Orkney Islands Council


The OIC Orkney Islands Council is the local authority for Orkney, Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government 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. 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.

Elections

Between 2012–2017 the council consisted of 21 members, all of whom are independent, that is they did not stand as representatives of a political party.
After the 2017 election there are 18 Independents, 2 Orkney Manifesto Group councillors and 1 Green councillor. 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".

Council Structure