Orkney Islands Council

Orkney Islands Council
Orkney Islands Council
	Flag
	Council logo
Leadership
Convener	Graham Bevan, ; Independent ; since 17 May 2022
Leader	Heather Woodbridge, ; Independent ; since 20 February 2024
Chief Executive	Oliver Reid ; since January 2023
Structure
Seats	21 councillors
	Results of the 2022 election:
Political groups	Independent (19) Greens (2)
Length of term	Full council elected every 5 years
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	2027
Motto
	Boreas domus mare amicus (Latin: "The north our home, the sea our friend")
Meeting place
	Council Offices, School Place, Kirkwall, KW15 1NY
Website
	www.orkney.gov.uk

The Orkney Islands Council (Scottish Gaelic: Comhairle Eileanan Arcaibh), is the local authority for the Orkney Islands, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes of 1996.

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.^[2] The council collects 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.^[3]

History

Orkney had been administered by Commissioners of Supply from 1667 and then by Orkney County Council from 1890 to 1975. The county council was abolished in 1975 and replaced by the Orkney Islands Council, which also took over the functions previously exercised by Orkney's lower-tier authorities, being the town councils of the two burghs of Kirkwall and Stromness, and the councils of the area's landward districts. The new council created in 1975 was an islands council of an area legally called Orkney.^[4]

Further local government reform in 1996 introduced single-tier council areas across all of Scotland. The councils of the three island areas created in 1975, including Orkney, continued to provide the same services after 1996, but their areas were re-designated as council areas. The geographic area's legal name was changed from Orkney to 'Orkney Islands' as part of the 1996 reforms, allowing the council to retain the name 'Orkney Islands Council'.^[5]

Political control

The first election was held in 1974, with the council initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. A majority of the seats on the council have been held by independent councillors since 1975.^[6]

Party in control		Years
	Independent	1975–present

Leadership

Political Leaders


No.		Political Leader	Party	Period in office	Election
1		James Stockan^[7]	Independent	2017–2024	2017 2022
2		Heather Woodbridge	Independent	2024–present	2024

In February 2024, Heather Woodbridge was announced as the new leader for the council. She is the first woman to lead the Orkney Islands Council, and at 29 years old is the youngest local authority leader in Scotland.^[8]

Conveners


No.	Convener	Party	Period in office	Election
1	George Marwick	Independent	1974–1978	1974
2	Edwin Eunson	Independent	1978–1990	1978 1982 1986
3	Jackie Tait	Independent	1990–1994	1994
4	Hugh Halcro-Johnston	Independent	1994–2003	1994 1999
5	Stephen Hagan	Independent	2003–2012	2003 2007
6	Steven Heddle	Independent	2012–2017	2012
7	Harvey Johnston	Independent	2017–2022	2017
8	Graham Bevan	Independent	2022–present	2022

Composition

Following the 2022 election, the composition of the council was:^[9]

Party		Councillors
	Independent	19
	Scottish Green	2
Total		21

The next election is due in 2027.^[10]

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022, the council has comprised 21 councillors representing 6 wards, with each ward electing three or four councillors. Elections are held every five years.^[11]

Wards

Premises

The council is based at the Council Offices on School Place in Kirkwall. The building comprises the former Kirkwall Grammar School and the neighbouring former Paterson Church, with modern extensions linking the older buildings. The former Grammar School was built c. 1890 and converted to become the council's offices in 1978.^[12]^[13] The Paterson Church, or East Church, was built in 1847 and converted and incorporated into the council offices in the early 2000s.^[14]

References

^ Eichler, William (21 February 2024). "Orkney names Scotland's youngest council leader". localgov.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
^ Council, orkney.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ Marine Services, orkneyharbours.com. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1973 c. 65, retrieved 17 April 2023
^ "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 39, retrieved 17 April 2023
^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
^ "Orkney Islands Council leader James Stockan to step down". BBC News. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
^ "Orkney appoints Scotland's youngest council leader". BBC News. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
^ "Local Government Election – 5 May 2022". Orkney Islands Council. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
^ "Orkney Islands". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
^ Scottish Parliament. The Orkney Islands (Electoral Arrangements) Regulations 2021 as made, from legislation.gov.uk.
^ "Council move in". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 25 March 1978. p. 23. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
^ Historic Environment Scotland. "School Place, Orkney Islands Council Offices, formerly Kirkwall Grammar School, including boundary walls (Category B Listed Building) (LB36809)". Retrieved 13 July 2023.
^ Historic Environment Scotland. "School Place, Paterson Church / East Church, including boundary walls and railings (Category B Listed Building) (LB46013)". Retrieved 13 July 2023.

