Boundaries Scotland is an independent body in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

created as the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...

. According to its website, it is responsible for: carrying out reviews of boundaries of local authority areas; reviews of electoral arrangements for local authorities; responding to requests for ad hoc reviews of electoral or administrative arrangements; and reviews of constituencies and regions for the Scottish Parliament. Its work relates to the

local government of Scotland Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as councils. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the major ...

, and it reports to the Scottish Government. Its counterpart organisations elsewhere in the UK are the

Local Government Boundary Commission for England The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is a parliamentary body established by statute to conduct boundary, electoral and structural reviews of local government areas in England. The LGBCE is independent of government and pol ...

, the

Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales The Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales ( cy, Comisiwn Ffiniau a Democratiaeth Leol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, responsible for defining borders for local elections and government in Wales. The name of the commission ...

and the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner for Northern Ireland. The

Boundary Commission for Scotland The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission fo ...

is a separate body, concerned with the boundaries of

UK parliament constituencies The Parliament of the United Kingdom currently has 650 parliamentary constituencies across the constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), each electing a single Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of parlia ...

in Scotland. When section 28 of the Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020 came into force, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland was renamed Boundaries Scotland.

Electoral reviews

In 2006, the Commission completed its Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements, as required by the

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the single transferable vote system. The Commissi ...

, producing new wards for use in

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

elections which each return 3 or 4 councillors. These were first used in elections in 2007. The review resulted in a total of 353 wards across Scotland, returning a total of 1222 councillors. A subsequent interim review in 2011 did not change any ward boundaries, but increased the number of councilors to 1223 from May 2012. A fifth review in 2016 resulted in ward boundaries being changed yet again, though some of the proposed were not implemented, such as in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

. The Commission's Third Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements reported during 1998 and recommended the electoral arrangements for the unitary local authorities introduced in 1996. The Commission's Second Review reported between 1992 and 1994, and its Initial Review between 1977 and 1979: both concerned the Region and District local government structure that was then in place.

Administrative area reviews

The Commission has conducted a series of reviews of local authority areas to address situations where development has taken place across local authority boundaries, or where local authority areas established by the 1973 Act did not reflect local preferences. In the words of the 1973 Act, the Commission's recommendations are made "in the interests of effective and convenient local government". Since the establishment of Scotland's current 32 unitary councils in 1996, the Commission has conducted 7 such reviews each of which resulted in small changes to the boundaries of authorities to avoid bisecting developed areas. The 1973 Act gives the Commission powers to conduct wide-ranging reviews of local authority structures in Scotland. However, throughout its existence, Ministers have directed the Commission not to conduct such reviews.

External links

Boundaries Scotland website

Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales website

Local Government Boundary Commission for England website

Local Government Boundaries Commissioner for Northern Ireland website

Boundary Commission for Scotland website

Boundary commission for Scotland
at gov.uk

Footnotes

Council elections in Scotland Boundary commissions in the United Kingdom Advisory non-departmental public bodies of the Scottish Government Reports of the Scottish Government 1973 establishments in Scotland Government agencies established in 1973 Organisations based in Edinburgh Scottish commissions and inquiries {{UK-gov-stub