Deprivation, Population and Workload: Local Councillors in Scotland

This paper describes research commissioned by The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland [LGBCS] on changing aspects of ‘the role and workload of councillors [to] help inform our future reviews of electoral arrangements‘. It is based on a background review of the literature on councillor roles and workload over six decades; an online survey (with a 38% response rate) distributed to all councillors in Scotland; and subsequent interviews with 35 councillors. The purpose of this research was to gain a better understanding of the roles and workload of councillors. We describe and analyse what councillors report they are doing, and the factors that affect this workload. This includes assessment of factors such as population and its sparsity, deprivation and the move to multi-member wards under STV. 1.2 Scotland has 1,223 councillors who represent 353 wards. These councillors are responsible for overseeing local authorities who spend approximately one third of public expenditure in Scotland and employ 201,500 (FTE) (Accounts Commission 2015). Councils vary significantly in both geography and population. For example, Dundee covers only 26 square miles while Highlands covers 12,437. Orkney has 20,000 people while Glasgow has over 600,000 (Improvement Service 2012). 1.3 There have been various studies that have looked at councilor roles and workload.