Scottish Electoral Wards

Local government in Scotland comprises 32 unitary local authorities (council areas), which are divided into wards for electoral purposes. There are currently a total of 1,227 councilors elected from 354 wards - with each ward returning 3 or 4 councilors. The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland is responsible for recommendations on the definition of ward boundaries, however, the definitive dataset is delineated by Ordnance Survey for inclusion in their BoundaryLine product.
 
Citation proposal
. Scottish Electoral Wards. https://services.mspdata.eu:/geonetwork/srv/api/records/f17baa94-1e55-4656-9f7b-ead496609220

Simple

Alternate title
Multi-member Wards
Alternate title
MMW
Date ( Creation )
1994-11-11
Date ( Revision )
2019-04-01
Identifier
OS_BL_ScottishElectoralWards

  Originator

  Distributor

Maintenance and update frequency
asNeeded As needed
GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 ( Theme )
  • Administrative units
Keywords ( Theme )
  • Local government
Access constraints
otherRestrictions Other restrictions
Other constraints
No limitations on public access
Use limitation
The following attribution statement must be used to acknowledge the source of the information: Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (insert year)
Spatial representation type
vector Vector
Denominator
10000
Metadata language
eng English
Character set
utf8 UTF8
Topic category
  • Boundaries
N
S
E
W


Geographic identifier
GB-SCT

 

Date ( Publication )
2007-12-13

Supplemental Information
Reference system identifier
EPSG / OSGB 1936 / British National Grid (EPSG:27700) / 7.9
Distribution format
  • ESRI Shapefile (1.0 )

OnLine resource
OS OpenData Supply  

Download via OS OpenData

Hierarchy level
dataset Dataset

Conformance result

Date ( Publication )
2010-10-23
Explanation
Pass
false
Statement

The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland is responsible for reviewing and making recommendations to Scottish Ministers for local authority boundaries and electoral arrangements in Scotland. Electoral reviews make recommendations on the overall number of councillors in each local authority and number of councillors in each ward (each ward must elect either 3 or 4 councillors); the number of wards for local government elections and their boundaries; and the extent of council areas. Electoral reviews are undertaken roughly every 8 to 12 years. Recommendations that are accepted by Ministers are enacted by statutory instrument and passed to Ordnance Survey for inclusion in their BoundaryLine product.

Following the reorganisation of councils into the 32 unitary local authorities, 1,245 electoral boundaries were defined following direction from the Secretary of State in accordance with Schedule 2 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. Since then, a number of formal reviews of electoral arrangements and administrative areas have taken place. A summary of the reviews and their impact on electoral ward boundaries is as follows:

3rd Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements:

• First review following the introduction of 32 local authorities, resulting in 1,222 wards

4th Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements:

• Resulted in the introduction of 353 multi-member wards

Effective 2002-06-01 (SSI 2002/155-157):

• Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire at Ardoch Sewage Works

• Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire at Blackburn

• Glasgow City and Renfrewshire at Braehead

• City of Edinburgh and West Lothian at West Farm, Broxburn

Effective 2010-04-01 (SSI 2009/368, 442):

• Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire at Cardowan, by Stepps

• Angus and Dundee City at Fithiebank

Effective 2011-04-01 (SSI 2010/353):

• East Dunbartonshire and Glasgow City at Princes Gate and Greenacres, by Robroyston

Effective 2012/05/03 (SSI 2011/332):

• West Lothian at Bathgate

5th Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements:

• Amendments to wards in 25 of the 32 local authorities (no amendments to Argyll and Bute, Dundee City, Scottish Borders, Orkney, Shetland and Na h-Eileanan an Iar)

Effective 2018-02-02 (SSI 2017/430):

• Keltybridge and Fife Envirnonmental Energy Park at Westfield

Effective 2019-04-01 (SSI 2018/308):

• Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire at Cardowan, by Stepps

With regards to the seaward extent of boundaries, this normally ends at the low water mark. In a small number of cases, a local government area has been extended by legislation around a port or harbour into the surrounding sea beyond the low water mark. The largest of these is Yell Sound in the Shetland Islands, and there are also substantial extensions at Aberdeen and Greenock.

Metadata

File identifier
f17baa94-1e55-4656-9f7b-ead496609220   XML
Metadata language
eng English
Character set
utf8 UTF8
Hierarchy level
dataset Dataset
Date stamp
2019-04-03
Metadata standard name
ISO 19115:2003/19139
Metadata standard version
1.0

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