“If we are to have better decision-making at community level we need stronger and deeper democracy .”
Community Councils have been with us in Scotland for over 50 years being first established in Scotland following the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Do they still have a role to play in local democracy or have they been supplanted by other forms of representation or through a lack of knowledge about their value ?
A Community Council is an elected body of volunteers who represent the town/parish/parishes you are a resident of in Orkney. The largest covers Kirkwall and St Ola. Elections are held, just as they are for other forms of government, however, the only paid member serving a Community Council is the clerk who receives a small payment for providing clerical assistance to the Community Councillors.
As an elected body by you the voter, the Community Council holds regular meetings and can represent a local view about where you live to Orkney Islands Council. To find out those views it can conduct surveys and hold events – funding permitting.
Some Community Councils publish what they have been doing in newsletters or on a social media page. The online Stronsay Limpet, reports the news from the island’s Community Council, but also other organisations within Stronsay, for instance its Development Trust. In 2022 The Orkney News covered the important work of The Stronsay Limpet newsletter in an filmed interview with its editor Bruce Fletcher, part of the series ‘Orcadian Stories’, within the national project, Scotland’s Year of Stories. Bruce Fletcher has been editor of The Stronsay Limpet since 2009 and provides an excellent service keeping the folk of the island (and further afield) abreast of what is happening. The Limpet’s website is funded by the Stronsay Development Trust.
In Orkney Community Councils and Development Trusts work together for the improvement of their local communities. It can be a tricky balance, especially in communities with smaller populations finding those committed citizens willing to give up their time to serve on these organisations. There will be individual issues about which they may not agree with each other – but that is part and parcel of the democratic process – discussing ideas, taking on alternative views – but above all working for their communities.
The Orkney News spoke to some community councillors about why they decided to take on that role. One said how much he enjoyed being a community councillor, although he hadn’t thought of being a member until he was approached by a councillor who was standing down. Describing some of the work he has been involved with he said:
“On the occasions when we have a work party – sometimes with the help of other local residents – it gives me a positive sense of community.”
And he continued:
“The challenging financial position of Orkney Islands Council inevitably has an effect on the community council’s funding. But we are still able to make a difference, sometimes working with the county council, and I would not like to see community councils replaced.
“Recently we have seen OIC officials less at our meetings and this is a shame. Often, the official was able to answer a query on-the-spot without the need for the clerk to write a letter, and then for us to wait to discuss the response at our next meeting.
“But I welcome the presence of our area’s county councillors at our meetings. Most of them are there every time and I appreciate their commitment, given the large number of meetings they have to attend. The community council meetings are an important way of reflecting local concerns “up the chain”.
“My biggest concern is the lack of public profile for community councils. The larger ones are reported in our local newspaper but for smaller ones it can be difficult to get people’s attention. For example, I have heard one local person who is very involved in the community generally admit that they know little about community councils.
“To anyone thinking of standing in the future – I believe there will be elections due in 2027 – I would definitely recommend it. Don’t expect to change the world in an instant but you can contribute to an important part of local democracy.”
A voice for their local area.
The role of the Community Council, wherever you live in Scotland, is to ‘act as a voice for their local area.” A vital role when so many large infrastructure projects may be taking place around energy transmission, housing developments, changes in land use, or public transport timetables. The Community Council has “a statutory right to be consulted on planning applications.” When so many people reach to social media to share their views, the Community Council is another, and perhaps more useful route they can use when they are concerned, or supportive of future planned developments in their parish/town.
“I was motivated to become a community councillor as I recognised that some good projects had been done around Kirkwall and St Ola by the community council in the past,” a community councillor told the Orkney News.
Funding for projects limits what Community Councils can do when they rely on that source of finance coming from Orkney Islands Council. In the case of Kirkwall and St Ola, the ‘Kirkwall Common Good Fund’ which was absorbed into the coffers of OIC on local government re-organisation, is no longer available for projects which would benefit the community. Once for the use of those in the town, it is now tied up in assets.
A community councillor commented:
“If we are to have better decision-making at community level we need stronger and deeper democracy with more resources than the current community council structure, to ensure folk can properly benefit from wealth generated where they live.”
One source of funding it was suggested could be a proportion of income from the OICs windfarm project.
Many Community Councils have vacancies for councillors. Is there a reluctance for islanders to commit to the role or are they just not sure what it entails? Those who give up their time and volunteer to serve and represent their local parish are our friends and neighbours. Orkney Islands Councillors do not hold surgeries where citizens can go and speak to them, however, at least by attending the Community Council, they can be made aware of the views within the area they represent at Local Authority Level. It should be noted that in Scotland the basic annual pay for Local Authority councillors from 1 April 2025 is £25,982, plus expenses. The Community Councillor is a volunteer.
Orkney Islands Council provides Community Councils with an annual grant of £3,500 a year, which can be used as they see fit. There are also a range of other funds that can be applied for “through the Community Council Grant Scheme, Seed Corn funding and Community Development Funding (CDF).” Shetland Islands Council provides each Community Council with differing core funding ranging from £4,302 (Fetlar) to £17,923 (Lerwick).
Perhaps Community Councils are yet to have their day as the Scottish Parliament has passed the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill. According to a SPICe briefing document (27 May 2025) on the Bill:
“Practical examples of CWB could include more localised procurement, payment of the real living wage, encouraging business models such as co-operatives, and transferring assets, such as properties or derelict land, to community organisations. ”
This is the Scottish Government’s plan to build a well being economy – more sustainable and resilient to global events, as we witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic, and discovered just how important our local shops and businesses were. The Bill’s focus is on Local Authorities, however, this could be an opportunity for Community Councils to assert their voice in delivering the best for their communities.
Recently the Scottish Government published The Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline where it stated,
“As part of this commitment, we will work with Shetland Islands Council, Orkney Islands Council, and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, to agree a transformative mixed model funding package for social and economic infrastructure – an Accelerator Model.”
“It aims to deliver, among other things, an investment in net zero energy for public spaces, fixed link enhancements and improvements to infrastructure. This joint initiative should unlock hundreds of millions of investment in the three communities.”
It is time that we see a commitment by Orkney Islands Council to a more locally accountable devolved system of government with Community Councils having a much enhanced role. It was way back in 2017 that Councillor James Stockan, as the Leader of OIC promised to decentralise more powers.
He was quoted in the Holyrood magazine on October 18 2017 that he would “fundamentally change the things we do.”
and he continued:
“My view is there’s a lot of things the council does at present that are maybe not statutory duties that we need to take out of our scope and lower them down to engage communities to do…and giving them budgets to deliver it in a different way.”
That has not happened in Orkney.
If Community Wealth Building is to actually make the difference to create a well being economy that it seeks to do – that must start by a shift to actual local empowerment. Community Councils are already there, but lacking the funds to do so.
Fiona Grahame
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