Scottish community councils were first created under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, many years after Scottish parish councils were abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929.
Welsh community councils are a direct replacement for earlier parish councils, under the Local Government Act 1972, and are identical to English parish councils in terms of their powers and the way they operate.
In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In Scotland and Wales they are statutory bodies.
In Scotland community councils have fewer powers than their English or Welsh counterparts. As of July 2012, there were 1,369 community council areas in Scotland, some of which represent several communities within their boundary.[3]
Community councils were introduced in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The duty was placed on the newly established district councils to prepare an establishment scheme to divide their district into community council areas. In 1996 this duty passed to the present area councils.
Scotland’s network of parishes was abolished for administrative purposes in 1930, when larger district councils were formed. Unlike Wales, the new CCs created in 1975 were not necessarily based on old parish areas, which no longer fit any modern administrative areas. Several of them are based on former burghs, and have rematriculated the burgh coat of arms and use the title “provost” for their chairman.
The Acts of Parliament governing Community Councils allow for them to “take any action” they deem appropriate to improve their community. They set out the requirements of each local authority’s “scheme for the establishment of Community Councils”.
All of Scotland has had community council areas delineated, the numbers and boundaries of which can be altered by the area council. However not all communities have community councils, which in Scotland are statutory and only exist if local people are willing to stand for election. They are officially stated to be “non-party-political and non-sectarian” in their discussions and decision making. Community councils must adopt a constitution stating the name of the community council and dealing with such matters as the frequency of meetings, office bearers, method of election, finance and standing orders.
There have been a number of reviews of the role of Community Councils in Scotland, generally emphasising their importance to democratic renewal. One important one was the McIntosh Report on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament[4]
Membership of community councils consists of:
Elected members: The local authority’s establishment scheme details the number of elected councillors, and the areas for which they shall be elected.
Some Community Councils currently allow:
Co-opted members: The community council may co-opt additional members with particular skills or interests that will assist them in their work. These members may be co-opted for a specific period of time, or dismissed at the community council’s pleasure. It is permitted for persons of between 14 and 18 years of age to be co-opted to represent the interests of “youth”.
Ex officio members: The constitutions of many community councils provide that the area councillor for the ward containing the community council area, local MPs and MSPs shall be ex officio members.
Co-opted and ex officio members have no votes on the councils and may not be office bearers.
The establishment scheme will set out the exact procedure for establishing a council where one does not exist: a stated number of local government electors in the designated area must petition the area council, who will then schedule elections. In the case of all community council elections, if nominations are received for less than fifty percent of the seats, the election is postponed and the council not formed or dissolved. Community councils can only be dissolved if the number of elected members falls below the set minimum. Community councils can also choose to amalgamate themselves with an adjoining Community Council by a similar process.
Like in England and Wales, the main role of the CCs is to act as a channel of the opinions of the local community, and have the right to be notified of and respond to any planning applications. They are also sometimes involved in local projects mostly related to local infrastructure such as footpaths, parks, playgrounds etc., and local events.
Unlike in England and Wales, Scottish CCs do not have the right to raise funds by setting a precept on local taxes, and are instead dependent upon local authority funding, which is usually received for running costs only.
In some areas of Scotland, CCs are often disregarded and are not usually viewed as a tier of government, even though they can legally have that role. Although in places such as Orkney and Shetland, CCs are viewed as an important part of local government, and receive larger budgets.