Regional Councils
Regional councils in Scotland were established under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.[1] This established a two-tier system of local government with nine regional councils and 53 district councils along with three islands councils (Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles) which were single tier authorities. The nine regional councils were Strathclyde, Lothian, Dumfries & Galloway, Central, Tayside, Highland, Grampian, Borders and Fife. Regional councils were first elected in 1974 and acted as shadow authorities until May 1975, when they assumed full powers.
Regional councils had responsibility for education, social work, roads and road safety, public transport, careers service, highways lighting, trading standards, weights and measures, water and sewerage, flood prevention, coast protection, fire services, police services, civil defence, diseases of animals, strategic planning, industrial promotion, valuations and rating, electoral registration and registration of births, marriages and deaths. They also had responsibilities for making proper arrangements for their records. The regional councils of the three least populated mainland regions – Highland, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway – were also given responsibilities for libraries and building control although in the rest of the mainland this was a district council responsibility. Lothian and Borders, and Highland and the islands councils were combined for the purposes of police and fire.
From 1975 regional councils were also required to co-operate with district councils to deliver some functions. However, in 1982, various responsibilities were re-allocated.[2] Regional councils ceased to have responsibilities for entertainment, tourism, food and drugs enforcement, public conveniences, markets, public clocks, roadside seats and war memorials. The role of regional councils in industrial promotion and planning was also clarified.
Regional, islands and district councils were abolished in 1996 and replaced by a single-tier local government structure.[3]
Records of regional councils are held by local authority archives services. Strathclyde records are held by Glasgow City Archives, Lothian by Edinburgh City Archives, Dumfries & Galloway by Dumfries & Galloway Archives, Central by Stirling Council Archives, Tayside by Dundee City Archives, Highland by Highland Archives, Grampian by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives, Borders by Scottish Borders Archives and Fife by Fife Archives. Other local authority archives services also hold duplicates of some regional council records.
Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editor: Elspeth Reid (2021)
Related Knowledge Base entries
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).
[2] Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act 1982 (c.43).
[3] Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 (c.39).