Islands (Scotland) Act 2018

Part 4 Representation of Island Communities

Elections to the Scottish Parliament

18 Constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar

(1) In schedule 1 of the Scotland Act 1998 (constituencies, regions and regional members)—

(a) in paragraph 1(2), before paragraph (a) insert—

“(za) the existing constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar,”,

(b) in paragraph 3(1), for “1(2)(a)” substitute “1(2)(za), (a)”, and

(c) in paragraph 12, in Rule 2—

(i) in paragraph (3), for “71” substitute “70”, and

(ii) in paragraph (7), after “areas of” insert “Comhairle nan Eilean Siar,”.

(2) In the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies and Regions) Order 2014 (S.I. 2014/501)—

(a) article 2 is to be read as if Na h-Eileanan an Iar were not included in the “deposited data” within the meaning of article 2(2), and

(b) in schedule 1—

(i) in the introductory words before the table, after “than” insert “Na h-Eileanan an Iar,”, and

(ii) in the table, the entry for the constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar is revoked.

(3) In article 42(10) of the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2015 (S.S.I. 2015/425), after “article” insert “the constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar,”.

Local government elections

19 Number of councillors in wards with inhabited islands

In section 1 of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (electoral wards), after subsection (2), insert—

“(2A) But, in relation to an electoral ward consisting wholly or partly of one or more inhabited islands (within the meaning of section 1(2) of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018), an order made under section 17 of the 1973 Act may determine that the number of councillors to be returned is either one or two.”.

20 Review of wards in certain local government areas

(1) As soon as practicable after the commencement of this section, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland (“Boundary Commission”) must—

(a) review the electoral arrangements for each local government area mentioned in subsection (2), for the purpose of considering future electoral arrangements for those areas, and

(b) formulate proposals for those arrangements.

(2) The local government areas are the areas of—

(a) Argyll and Bute Council,

(b) Comhairle nan Eilean Siar,

(c) Highland Council,

(d) North Ayrshire Council,

(e) Orkney Islands Council,

(f) Shetland Islands Council.

(3) Part 2 of the 1973 Act applies to a review under subsection (1) as it applies to a review under section 16 of that Act except that section 17 of that Act has effect as if it required the Boundary Commission to submit a report on the review before such date as the Scottish Ministers may direct.

(4) The review under subsection (1) is to be disregarded for the purposes of calculating the intervals between the Boundary Commission reviews of electoral arrangements under section 16(2) of the 1973 Act (duty to review electoral arrangements).

(5) In this section, “1973 Act” means the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.