City of Edinburgh Council
The City of Edinburgh Council provides political leadership and a wide range of services to make Edinburgh a cleaner, safer place to live and work.
Political Leadership
Councillors are democratically elected every four years by residents, to represent the area in which they live – called a ward. The next elections will be held in May 2011.
There are 58 Councillors from five political parties:
- Scottish Liberal Democrat - 17
- Labour - 15
- Scottish Nationalist - 12
- Conservative - 11
- Green - 3
Council Committees
Councillors make decisions and scrutinise the work of Council departments through various Committee meetings. The main committees are:
- full Council (all Councillors attend)
- Policy and Strategy Committee
- Executive Committees
- Audit Committee
- Committees for planning, regulatory and other purposes
- Neighbourhood Partnerships (advisory committees of the Council) - link to NP Scheme here
Other committees such as the Planning Committee, deal with special aspects of Council business.
Anyone can attend a Council meeting, or inspect the papers circulated for discussion and the minutes of the meeting. For more information visit the Council website.
How the Council delivers services
There are six departments in the Council which are each responsible for providing a range of services:
- Children and Families
- City Development
- Corporate Services
- Finance
- Health and Social Care
- Services for Communities
Each department is required to produce a yearly Service Plan to identifying ikey activities will be. Service Plans feed into the Council’s Corporate Plan.
What are the Council’s current aims?
The Council’s Corporate Plan, covering the period 2007-11, has seven ‘strategic outcomes’ that state what the Council aims to do for the city and its people:
- Edinburgh is a safe, green, clean and attractive city
- Edinburgh has a competitive and successful economy with sustainable communities
- The city has modern, effective transport arrangements
- The city has a range of affordable housing options
- Children and people of all ages are supported to achieve and fulfil their potential
- People who need extra help get the support they need, and
- High quality leisure, sporting and cultural facilities and events are provided for Edinburgh's citizens and visitors.
For more information please visit the City of Edinburgh Council’s website.
updated July 2008
