The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994.

The 1973 Act created a system of nine two-tier regions and three islands areas, and this system completely replaced local government counties and burghs in 1975.Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, c.65 The new regions were generally very different from the counties which had been in use since the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. Also, the districts were very different from the subdivisions of counties, also called districts, which had been in use since the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929.

Background The reorganisation of local government in Scotland was a matter of political debate from the mid-1960s. In June 1963 the Scottish Office published a white paper titled The Modernization of Local Government in Scotland (Cmnd.2067). This proposed a large decrease in the number of local authorities in the country. There was to be a reduction from thirty-three county councils to between ten and fifteen. At the same time, new "second-tier councils" were proposed, with burghs being merged with the surrounding "landward" rural areas. The minimum population for the areas of these councils was to be 40,000. It was hoped that the reforms could be carried out quickly, with existing authorities agreeing to amalgamation and boundary alterations prior to legislation being passed. The white paper was rejected by the Association of Large Burghs, and by the Scottish Labour Party. At the 1964 general election Labour came to power, and the scheme was not pursued. Instead a royal commission under the chairmanship of Lord Wheatley was appointed in 1966 to enquire into local administration. Wheatley commented that "Our terms of reference are far-reaching: we have a free hand to recommend whatever arrangement of authorities, boundaries and functions seem likely to be right for a long time to come".

The commission's report was delivered on 25 September 1969, and recommended a two-tier system of 7 regions and 37 districts. The incoming Conservative government accepted the broad principles of the commission's report in their white paper Reform of Local Government in Scotland (Cmnd. 4583), published in February 1971. The number of regions was increased to 8, and of districts to 49. Also Orkney and Shetland were to become "most-purpose" authorities, separated from the Highland Region. Following consultation, the structure was modified. The Western Isles, which was to have formed four districts of the Highland Region, became an islands area, with the same status as Orkney and Shetland. The number of districts was to remain at 49 in number, but with considerable boundary changes. These were the areas included in the Local Government (Scotland) Bill as introduced to parliament in 1973. Considerable changes were made during the passage of the legislation. Fife, which was to have been divided between the South-East and East Regions, was to become a region on the same boundaries as the existing county. This increased the number of regions to nine. The number of districts was increased to 53, numerous boundary changes were made and regions and districts renamed.

The first elections to the new district and regional councils were held on 7 May 1974, with the councillors sitting as "shadow authorities" until 16 May 1975 when they came into their powers.

Structure

Regions Regions had a two-tier system of local government, with each region divided into districts, varying from 3 to 19 in number.

The top tier of local government was the regional council. Services provided at the regional level were those needing greater finance or resources, or best exercised over a wide area. These included police, fire services, consumer protection, education and transport.

Each district had an elected district council. In the case of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the districts had city status, although this did not confer any additional powers. District councils had responsibility for local services including local planning, housing, libraries and licensing.

Islands areas The islands areas were unitary local government areas, exercising the powers of both a regional and district council.

Regions and islands areas

Scotland was subdivided into regions and islands areas as follows:

No.on mapRegion or islands areaHeadquartersArea(hectares)Population (1994)estimate 1 Strathclyde (region) Glasgow 1,350,283 2,286,800 2 Dumfries and Galloway (region) Dumfries 639,561 147,900 3 Borders (region) Newtown St Boswells 471,253 105,300 4 Lothian (region) Edinburgh 171,595 750,600 5 Central (region) Stirling 263,455 272,900 6 Fife (region) Glenrothes 131,201 351,200 7 Tayside (region) Dundee 749,650 395,200 8 Grampian (region) Aberdeen 869,772 528,100 9 Highland (region) Inverness 2,539,759 206,900 10 Western Isles (islands area) Stornoway 289,798 29,600 Not shown Shetland (islands area) Lerwick 143,268 22,522 Not shown Orkney (islands area) Kirkwall 97,581 19,600

Districts

Region Districts Headquarters Populationestimate1994 Borders Berwickshire Duns 19,350Ettrick and Lauderdale Galashiels 35,000Roxburgh Hawick 35,350Tweeddale Peebles 15,375 Central Clackmannan Alloa 47,643Falkirk Falkirk 142,800Stirling Stirling 81,630 Dumfries and Galloway Annandale and Eskdale Annan 37,130Nithsdale Dumfries 57,220Stewartry Kirkcudbright 23,690Wigtown(originally named Merrick) Stranraer 30,077 Fife Dunfermline Dunfermline 129,830 Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy 148,450 North East Fife Cupar 69,930 Grampian Aberdeen, City of Aberdeen 213,000 Banff and Buchan Banff 88,020 Gordon Inverurie 77,080 Kincardine and Deeside Stonehaven 54,990 Moray Elgin 83,616 Highland Badenoch and Strathspey Kingussie 10,399 Caithness Wick 26,710 Inverness Inverness 62,245 Lochaber Fort William 19,195 Nairn Nairn 10,600 Ross and Cromarty Dingwall 49,184 Skye and Lochalsh Portree 11,870 Sutherland Golspie 13,190Lothian East Lothian Haddington 85,140 Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh 418,914 Midlothian Dalkeith 79,910 West Lothian Bathgate 146,430 Strathclyde Argyll and Bute(originally Argyll)According to minutes of district council meetings on 21 May and 27 August 1974 the name of the Argyll district was scheduled to change to Argyll and Bute on 1 September 1974, in accordance with the terms of section 23 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Lochgilphead 63,350 Bearsden and Milngavie Bearsden 41,000 Clydebank Clydebank 47,500 Clydesdale(originally named Lanark: renamed 1980) Lanark 58,290 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth(originally named Cumbernauld) Cumbernauld 63,930 Cumnock and Doon Valley Cumnock 42,954 Cunninghame Irvine 139,020 Dumbarton Dumbarton 77,222 East Kilbride East Kilbride 82,777 Eastwood Giffnock 60,600 Glasgow, City of Glasgow 681,470 Hamilton Hamilton 105,202 Inverclyde Greenock 90,103 Kilmarnock and Loudoun Kilmarnock 79,861 Kyle and Carrick Ayr 112,658 Monklands Coatbridge 102,379 Motherwell Motherwell 143,730 Renfrew Paisley 201,000 Strathkelvin(originally named Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch) Kirkintilloch 85,191 Tayside List of places Angus Forfar 96,500 Dundee, City of Dundee 171,520 Perth and Kinross Perth 129,070

Abolition The 1994 Act created 29 new unitary local government areas, which completely replaced the regions and districts on 1 April 1996. The islands council areas continued in use and, therefore, Scotland now has 32 council areas.

See also List of burghs in Scotland Counties of Scotland Lieutenancy areas of Scotland Subdivisions of Scotland List of places in Scotland Local government in the United Kingdom

Notes and references