District Councils (1975-1996)

District councils had the same name but were quite distinct from previous district councils which existed from 1930 to 1975. The new district councils were set up by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.[1] This act established a two-tier system of local government with nine regional councils and 53 district councils. Three islands councils (Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles) performed the functions of both district and regional councils. District councils were elected in 1974 and acted as shadow authorities until May 1975, when they assumed their full powers.

Their main responsibilities were the administration of district courts (under the District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975), burial and cremation, cleansing, conservation areas, countryside (some regional responsibility), development control, environmental health, housing, leisure and recreation, licensing, local planning, museums and art galleries (with the regional council), parks and tourism. Responsibilities for building control and libraries were also given to district councils except in Borders, Highland and Dumfries and Galloway where responsibility lay with the regional councils. Like regional councils, they also had responsibilities for making proper arrangements for their records. In 1982 various shared functions were removed from regional councils and allocated to islands and district councils only, including: responsibilities for various planning functions in relation to the countryside, local authority involvement in tourism, food and drugs enforcement, commercial caravan sites, entertainment, public conveniences, street cleansing, markets, public clocks, roadside seats and war memorials. At the same time, district councils ceased to have any responsibilities for rural bus services and their role in planning became more limited.[2]

District and regional councils were abolished in 1996 and replaced by single tier councils.[3]

Records of district councils are held by local authority archives services.

Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editor: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Regional Councils

Islands Councils

Bibliography

Ferguson, Keith, An introduction to local government in Scotland (The Planning Exchange, 1984)

Kerley, Richard with Mark Urquhart, Local authority organisation and management in Scotland 1975-1996 (Scottish Office Central Research Unit, 1997)

McConnell, Allan, Scottish Local Government (Edinburgh University Press, 2004)

References

[1] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65).