the land tax.^[12] The commissioners eventually assumed other duties in the county. In 1858, police forces were established in each county under thePolice (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.

Between 1890 and 1975 local government in Scotland was organised withcounty councils (including fourcounties of cities) and various lower-level units. Between 1890 and 1929, there were parish councils and town councils, but with the passing of theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1929, the functions of parish councils were passed to larger district councils and a distinction was made betweenlarge burghs (i.e. those with a population of 20,000 or more) andsmall burghs. This system was further refined by the passing of theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1947.

Effective from 1975, theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973 passed by theConservative government ofEdward Heath introduced a system of two-tier local government in Scotland (seeLocal 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 andOrkney which had the combined powers of regions and districts. The Conservative government ofJohn Major (1990–1997) decided to abolish this system and merge their powers into newunitary authorities. The new councils vary wildly in size – some are the same as counties, such asClackmannanshire, some are the same as former districts, such asInverclyde, and some are the same as the former regions, such asHighland. The changes took effect in 1996 with shadow councillors elected in 1995 to oversee the smooth transition of control.

In 2007, council elections moved to thesingle transferable vote system, with wards represented by either three or four councillors. The transition has resulted in no uncontested seats and has ended single-party controlled councils.^[13]

In 2016, there were ward boundary changes in 25 local authority areas, following the Scottish Government accepting some of the recommendations ofLocal Government Boundary Commission for Scotland.^[14]

TheIslands (Scotland) Act 2018 and theScottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020 have given Boundaries Scotland increased flexibility to vary the size of wards. Mainland wards may now have between 2 and 5 councillors, and single councillor wards are permitted where such a ward includes an inhabited island.^[15]

• Council Tax
• Non-domestic rates collection
• Maintenance of all roads and pavements (except trunk roads which are the responsibility ofTransport Scotland)
• All aspects ofeducation relating to each respective council area; including early years, primary, secondary, additional support needs and school transportation
• Theplanning system, and Section 75
• Parking
• Bus stops
• Supporting non-commercial bus services
• Provides someCommunity Transport
• Local authority nurseries and private partnership nursery establishments
• Care of the elderly,
• Protection of vulnerable children and adults
• Refuse collection and disposal
• Licensing of hours of sale for alcohol
• Licensing ofcultural music parades
• Licensing oftaxis andprivate hire vehicles
• Licensing of window cleaners, market traders, scrap metal merchants, andstreet hawkers
• Licensing of sexual entertainment venues^[16]
• Food Hygiene inspections
• Regulation of landlords^[17]
• Council leisure centres and swimming baths
• Public parks
• Administering the Scottish Welfare Fund

The power vested in local authorities is administered by elected councillors. There are currently 1,227 councillors,^[14] each paid a part-time salary for the undertaking of their duties. In total, there are 32 unitary authorities, the largest being theGlasgow City with more than 600,000 inhabitants, the smallest, Orkney, with just over 20,000 people living there (population of 21,670 in 2015).^[18]

Councillors are subject to aCode of Conduct instituted by theEthical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 and enforced by theStandards Commission for Scotland.^[19] If a person believes that a councillor has broken the code of conduct they make a complaint to theCommissioner 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.^[20]

Each council elects aprovost from among the members of the council to chair meetings and to act as a figurehead for the area.^[21] A council may also elect a depute provost, though this is not required. In the four cities ofGlasgow,Edinburgh,Aberdeen andDundee the provost is called aLord Provost, whilst in other councils the council may choose another title for their provost or conveners.^[21] Most councils use the term 'provost', some use the term 'convener'.

The office of provost or convener is roughly equivalent to that of amayor in other parts of theUnited 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 asLord Lieutenant for their respective city.

Since 2007 each council has been required to designate a "leader of the council" and a "civic head", who receive additional remuneration for holding those roles. The regulations direct that unless a council decides otherwise the leader is the convener and the civic head is the depute convener. In practice, most authorities appoint someone other than the convener as leader of the council, such that the political leader of the council is not also presiding over the debate at council meetings. The convener or provost usually takes the civic head role. The leader of the council is usually the leader of the largest political group, or in a coalition the leader of the largest party in that coalition. The Leader of the Council has no executive or administrative powers designated by statute.^[22] Prior to 2007 many authorities recognised the leader of the largest political group or coalition administration as being leader of the council, but there was no legislative basis for the role.

