West Lothian Council is the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

for the council area of

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the A ...

in Scotland.

History

West Lothian District Council was created in 1975 as one of four

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

within the

Lothian Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scott ...

region. The West Lothian district took its name from the historic county of West Lothian, which had covered a similar but not identical area. The Lothian region was abolished in 1996, when the four districts in the region, including West Lothian, became unitary council areas.

Political control

The first election to the West Lothian District Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. A shadow authority was again elected in 1995 ahead of the reforms which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1975 has been as follows: West Lothian District Council West Lothian Council

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:

Elections

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:

Premises

The council is based at the West Lothian Civic Centre in

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American customs ...

. The building was built in 2009 at a cost of £50 million to serve as a police headquarters and courthouse as well as offices for the council. Prior to 2009 the council's offices had been divided between various buildings, including: * County Buildings in

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a ...

, which had been built in 1935 as the headquarters for the old West Lothian County Council. *Lindsay House on South Bridge Street,

Bathgate Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, Blackburn, Linlithgow, Livingston, West Calder and Whitburn. Situated south ...

, built in 1966 as the Burgh Chambers for the old Bathgate Town Council. *West Lothian House on Almondvale Boulevard in Livingston, which had been built in 1981 as Sidlaw House and had been the headquarters of the Livingston Development Corporation. Lindsay House and West Lothian House were both demolished shortly after the new Civic Centre opened in 2009.

Services

Like all

Scottish Councils Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as councils. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the major ...

, West Lothian Council provides services such as

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

Social Work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

Housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether ...

Highways A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

, Street lighting and Cleansing. The council is responsible for the co-ordination of the planning and provision of public services in West Lothian. It works closely with other public bodies such as police, fire and health, through its community planning partnership. West Lothian Council operates

country park A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised cou ...

s at

Beecraigs Beecraigs is a country park in West Lothian, approximately south of the town of Linlithgow and north-east of Bathgate and is a 4 star Visitor Attraction (Visitscotland). The Park comprises around of upland forest, woodland and open country ...

, Polkemmet, and Almondell & Calderwood.

Wards

During elections West Lothian Council is divided geographically into 9 wards which then elect either three or four councillors each by the

Single Transferable Vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

system. The electoral system of local councils in Scotland is governed by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, an Act of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...

which first introduced

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

to councils. These electoral wards are as follows:

References

External links

West Lothian Council web site
{{Wards of West Lothian Local authorities of Scotland Politics of West Lothian Organisations based in West Lothian Livingston, West Lothian