Local government in Scotland

rdf:langString Local government in Scotland

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rdf:langString Summary of the May 2022 Scottish council election results

rdf:langString Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as Scottish councils. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the majority of their funding from the Scottish Government, but operate independently and are accountable to their local electorates. Councils raise additional income via the Council Tax, a locally variable domestic property tax, and Business rates, a non-domestic property tax. Councils are made up of councillors who are directly elected by the residents of the area they represent. Each council area is divided into a number of wards, and three or four councillors are elected for each ward. There are currently 1,227 elected councillors in Scotland. Local elections are normally held every five years and use the single transferable vote electoral system. The most recent election was the 2022 Scottish local elections and the next election will be the 2027 Scottish local elections. Council administrations typically comprise a group of councillors within the council who are able to command majority support. Minority administrations and majority administrations may be formed. Although coalition administrations are more typical, occasionally a majority administration is formed by a single political party, but this is uncommon due to the proportional voting system used in Scottish local elections. Despite being uncommon on the Scottish mainland, it is possible for independent politicians to form an administration. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) is an umbrella organisation formed in 1975 to represent the views of Scotland's thirty-two councils to central government.