Orkney Islands Council
The Orkney Islands Council (Scottish Gaelic: Comhairle Eileanan Arcaibh), is the local authority for Orkney, Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes of the mid-1990s.
Orkney Islands Council | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Structure | |
Seats | 21 |
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Political groups |
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Length of term | Full council elected every 5 years |
Elections | |
Single transferable vote | |
Last election | 4 May 2017 |
Next election | 2021 |
Website | |
www |
It provides services in the areas of Environmental Health, Roads, Social Work, Community Development, Organisational Development, Economic Development, Building Standards, Trading Standards, Housing, Waste, Education, Burial Grounds, Port and Harbours and others.[1] The council is allowed to collect Council Tax.
The council is also the harbour authority for Orkney and its Marine Services division manages the operation of the islands' 29 piers and harbours.[2]
Elections
Between 2012 and 2017 the council consisted of 21 members, all of whom were independent; they did not stand as representatives of a political party.[3]
After the 2017 election there were 18 independents, 2 Orkney Manifesto Group (OMG) councillors and 1 Green councillor.[4] Of these, 18 councillors were actually elected; the remaining 3 were declared on the election day "as the result of the uncontested election in the Stromness and South Isles ward, where the number of candidates was equal to or less than the number of seats available".[5]
After the election, formerly independent councillor John Ross Scott joined the Greens, raising the total number of Green councillors to two.
Composition
Party | Seats | |
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Independent | 17 | |
Orkney Manifesto Group | 2 | |
Scottish Greens | 2 | |
References
- Council, orkney.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- Marine Services, orkneyharbours.com. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- "Social Work Inspection Agency: Performance Inspection Orkney Islands Council 2006. Chapter 2: Context." The Scottish Government. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- "Orkney Islands Council : Election 2017 Results". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- "Orkney's results declared for the 2017 Scottish Local Government elections". Orkney Islands Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.