[1] Eichler, William (21 February 2024). "Orkney names Scotland's youngest council leader". localgov.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2024.

[2] Council, orkney.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2015.

[3] Marine Services, orkneyharbours.com. Retrieved 3 July 2015.

[1973act-4] "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1973 c. 65, retrieved 17 April 2023

[5] "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 39, retrieved 17 April 2023

[compositions-6] "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2024.

[7] "Orkney Islands Council leader James Stockan to step down". BBC News. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.

[8] "Orkney appoints Scotland's youngest council leader". BBC News. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.

[9] "Local Government Election – 5 May 2022". Orkney Islands Council. Retrieved 30 March 2022.

[10] "Orkney Islands". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 9 October 2024.

[11] Scottish Parliament. The Orkney Islands (Electoral Arrangements) Regulations 2021 as made, from legislation.gov.uk.

[12] "Council move in". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 25 March 1978. p. 23. Retrieved 13 July 2023.

[13] Historic Environment Scotland. "School Place, Orkney Islands Council Offices, formerly Kirkwall Grammar School, including boundary walls (Category B Listed Building) (LB36809)". Retrieved 13 July 2023.

[14] Historic Environment Scotland. "School Place, Paterson Church / East Church, including boundary walls and railings (Category B Listed Building) (LB46013)". Retrieved 13 July 2023.

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v t e Local government of Scotland
Council areas	Aberdeen City Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll and Bute Clackmannanshire Dumfries and Galloway Dundee City East Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire East Lothian East Renfrewshire City of Edinburgh Falkirk Fife Glasgow City Highland Inverclyde Midlothian Moray Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Orkney Perth and Kinross Renfrewshire Scottish Borders Shetland South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire Stirling West Dunbartonshire West Lothian
Councils	Aberdeen City Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll and Bute Clackmannanshire Dumfries and Galloway Dundee City East Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire East Lothian East Renfrewshire City of Edinburgh Falkirk Fife Glasgow City Highland Inverclyde Midlothian Moray Comhairle nan Eilean Siar North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Orkney Islands Perth and Kinross Renfrewshire Scottish Borders Shetland Islands South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire Stirling West Dunbartonshire West Lothian
List by area, population, density

v t e Orkney
List of Orkney islands
Inhabited islands	Mainland Auskerry Burray Eday Egilsay Flotta Gairsay Graemsay Holm of Grimbister Hoy Inner Holm North Ronaldsay Papa Stronsay Papa Westray Rousay Sanday Shapinsay South Ronaldsay South Walls Stronsay Westray Wyre
Other islands	Eynhallow Helliar Holm Lamb Holm Switha Swona North West islands North East islands South West islands South East islands
Towns	Kirkwall Stromness
Mainland parishes	Birsay Deerness Evie Firth Harray Holm Orphir Rendall St Andrews St Ola Sandwick Stenness Stromness
Topics	Geology Prehistory History Scapa Flow Witchcraft
Politics	Earls of Orkney Orkney Islands Council Flag of Orkney Orkney (Scottish Parliament constituency) Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency) Orcadian Women's Suffrage Society
Sport	Kirkwall Ba game Orkney Amateur Football Association Orkney F.C. Orkney representative football team

v t e Local government areas of Scotland, in use 1975 to 1996
Borders	Berwickshire Ettrick and Lauderdale Roxburgh Tweeddale
Central Region	Clackmannan Falkirk Stirling
Dumfries and Galloway	Annandale and Eskdale Nithsdale Stewartry Wigtown
Fife	Dunfermline Kirkcaldy North East Fife
Grampian	Aberdeen Banff and Buchan Gordon Kincardine and Deeside Moray
Highland	Badenoch and Strathspey Caithness Inverness Lochaber Nairn Ross and Cromarty Skye and Lochalsh Sutherland
Lothian	East Lothian Edinburgh Midlothian West Lothian
Strathclyde	Argyll and Bute Bearsden and Milngavie Strathkelvin Clydebank Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Cumnock and Doon Valley Cunninghame Dumbarton East Kilbride Eastwood Glasgow Hamilton Inverclyde Kilmarnock and Loudoun Kyle and Carrick Clydesdale Monklands Motherwell Renfrew
Tayside	Angus Dundee Perth and Kinross
Island areas¹	Orkney Shetland Western Isles
¹ The island areas were unitary authorities, combining the powers of a region and a district.