The Scottish Parliament (Regional Returning Officers) Order 2011

Statutory Instruments

2011 No. 576    (S. 1 )

Constitutional Law

Devolution, Scotland

Representation Of The People

The Scottish Parliament (Regional Returning Officers) Order 2011

Made

1st March 2011

Coming into force

2nd March 2011

This Order is made in exercise of the powers conferred by section 12(6) of the Scotland Act 1998(1).

The Secretary of State has consulted with the Electoral Commission as required by section 7 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000(2).

Accordingly the Secretary of State makes the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Scottish Parliament (Regional Returning Officers) Order 2011 and shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“local authority” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994(3); and

“local government area” means the area of a local authority.

Regional returning officers

3.  For the purposes of the Scotland Act 1998, the person designated as the regional returning officer for a region specified in the first column of the Schedule to this Order is the person who, under section 41 of the Representation of the People Act 1983(4), is the returning officer for elections of councillors for the local authority for the local government area specified in the corresponding entry in the second column of that Schedule.

Revocation

4.  The Scottish Parliament (Regional Returning Officers) (Scotland) (No.2) Order 1999(5) is revoked.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State

DAVID MUNDELL

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Scotland Office

Dover House, London

1st March 2011

Article 3

SCHEDULE REGIONAL RETURNING OFFICERS FOR THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT REGIONS

(1) Region	(2) Local government area
Central Scotland	North Lanarkshire
Glasgow	Glasgow City
Highlands and Islands	Highland
Lothian	City of Edinburgh
Mid Scotland and Fife	Fife
North East Scotland	Aberdeen City
South Scotland	Dumfries and Galloway
West Scotland	Renfrewshire

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order designates, for the purposes of the Scotland Act 1998, the person who is the regional returning officer for each Scottish Parliament region. Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the 1998 Act provides for there to be eight regions for the purposes of the Act and for seven regional members to be returned for each region. The regions are now specified in the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies and Regions) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/2691). Regional returning officers perform functions, conferred by or under the 1998 Act, in relation to the election and return of regional members of the Scottish Parliament. This Order revokes the previous Order made under section 12(6) of the 1998 Act (which designated regional returning officers for the regions which existed prior to the coming into force of S.I. 2010/2691).

(1)

1998 c. 46.

(2)

2000 c. 41.

(3)

1994 c. 39.

(4)

1983 c. 2.

(5)

S.I. 1999/829.