Orkney Islands Council

Orkney Islands Council
Orkney Islands Council
	Flag
	Council logo
Type
Type	Unitary authority
Leadership
Convener	Graham Bevan, ; Independent ; since 17 May 2022
Leader	James Stockan, ; Independent ; since 16 May 2017
Chief Executive	Oliver Reid ; since January 2023
Structure
Seats	21 councillors
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 Orkney, Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes of the mid-1990s.

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.^[1] The council is allowed to collect 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.^[2]

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.^[3]^[4] The Paterson Church, or East Church, was built in 1847 and converted and incorporated into the council offices in the early 2000s.^[5]

Elections

2012

Between 2012 and 2017 the council consisted of 21 members, all of whom were independent; they did not stand as representatives of a political party.^[6]

These members are elected in the following wards:

East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray (3 members)
Kirkwall East (4 members)
Kirkwall West and Orphir (4 members)
North Isles (3 members)
Stromness and South Isles (3 members)
West Mainland (4 members).

2017

After the 2017 election there were 18 independents, 2 Orkney Manifesto Group (OMG) councillors and 1 Green councillor.^[7] Of these, 18 councillors were actually elected; the remaining 3 were declared on the election day "as the result of the uncontested election in the Stromness and South Isles ward, where the number of candidates was equal to or less than the number of seats available".^[8]

There were no official changes to the political composition of the council during the 2017–2022 term. However, independent councillor John Ross Scott (Kirkwall East) did announce he had joined the Greens in 2021, which did not change his affiliation on the council.^[9] One by-election was held and resulted in an independent hold.^[10]

The 2017 election elected these members: Candidates elected to form the new Council alongside Rob Crichton, James Stockan and Magnus Thomson in the uncontested Stromness and South Isles ward are:

Kirkwall East ward - David Dawson, Steven Heddle, John Ross Scott, Gwenda Shearer.

Kirkwall West and Orphir - Sandy Cowie, Barbara Foulkes, Leslie Manson, John Richards.

West Mainland - Harvey Johnston, Rachael King, Owen Tierney, Duncan Allan Tullock.

East Mainland - South Ronaldsay and Burray - Norman Craigie, Andrew Drever, Steve Sankey.

North Isles - Stephen Clackson, Graham Sinclair, Kevin Woodbridge.^[11]

2022

After the 2022 election there were 19 independents, and 2 Green councillors.^[12]

Composition

Seat composition
Party		2022
	Independent	19
	Scottish Greens	2

Leaders

Political Leaders


No.		Political Leader	Party	Period in office	Election
1		James Stockan	Independent	2017–present	2017 2022

Convenors


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

References

^ Council, orkney.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ Marine Services, orkneyharbours.com. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ "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.
^ "Social Work Inspection Agency: Performance Inspection Orkney Islands Council 2006. Chapter 2: Context." The Scottish Government. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
^ "Orkney Islands Council : Election 2017 Results". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
^ "Orkney's results declared for the 2017 Scottish Local Government elections". Orkney Islands Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
^ "Councillor John Ross Scott joins Scottish Greens". The Orcadian. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
^ "Heather Woodbridge wins North Isles council seat". The Orcadian. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
^ "Orkney's results declared for the 2017 Scottish Local Government elections".
^ "Local Government Election - 5 May 2022". Orkney Islands Council. Retrieved 30 March 2022.

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

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

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

[4] 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.

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

[6] "Social Work Inspection Agency: Performance Inspection Orkney Islands Council 2006. Chapter 2: Context." The Scottish Government. Retrieved 8 September 2009.

[7] "Orkney Islands Council : Election 2017 Results". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2017.

[8] "Orkney's results declared for the 2017 Scottish Local Government elections". Orkney Islands Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.

[9] "Councillor John Ross Scott joins Scottish Greens". The Orcadian. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2022.

[10] "Heather Woodbridge wins North Isles council seat". The Orcadian. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2022.

[11] "Orkney's results declared for the 2017 Scottish Local Government elections".

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

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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.