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.
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 2017.
There are 58 Councillors representing the following groups:
- Labour - 20
- Scottish Nationalist - 17
- Conservative - 11
- Green - 6
- Scottish Liberal Democrat - 3
- Independant - 1
Councillors make decisions and scrutinise the work of
Council service areas 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
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
How the Council delivers services
There are six service areas in the Council which are
each responsible for providing a range of services:
- Children and Families
- City Development
- Corporate Services
- Health and Social Care
- Services for Communities
Each service area is required to produce a yearly
Service Plan to identify what the key activities are. Service Plans
feed into the Council's Corporate Plan.
What are the Council's current aims?
- Ensuring every child in Edinburgh has the best start in
- Reducing poverty, inequality and deprivation
- Providing for Edinburgh 's prosperity
- Strengthening and supporting our communities and keeping them
- Ensuring Edinburgh, and its residents, are well cared-for
- Maintaining and improving the quality of life in Edinburgh
The Council's Strategic Plan, covering the period 2012-17, has
five strategic outcomes stating the Council's aims for the city and
For more information please visit the City
of Edinburgh Council's website.