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 the central government.

The most significant of these officers is the Head of Paid Service, usually titled theChief Executive. The Chief Executive is similar in function to acity manager, though certain councillors have executive authority and there is no cleardivision of powers.^[23]

There is also a statutory Monitoring Officer, who usually heads the Legal Services division of the council, as well as a Chief Financial Officer.^[23]

Summary of the May 2022 Scottish council election results

Party		First-preference votes			Councils		2017 seats		2022 seats
		Count	Of total (%)	Change	Count	Change	Count	Of total (%)	Count	Of total (%)	Change
	No overall control	—			27	2	—		—
	SNP	633,252	34.1%	1.8%	1	1	431	35.1%	453	36.9%	22
	Labour	403,243	21.7%	1.6%	1	1	262	21.4%	282	23.0%	20
	Conservative	364,824	19.6%	5.7%	0		276	22.5%	214	17.5%	62
	Liberal Democrats	159,815	8.6%	1.7%	0		67	5.5%	87	7.1%	20
	Independents	156,815	8.4%	2.0%	3		168	13.7%	152	12.4%	15
	Green	110,791	6.0%	1.9%	0		19	1.6%	35	2.9%	16
	Alba	12,335	0.7%		0					0.0%	New
	Scottish Family	6,857	0.4%		0					0.0%	New
	West Dunbartonshire Community	1,462	0.1%		0				1	0.1%
	Scottish Socialist	1,058	0.1%	0.1%	0					0.0%
	TUSC	1,022	0.1%		0					0.0%
	British Unionist	859	0.1%		0				1	0.1%	1
	Rubbish	787	0.0%		0				1	0.1%
	Independence for Scotland	742	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
	Libertarian	698	0.0%		0					0.0%
	Freedom Alliance	555	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
	Volt UK	421	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
	Socialist Labour	381	0.0%		0					0.0%
	UKIP	372	0.0%	0.2%	0					0.0%
	Women's Equality	228	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
	Social Democratic	222	0.0%		0					0.0%
	Sovereignty	154	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
	Communist	119	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
	Pensioner's	75	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
	Vanguard	74	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
	Workers	61	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
	Scottish Eco-Federalist	24	0.0%		0					0.0%	New
Total		1,889,658	100.0	±0.0	32		1,223	1,227	1,226	100.00

Last updated 11 November 2025.^[24]

Following boundary changes:

Summary of the 3 May 2017 Scottish council election results^[25]

Party		First-preference votes			Councils	+/-	2012 seats		2017 seats		Seat change
							Seats won	Notional	Seats won	Seat %	vs Notional
	Scottish National Party	610,454	32.3%	0.0	0	1	425	438	431	35.1%	7
	Conservative	478,073	25.3%	12.0%	0		115	112	276	22.5%	164
	Labour	380,957	20.2%	11.4%	0	3	394	395	262	21.4%	133
	Independents	199,261	10.5%	1.3%	3		196	198	172	14.1%	26
	Liberal Democrats	128,821	6.8%	0.2%	0		71	70	67	5.5%	3
	Scottish Greens	77,682	4.1%	1.8%	0		14	14	19	1.6%	5
	No Overall Control	—	—	—	29	4	—	—	—	—	—
Total		1,889,658	100.0	±0.0	32		1,223	1,227	1,227	100.00

Note: There were boundary changes in many of these councils. Notional seats and seat change are based on a notional 2012 result calculated by the BBC.^[26] The methodology was officially revealed on 9 May 2017. The relevant explanation is available on theBBC Website. Comparisons with the actual results from 2012 are inconsistent, as the number of seats and seat changes will be different because of an increase in council seats across the country from 1,223 to 1,227 and the different boundaries.

Political control may be held by minority governments (min), coalitions (co), joint leadership arrangements (j.l.) or partnership working arrangements (p.w.).^[28]

Last update 13 February 2022.^[29][24]

The 32 unitary authorities were controlled as follows. The figures incorporate the results from the 2012 local government election, plus gains and losses from subsequent local by-elections, and party defections.

Following the introduction of theLocal Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 local elections are held using thesingle 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 ofGlasgow City andNorth Lanarkshire, whileOrkney,Shetland andNa h-Eileanan Siar continue to be controlled by Independent councillors.

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.

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.

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