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City of Edinburgh (Mòr-bhaile Dhùn Èideann in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland. It borders onto West Lothian, Midlothian, East Lothian and Scottish Borders. Primarily comprised of the city itself, there are also a number of villages within the authority area too. Much of the Pentland Hills are based in the area as well.
As one of the unitary authorities of Scotland, the City of Edinburgh has a defined structure of governance, with the City of Edinburgh Council governing on matters of local administration such as housing, planning, local transport, parks and local economic development and regeneration. For such purposes the City of Edinburgh is divided in to 58 wards. The Next tier of government is that of the Scottish Parliament, which governs on matters of Scottish "national interest" such as Healthcare, education, the environment and agriculture devolved to it by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. For such purposes the City of Edinburgh is divided into six Scottish Parliament constituencies each of which returns one member to the Scottish Parliament.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom governs on matters such as taxation, foreign policy, defence, employment and trade. The City of Edinburgh is made up of five United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies with each constituency returning 1 Member of Parliament (MP) to the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster. Scotland constitutes a single constituency of the European Parliament. As such, the City of Edinburgh participates in electing seven MEPs from Scotland using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.
City of Edinburgh Council
The current Lord Provost of Edinburgh is Lesley Hinds, who replaced Eric Milligan on May 8, 2003. In Scotland the Lord Provost fulfils many similar roles to that of a Mayor in some other countries.
Elections to the City Council are held every four years. The next elections will take place in May 2007. The council is composed of 58 elected members with the administration being run by the Labour Party for a number of years now. Of the 58 elected councillors in Edinburgh, 30 members of the council, including the Lord Provost and current Majority Leader of the Council Donald Anderson, are from the Labour Party. There are 14 councillors from the Scottish Liberal Democrats, 13 from the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and one member from the Scottish National Party.
Edinburgh City council, like all other unitary and island authorities in Scotland, has its powers set out under the terms of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994.
One of their recent initiatives was to try and introduce road tolls for those entering the city, as well as tolls for those entering the city centre from within the city as well. However, they had to shelve these plans when an overwhelming majority of Edinburgh residents opposed the plan in a referendum.
In 2000, Edinburgh City council abandoned the traditional committee structure in favour of modernised arrangements. The council operates a Cabinet type system led by the Lord Provost, with the day-to-day running of the Council left to the Majority Leader and the Executive, which is appointed by the full members of the council.
Full Council
The Full Council comprises all of the 58 elected councillors, and for legal purposes constitutes the Local Authority. The Full Council meets once a month on a Thursday, except during recess and holiday periods and is chaired by the Lord Provost. The Full Council retains complete responsibility for:
- Electing the Lord Provost and Deputy Leader of the Council;
- The delegation of functions to officials including the appointment of the Chief Executive, Chief Officials, members of the Executive, Scrutiny Panels and Committees and resolving disputes;
- Voting on council rules, ordinances and standing orders;
- Setting the council tax, annual council budget and administering the city's capital investment programme.
Executive
The Executive is appointed by the Full Council and is composed of 13 members of the Full Council. The functions of the Executive include:
- The Leadership of the Council;
- Providing political accountability to the decisions of the council;
- Arranging public consultation and participation in council activities;
- Taking Executive decisions with the council's budget and policy framework approved by the Full Council;
- Setting targets for service delivery
Scrutiny Panels
Scrutiny Panels are responsible for monitoring the performance of the Executive, departments and external organisations which receive funding from the annual council budget. Scrutiny Panels consist of 9 members of the Full Council, who are not members of the Executive, with members drawn from all political party groups to reflect the party balance on the council.
There are seven scrutiny panels covering:
- Children and young people
- Community services
- Development
- Environmental quality
- Leisure and cultural development
- Resource management and audit
- Social justice and older people.
Planning and Regulatory Committees
The Planning committee is principally concerned with issues of planning and development, including the granting of planning permission and street naming. The Regulatory Committee deals with issues such as health and safety and buildings in need of repair as well as determining individual applications for registration and licencing of food premises, bars, restaurants and entertainment venues under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and other statutory powers. Membership of such committees reflects the party balance on the council.
Local Development Committees
There are 6 local development committees in Edinburgh, one for each Scottish Parliamentary Constituency in the city. Councillors whose ward falls within a parliamentary constituency form the members of each local development committee. Typically, there are 8 to 10 councillors on each committee. Local Development Committees are tasked with dealing with issues that are specific to their local area and influencing the delivery of key council services including street cleaning, urban parks, libraries, local development, road maintenance, traffic and parking issues. Local committees meet several times per year. Members of the public are able to attend and question councillors on issues of specific concern.
