| Council areas of Scotland | |
|---|---|
| Category | Administrative unit |
| Location | Scotland |
| Number | 32 |
| Populations | 22,020 (Orkney Islands) – 650,300 (Glasgow) |
| Areas | 60 km2 (23 sq mi) (Dundee) – 25,653 km2 (9,905 sq mi) (Highland) |
| Government |
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| Subdivisions |
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Forlocal government purposes,Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" (Scottish Gaelic:comhairlean), which are all governed bysingle-tier authorities designated as "councils".[1] They have the option under the Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997[2] of being known (but not re-designated) as a "comhairle" when opting for a Gaelic name; onlyComhairle nan Eilean Siar (Council of the Western Isles) has chosen this option, whereas theHighland Council (Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd) has adopted its Gaelic form alongside its English equivalent, informally.
The council areas have been in existence since 1 April 1996, under the provisions of theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. Historically, Scotland was divided into 34counties or shires. Although these no longer have any administrative function, they are still used to some extent in Scotland for cultural and geographical purposes, and some of the current council areas are named after them. There are also a number of other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils.
At the most local level, Scotland is divided intocivil parishes, which are now used only for statistical purposes such as the census. The lowest level of administrative subdivision are thecommunities, which may electcommunity councils.
Traditionally burghs have been the key unit of thelocal government of Scotland, being highlyautonomous entities, with rights to representation in the oldParliament of Scotland. Even after theActs of Union 1707, burghs continued to be the principal subdivision. Until 1889, administration was on aburgh andparish basis.
The years following 1889 saw the introduction of a hierarchy of local government administration comprisingcounties,counties of cities,large burghs and small burghs.
With effect from 16 May 1975 and until 31 March 1996 the local government divisions of Scotland consisted of an upper tier ofregions each containing a lower tier ofdistricts except for the single-tierisland council areas. Since 1996 there has only been a single tier of government, and the former island council areas are of equal status to the other councils.
Scotland has several other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils.
There are several joint boards forelectoral registration and the purposes of property valuation for assessingcouncil tax andrates.[4]
See alsoNHS Scotland
Until 1 April 2014 the towns ofCambuslang andRutherglen were in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area despite being located in South Lanarkshire. They are now part of NHS Lanarkshire.
The Scottish Government has created seven "Regional Transport Partnerships", for establishing transport policy in the regions. They broadly follow council area groupings.
| RTP area | Council areas |
|---|---|
| NESTRANS | Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire |
| TACTRAN | Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross, Stirling |
| HITRANS | Argyll and Bute (except Helensburgh and Lomond), Highland, Moray, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles), Orkney |
| ZetTrans | Shetland |
| SEStran | Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, Midlothian, Fife, Scottish Borders, West Lothian |
| SWESTRANS | Dumfries and Galloway |
| SPT | Argyll and Bute (Helensburgh and Lomond only), West Dunbartonshire, East Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire |
In theEurostatNomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), Scotland is a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKM", which is subdivided as follows:[5]
| NUTS 1 | Code | NUTS 2 | Code | NUTS 3 | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | UKM | Eastern Scotland | UKM2 | Angus andDundee | UKM21 |
  | Clackmannanshire andFife | UKM22 | |||
| East Lothian andMidlothian | UKM23 | ||||
| Scottish Borders | UKM24 | ||||
| Edinburgh | UKM25 | ||||
| Falkirk | UKM26 | ||||
| Perth and Kinross, andStirling | UKM27 | ||||
| West Lothian | UKM28 | ||||
| South Western Scotland | UKM3 | East Dunbartonshire,West Dunbartonshire, andHelensburgh and Lomond | UKM31 | ||
| Dumfries and Galloway | UKM32 | ||||
| East andNorth Ayrshire mainland | UKM33 | ||||
| Glasgow | UKM34 | ||||
| Inverclyde,East Renfrewshire, andRenfrewshire | UKM35 | ||||
| North Lanarkshire | UKM36 | ||||
| South Ayrshire | UKM37 | ||||
| South Lanarkshire | UKM38 | ||||
| North Eastern Scotland | UKM5 | Aberdeen andAberdeenshire | UKM50 | ||
| Highlands and Islands | UKM6 | Caithness andSutherland, andRoss and Cromarty | UKM61 | ||
| Inverness,Nairn,Moray, andBadenoch and Strathspey | UKM62 | ||||
| Lochaber,Skye and Lochalsh,Arran andCumbrae, andArgyll and Bute (except Helensburgh and Lomond) | UKM63 | ||||
| Eilean Siar (Western Isles) | UKM64 | ||||
| Orkney Islands | UKM65 | ||||
| Shetland Islands | UKM66 | ||||
The currentland registration system in Scotland divides Scotland into 33Registration Counties,[6] each coming into effect on various dates between 1981 and 2003. These areas in most cases resemble those of the pre-1975 administrative counties with Glasgow being the only current city to form a registration county.
Sheriffdoms are judicial areas. Since 1 January 1975, these have been six in number:[7]
TheLieutenancy areas of Scotland are the areas used for the ceremoniallord-lieutenants, themonarch's representatives. The areas are similar to the Historic Counties and the Registration Counties, but are not identical to either. Most notably, the four cities ofAberdeen,Dundee,Edinburgh, andGlasgow form separate areas from the surrounding countryside, with theLord Provost of each city actingex officio as the lord-lieutenant.
The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 resulted in the merger of localpolice andfire services on 1 April 2013 to form thePolice Service of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic:Seirbheis Phoilis na h-Alba) and theScottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS, Scottish Gaelic:Seirbheis Smàlaidh agus Teasairginn na h-Alba).
Prior to 1975 policing was the responsibility of the Cities and Burghs of Scotland (seeList of burghs in Scotland). Between 1975 and 2013 Scotland was subdivided intoPolice andfire service areas based on theregions and districts andisland council areas that were also formed in 1975. The police and fire service regions used between 1975 and 2013 are listed below.
Scotland is divided into871 civil parishes which often resemble same-named but legally different ecclesiastical parishes. Although they have had no administrative function since 1930, they still exist and are still used for statistical purposes such as the census. Many former civil parish areas also continued to formregistration districts until 1 January 2007. Many boundary changes have occurred over the years and an area currently derived from an old parish might no longer contain a place previously within that parish. Similarly, county boundaries (as still used for land registration) have also changed over the years such that a parish mentioned historically (generally before the 1860s) as being in one county (or sometimes two due to straddling a border) might now be in a neighbouring county and consequentially in a different succeeding council area.
For most administrative purposes, the base level of sub-division in Scotland is now that ofcommunities, which may electcommunity councils. The main role of these bodies is to channel and reflect local opinion to other bodies; they otherwise have very limited powers. There are around 1,200 communities in Scotland. Not all communities have councils; some have joint councils.
Scottish communities are the nearest equivalent tocivil parishes in England.
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