Subdivisions of Scotland

For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 council areas, which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as "councils".

Similarly, the current land registration system in Scotland divides Scotland into 33 counties, each coming into effect on various dates between 1981 and 2003.

The 32 "council areas" have the option under the Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997 of being known (but not re-designated) as a "comhairle" when opting for a Gaelic name; only Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar (Council of the Western Isles) has chosen this option, whereas the Highland Council (Comhairle na Gaidhealtachd) has adopted its Gaelic form alongside its English equivalent informally.

The council areas have been in existence since 1 April 1996, under the provisions of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

Other administrative bodies (some of which are described below) still follow boundaries derived from older local government arrangements.

History of the subdivisions of Scotland
Traditionally burghs have been the key unit of the local government of Scotland, being highly autonomous entities, with rights to representation in the old Parliament of Scotland. Even after the Acts of Union 1707, burghs continued to be the principal subdivision. Until 1889 administration was on a burgh and parish basis.

The years following 1889 saw the introduction of a hierarchy of local government administration comprising counties, counties of cities, large burghs and small burghs.

In 1973 in Local Acts and instruments, the "Local Authority" meant "a council of a county, county of a city, burgh or district ".

With effect from 16 May 1975 and until 31 March 1996 the local government divisions of Scotland consisted of an upper tier of regions each containing a lower tier of districts except for the single-tier island council areas.

The 1996 reform of local government in Scotland, enacted by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, studiously avoided specifying a name for the area administered by a unitary authority. The boundaries of each council's jurisdiction often differed from those of both the regions and districts instituted in the 1970s and of the counties established in the 1890s, which were themselves often based on the shires or sheriffdoms, the first of which were established by Malcolm III. When one also takes into account the burghs the true complexity of the matter is revealed. Thus it is not actually known what the correct term for the areas governed by the new unitary councils is or even if there is one.

Council areas


Source: 2011 Census for Scotland

Other subdivisions
Scotland has several other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils.

Police and fire services
As of 1 April 2013 both the Police and fire services will become a single National Police Force and a single National Fire Service. In the case of the Police force: The full legal name of the organisation, as described in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, is the Police Service of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Seirbheis Phoilis na h-Alba). In the case of the Fire Service: The full legal name of the organisation, as described in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, is the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).

(Pre 1975)
Policing was the responsibility of the Cities and Burghs of Scotland. (see List of burghs in Scotland)

(1975 - 2013)
Police and fire service areas date from the era (1975 to 1996) of regions and districts and island council areas.

Electoral and valuation
There are several joint boards for electoral registration and the purposes of property valuation for assessing council tax and rates.

Health
See also NHS Scotland

Transport
The Scottish Government has created seven "Regional Transport Partnerships", for establishing transport policy in the regions. They broadly follow council area groupings.

Eurostat NUTS
In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), Scotland is a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKM", which is subdivided as follows:

Sheriffdoms
Sheriffdoms are judicial areas. Since 1 January 1975 these have been six in number:


 * Glasgow and Strathkelvin
 * Grampian, Highland and Islands
 * Lothian and Borders
 * North Strathclyde
 * South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
 * Tayside, Central and Fife

Civil parishes
Scotland is divided into 871 civil parishes which often resemble same-named but legally different ecclesiastical parishes. Although they have had no administrative function since 1930, they still exist and are still used for statistical purposes such as the census. Many former civil parish areas also continue to form current registration districts. It should be noted that many boundary changes have occurred over the years and that an area currently derived from an old parish might no longer contain a place previously within that parish. Similarly, county boundaries (as still used for land registration) have also changed over the years such that a parish mentioned historically (generally before the 1860s) as being in one county (or sometimes two due to straddling a border) might now be in a neighbouring county and consequentially in a different succeeding council area.

Communities
The base level of sub-division in Scotland is that of communities which may elect community councils (CCs). The main role of the CCs is to channel local opinion to larger local-government bodies. Otherwise they have very limited powers. There are around 1,200 communities in Scotland. Not all communities have councils; some have joint councils.

Scottish communities are the nearest equivalent to civil parishes in England.