Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to make provision with respect to local government and the functions of local authorities in Scotland; to amend Part II of the Transport Act 1968; and for connected purposes.
| year = 1973
| citation = 1973 c. 65
| introduced_commons =
| introduced_lords =
| territorial_extent = Scotland
| royal_assent = 25 January 1973
| commencement = 16 May 1975
| expiry_date =
| repeal_date =
| amends =
| replaces = {{ubli|Burgh Harbours (Scotland) Act 1853|Highland Roads and Bridges Act 1862|Cattle-sheds in Burghs Act 1866|Convention of Royal Burghs (Scotland) Act 1879|Roads and Streets in Police Burghs (Scotland) Act 1891|Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1894|Convention of Royal Burghs (Scotland) Act 1879, Amendment Act 1895|Orkney and Zetland Small Piers and Harbours Act 1896|Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1899|Town Councils (Scotland) Act 1900|House Letting and Rating (Scotland) Act 1911|Street Collections Regulation (Scotland) Act 1915|House Letting and Rating (Scotland) Act 1920|Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1920|Roads and Streets in Police Burghs (Scotland) Act 1925|Local Authorities (Publicity) Act 1931|Health Resorts and Watering Places Act 1936|Association of County Councils (Scotland) Act 1946|Local Government (Scotland) Act 1951|Local Authorities (Expenditure on Special Purposes) (Scotland) Act 1961|Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (Amendment) Act 1965|National Mod (Scotland) Act 1969|Local Authorities (Qualification of Members) Act 1971|Rate Rebate Act 1973}}
| amendments = {{ubli|Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982|Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994}}
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status = amended
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/65/contents/enacted
| revised_text =
| use_new_UK-LEG = yes
| UK-LEG_title =
| collapsed =
}}
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 Government in Scotland in 1969 (the Wheatley Report), and it made the most far-reaching changes to Scottish local government in centuries. It swept away the counties, burghs and districts established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947,Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947. which were largely based on units of local government dating from the Middle Ages, and replaced them with a uniform two-tier system of regional and district councils (except in the islands, which were given unitary, all-purpose councils).
In England and Wales, the Local Government Act 1972 established a similar system of two-tier administrative county and district councils.
The act
The act abolished previous existing local government structures and created a two-tier system of regions and districts on the mainland and a unitary system in the islands. The former counties remained in use for land registration purposes.
The act also established the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland, with the remit to make proposals to the Secretary of State for effecting changes which it thought desirable in the interests of effective and convenient local government. The Act also abolished the use of Fiars Prices for valuing grain.
The new local government areas
=Regions=
border="1" class="toccolours" style="border-collapse: collapse" | |
Region | Composed of |
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Highland
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Grampian
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Tayside
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Fife
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Lothian
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Borders
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Central
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Strathclyde
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Dumfries and Galloway
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=Island areas=
border="1" class="toccolours" style="border-collapse: collapse" | |
Island area | Composed of |
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Orkney
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Shetland
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Western Isles
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=Districts=
border="1" class="toccolours" style="border-collapse: collapse" | ||
Region | District | Composed of |
---|---|---|
rowspan="8"|Highland
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Sutherland
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Ross and Cromarty
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Skye and Lochalsh
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Lochaber
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Inverness
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Badenoch and Strathspey
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Nairn
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rowspan="5"|Grampian
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Banff and Buchan
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Gordon
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City of Aberdeen
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Kincardine and Deeside
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rowspan="3"|Tayside
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City of Dundee
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Perth and Kinross
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rowspan="3"|Fife
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North East Fife
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Dunfermline
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rowspan="4"|Lothian
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City of Edinburgh
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Midlothian
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East Lothian
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rowspan="3"|Central
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Stirling
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Falkirk
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rowspan="4"|Borders
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Ettrick and Lauderdale
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Roxburgh
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Berwickshire
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rowspan="19"|Strathclyde
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Dumbarton
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City of Glasgow
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Clydebank
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Bearsden and Milngavie
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Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch
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Cumbernauld
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Monklands
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Motherwell
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Hamilton
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East Kilbride
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Eastwood
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Lanark
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Renfrew
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Inverclyde
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Cunninghame
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Kilmarnock and Loudoun
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Kyle and Carrick
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Cumnock and Doon Valley
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rowspan="4"|Dumfries and Galloway
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Stewartry
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Nithsdale
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Annandale and Eskdale
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Several districts were later renamed: Merrick becoming Wigtown, Argyll to Argyll and Bute, Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch to Strathkelvin, Cumbernauld to Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, and Lanark to Clydesdale.
Reaction and aftermath
Unlike the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, the 1973 act in Scotland used the term {{em|region}} for the upper tier of the two-tier system. This has caused far less confusion over the identity of the counties in Scotland. The counties still enjoy wide public recognition.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} Even though they no longer play any direct part in local government, counties are used in many other systems: Royal Mail continued to use them as postal counties, and the Watsonian vice-counties, registration counties and many of the lieutenancy areas of Scotland are based on them.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
However, the sheer size of some regions meant that it became cumbersome to administer all functions on a region-wide basis. By 1977 Strathclyde Regional Council had established unelected sub-regional councils, which resembled the county councils that the regional council had replaced.
The two-tier system of local government introduced by the act lasted until 1 April 1996 when the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 came into effect, abolishing the regions and districts and replacing them with 32 unitary authorities.
Amendments
= Scottish Local Government Elections (Candidacy Rights of Foreign Nationals) Act 2022 =
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = Scottish Local Government Elections (Candidacy Rights of Foreign Nationals) Act 2022
| type = scottish act
| parliament = Scottish Parliament
| long_title = An Act of the Scottish Parliament to give to certain foreign nationals the right to stand as candidates at local government elections in Scotland in accordance with international treaty agreements entered into by the United Kingdom.
| year = 2022
| citation = 2022 asp 4
| introduced_by = John Swinney MSP
| royal_assent = 2022-07-19
| status = Current
| collapsed = y
}}
The act was amended to allow foreign nationals who are legally resident in Scotland to stand as candidates in local elections.{{Cite journal |last=Johnston |first=Neil |date=2023-07-17 |title=Can EU citizens take part in UK elections after Brexit? |url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/can-eu-citizens-take-part-in-uk-elections-after-brexit/ |url-status=live |journal=House of Commons Library |language=en-GB |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619071651/https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/can-eu-citizens-take-part-in-uk-elections-after-brexit/ |archive-date=2024-06-19}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
- Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
- Royal Commission on Local Government in Scotland, 1969.
Further reading
- Pugh, Michael, 'Centralism versus localism? Democracy versus efficiency? The perennial challenges of Scottish local government organisation' (30 June 2014), History & Policy, http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/the-perennial-challenges-of-scottish-local-government-organisation
{{Scotland counties}}
{{UK legislation}}
Category:Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Scotland
Category:History of local government in Scotland