Background
Accepting the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Scottish Elections in 2007 (the Gould Report), the Scottish Government took the decision to decouple future Parliamentary and Local Government Elections. On 3rd February 2009, the Government introduced to the Scottish Parliament the Scottish Local Government Elections Bill to decouple, or separate, future elections so that they are held in different years.
At the Bill's passage on June 17, 2009, Minister for Parliamentary Business Bruce Crawford said:
"Local government elections are an important part of the democratic system in Scotland. Our councils do a vital job and it is right that elections to these bodies are given their proper place, rather than overshadowed by national elections on the same day.
"Holding the elections on different dates will help eliminate the voter confusion that was experienced in 2007 and give Scottish local government elections the prominence they deserve."
The Local Government Elections Act has two purposes. The first is to decouple future Scottish Parliamentary and Local government elections by extending the current and next term of local government by one year. This will result in the next local government elections taking place in 2012 and 2017 respectively. Thereafter, local elections will revert to four year terms and take place at the mid-point in the Scottish Parliamentary term.
Release of Post Election Information
The second purpose is to make provision for the publication of certain information relating to votes cast at local government elections. As well as increasing transparency and instilling confidence in the overall result, the publication of this information will allow for a better understanding of voting patterns at a more localised level than is currently available.
Progress and Passage
The Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on June 17, 2009 with no amendments. Royal assent was received on July 21 2009. Full details of the Act's progress can be found on the Scottish Parliament's website.
Publications