Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994


The Local Government etc. Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland.
It abolished the two-tier structure of regions and districts created by the Local Government Act 1973 which had previously covered Scotland except for the islands council areas.
The Act came into effect on 1 April 1996, applying beginning with the 1995 Scottish local elections.

Initial proposals

The Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Lang outlined proposed areas in a statement to the Commons on 8 July 1993. This outlined 25 unitary authorities, as follows
Schedule I of the Act defined the new local government areas in terms of the existing districts and regions. Islands council areas had been unitary council areas since implementation of the 1973 Act, and Section 3 of the 1994 Act provided that the existing islands areas were to continue to be local government areas.

Area councils

Each area established by the Act was to be governed by an elected council. The council's title was simply the name of the area followed by the word "Council": Argyll and Bute Council, Aberdeen City Council and so on. Each area was divided into wards with each ward returning a single councillor. The councillors were required to elect a convener, and could choose to elect a deputy convener. In the four city areas the convener's title was to be Lord Provost. In the other council areas the convener was to be "known by such title as the council may determine", other than Lord Provost. In 1998 sixteen councils were using the title "provost", the remaining twelve having conveners.
Area councils were obliged to make a draft decentralisation scheme by 1 April 1997. The scheme could provide for:
The plan was to include dates at which the various proposals were to be carried out. Having made the draft plan there was to be an eight-week period in which the area council was to consult with the relevant community councils and invite the public to make observations. The decentralisation scheme could then be adopted in original or modified form.

Community councils

s established by district councils under the 1973 Act were to continue to exist. The area councils took on the powers of the abolished districts to make or amend schemes for the establishment of communities.

Water supply and sewerage

Part II of the Act reorganised water supply and sewerage services, previously the responsibility of regional councils. Three water authorities were established, each with a defined water area and sewerage area. The water and sewerage areas were defined in schedule 8, as follows:
The Act also established a Scottish Water and Sewerage Customers Council. The three water authorities were merged in 2002 to form Scottish Water.

Other functions

The reorganisation of local government areas also led to changes in policing, fire services, public transport and tourism promotion. These had been organised in 1975 to correspond to one or more regions.