External Committees
The Council also appoints elected members to serve on:
- The Licencing Board
- Lothian and Borders Police Board
- Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Board
- Lothian Valuation Joint Board
- Forth Estuary Transport Authority
Electoral Wards
In terms of local governance, the City of Edinburgh is divided into 58 constituencies which are called wards. Each ward elects one member to represent it on the City of Edinburgh Council.
As of May 2006, the fifty-eight wards, their councillors and their party affiliations are:
Scottish Parliament
For purposes of administration under the Scottish Parliament, The city is divided into six Scottish Parliament constituencies, each of which returns one member under the First Past the Post system, as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP). In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Edinburgh elected three Labour, two Liberal Democrats and one Conservative MSP.
| Constituency | Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) | Party | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh Central | Sarah Boyack | Labour | 9,066 | 32.4 |
| Edinburgh East and Musselburgh | Susan Deacon | Labour | 12,655 | 43.6 |
| Edinburgh North and Leith | Malcolm Chisholm | Labour | 10,979 | 38.2 |
| Edinburgh Pentlands | David McLetchie | Conservative | 12,420 | 37.2 |
| Edinburgh South | Mike Pringle | Liberal Democrats | 10,005 | 32.0 |
| Edinburgh West | Margaret Smith | Liberal Democrats | 14,434 | 43.3 |
Given the nature of the additional member system used in electing members of the Scottish Parliament, the City of Edinburgh also constitutes a part of the Lothians electoral region (along with the council areas of Midlothian, East Lothian and West Lothian), where voters elect top-up members from the regional list. In 2003, the following additional members were elected from the Lothians electoral region:
Until 2005, both Edinburgh's Scottish Parliament constituencies and UK Parliament constituencies were coterminous - they shared the same geographical boundaries, but the review of Scotland's UK parliament representation in 2004 removed that link.
UK Parliament
For purposes of administration by the UK Parliament, the City of Edinburgh is composed of 5 UK Parliament constituencies, each of which elects one member, under the first past the post voting system to be its MP. Prior to 2005, the UK Parliament constituencies in Edinburgh shared the exact same boundaries and names as the Scottish Parliament constituencies listed previously. However in order to reduce Scotland's historical over representation in the House of Commons, Scotland's share of UK Parliament constituencies was reduced from 72 to 59 under proposals drawn up by the Boundary Commission for Scotland. The Parliament of the United Kingdom gave legislative consent to these proposals by passing the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004, which resulted in the City of Edinburgh losing 1 UK Parliament Constituency and the boundaries on the others redrawn. Under the reviewBBC News 2002 Political landscape set to change Boundary Commission for Scotland, 2004 Fifth Periodical Review of Constituencies:
- Edinburgh Central constituency was abolished and split between the original Edinburgh North and Leith and Edinburgh West constituencies and an entirely new constituency that was created - Edinburgh South West.
- Edinburgh East and Musselburgh took in parts of the Edinburgh North and Leith seat, with the town of Musselburgh being transferred into the East Lothian constituency, with the new seat renamed Edinburgh East.
- Edinburgh Pentlands constituency was also divided between the new Edinburgh South West seat and the existing Edinburgh South seat.
- Edinburgh North and Leith was increased in size by taking in parts of the old Edinburgh Central constituency.
- Edinburgh South was expanded in size taking in elements of the old Edinburgh Pentlands seat.
- Edinburgh South West was an entirely new constituency created for the 2005 UK general election taking in elements of the old Edinburgh Central seat, the original Edinburgh West seat and Edinburgh Pentlands seat.
- Edinburgh West was expanded to include some parts of the defunct Edinburgh Central seat.
| Constituency | Member of Parliament (MP) | Party | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh East | Gavin Strang | Labour | 15,899 | 40.0 |
| Edinburgh North and Leith | Mark Lazarowicz | Labour-Co-operative | 14,496 | 34.2 |
| Edinburgh South | Nigel Griffiths | Labour | 14,183 | 33.2 |
| Edinburgh South West | Alistair Darling | Labour | 17,476 | 39.8 |
| Edinburgh West | John Barrett | Liberal Democrats | 22,417 | 49.5 |
Towns and villages
Places of interest
See also
- List of Lord Provosts of Edinburgh
- Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004
- Lothian Regional Council
References
External links
- Edinburgh City Council
- Your Edinburgh
- Edinburgh City Council Local Plan
- Scottish Parliament
- United Kingdom Parliament
- Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994
Edinburgh | Unitary authorities of Scotland | Districts of Scotland
City of Edinburgh | City of Edinburgh | City of Edinburgh | Edynburg (hrabstwo) | Эдинбург (область) | Ceity o Edinburrie | City of Edinburgh
"City of Edinburgh"