Identification

Title

Scottish Electoral Wards

Alternative title(s)

Multi-member Wards

MMW

Abstract

Local government in Scotland comprises 32 unitary local authorities (council areas), which are divided into wards for electoral purposes. There are currently a total of 1,227 councilors elected from 354 wards - with each ward returning 3 or 4 councilors. The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland is responsible for recommendations on the definition of ward boundaries, however, the definitive dataset is delineated by Ordnance Survey for inclusion in their BoundaryLine product.

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/opendatadownload/products.html

protocol: WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link

name: OS OpenData Supply

description: Download via OS OpenData

Unique resource identifier

code

OS_BL_ScottishElectoralWards

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

authority code

EPSG

code identifying the spatial reference system

OSGB 1936 / British National Grid (EPSG:27700)

Additional information source

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

boundaries

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Administrative units

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-01

Keyword set

keyword value

Local government

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-8.8

East bounding longitude

-0.71

North bounding latitude

60.87

South bounding latitude

54.63

Extent

Extent group

authority code

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2007-12-13

code identifying the extent

GB-SCT

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

creation

effective date

1994-11-11

date type

revision

effective date

2019-04-01

Frequency of update

asNeeded

Quality and validity

Lineage

The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland is responsible for reviewing and making recommendations to Scottish Ministers for local authority boundaries and electoral arrangements in Scotland. Electoral reviews make recommendations on the overall number of councillors in each local authority and number of councillors in each ward (each ward must elect either 3 or 4 councillors); the number of wards for local government elections and their boundaries; and the extent of council areas. Electoral reviews are undertaken roughly every 8 to 12 years. Recommendations that are accepted by Ministers are enacted by statutory instrument and passed to Ordnance Survey for inclusion in their BoundaryLine product. Following the reorganisation of councils into the 32 unitary local authorities, 1,245 electoral boundaries were defined following direction from the Secretary of State in accordance with Schedule 2 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. Since then, a number of formal reviews of electoral arrangements and administrative areas have taken place. A summary of the reviews and their impact on electoral ward boundaries is as follows: 3rd Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements: • First review following the introduction of 32 local authorities, resulting in 1,222 wards 4th Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements: • Resulted in the introduction of 353 multi-member wards Effective 2002-06-01 (SSI 2002/155-157): • Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire at Ardoch Sewage Works • Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire at Blackburn • Glasgow City and Renfrewshire at Braehead • City of Edinburgh and West Lothian at West Farm, Broxburn Effective 2010-04-01 (SSI 2009/368, 442): • Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire at Cardowan, by Stepps • Angus and Dundee City at Fithiebank Effective 2011-04-01 (SSI 2010/353): • East Dunbartonshire and Glasgow City at Princes Gate and Greenacres, by Robroyston Effective 2012/05/03 (SSI 2011/332): • West Lothian at Bathgate 5th Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements: • Amendments to wards in 25 of the 32 local authorities (no amendments to Argyll and Bute, Dundee City, Scottish Borders, Orkney, Shetland and Na h-Eileanan an Iar) Effective 2018-02-02 (SSI 2017/430): • Keltybridge and Fife Envirnonmental Energy Park at Westfield Effective 2019-04-01 (SSI 2018/308): • Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire at Cardowan, by Stepps With regards to the seaward extent of boundaries, this normally ends at the low water mark. In a small number of cases, a local government area has been extended by legislation around a port or harbour into the surrounding sea beyond the low water mark. The largest of these is Yell Sound in the Shetland Islands, and there are also substantial extensions at Aberdeen and Greenock.

Conformity

Conformity report

specification

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2010-10-23

degree

false

explanation

Data format

name of format

ESRI Shapefile

version of format

1.0

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

No limitations on public access

Constraint set

Use constraints

The following attribution statement must be used to acknowledge the source of the information: Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (insert year)

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

organisation name

Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland

full postal address

Thistle House, 91 Haymarket Terrace

Edinburgh

EH12 5HD

United Kingdom

email address

lgbcs@scottishboundaries.gov.uk

responsible party role

originator

Responsible party

contact position

Customer Services

organisation name

Ordnance Survey

full postal address

Explorer House, Adanac Drive

Southampton

SO16 0AS

United Kingdom

email address

customerservices@os.uk

responsible party role

distributor

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland

full postal address

Thistle House, 91 Haymarket Terrace

Edinburgh

EH12 5HD

United Kingdom

email address

lgbcs@scottishboundaries.gov.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2020-07-08

Metadata language