Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1889 c. 50 |
Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889.
(52 & 53 Vict.) CHAPTER 50.
An Act to amend the Laws relating to Local Government in Scotland.
[26th August 1889]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Preliminary.
1 Short title.
1. This Act may be cited as theLocal Government (Scotland) Act, 1889.
2 Extent of Act.
2. This Act shall extend to Scotland only.
PART I.
Constitution and Powers of County Council.
Constitution of County Council.
3 Establishment of county council.
3. A council (in this Act referred to as a county council or the council of a county) shall be established in every county, and be entrusted with the management of the administrative and financial business of that county as herein-after provided.
Councillors.
4 Composition and term of office of council.
(1)4.—(1.) Subject to the provisions of this Act the councillors of a county council shall be elective, and for the purpose of their election a county shall be divided into electoral divisions; and one county councillor only shall be elected for each electoral division.
(2) (2.) On each county council there shall be such number of elective councillors and in each county there shall be such number of electoral divisions, and the contents and boundaries of the electoral divisions shall be such as may be determined in manner in this Act mentioned: Provided that every police burgh shall be an electoral division or shall be divided into two or more electoral divisions.
(3) (3.) The term of office of a councillor shall be three years, and in every third year the whole number of councillors shall go out of office, and their places shall be filled by election. Provided that the county councillors first elected under the provisions of this Act shall continue in office only until the first Tuesday of December in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two, when the whole number of councillors shall go out of office, and their places shall be filled by election as herein-after provided.
Provided always, that if any police burgh or other electoral division shall, after the passing of this Act, be annexed to or included within the boundaries of any burgh, the councillor or councillors for such police burgh or electoral division shall, from and after the date when such annexation or inclusion takes effect, cease to hold office, and the number of the councillors for the county shall be reduced accordingly. Provided also that if a part only of any electoral division shall be so annexed or included, the councillor or councillors for such electoral division shall continue to hold office until the Secretary for Scotland shall otherwise determine.
5 Number and apportionment of councillors.
5. The Secretary for Scotland shall determine the number of councillors to be elected to a county council, and shall apportion them between the county and each of the burghs (if any) entitled, as herein-after provided, to be represented on the county council, and in making such determination and apportionment the Secretary for Scotland shall have regard to the population, distribution, and pursuits of the population, area, annual value as appearing on the valuation rolls, and other circumstances of the county and burghs respectively.
6 Qualification of electors.
6. The councillor for an electoral division shall be elected by the persons registered as herein-after provided as county electors for that division.
7 Qualification of councillors.
7. A person shall not be qualified to be elected or to be a councillor for an electoral division of a county unless he is at the time of the election registered as a county elector for such county.
8 Appointment of councillors by certain burghs.
8. Every burgh which contains a population of less than seven thousand shall, for the purposes herein-after mentioned, and subject to the provisions of this Act, be represented on the county council of the county within which it is situated, or with which it has the longest common boundary, in manner following, that is to say:
(1) (1.) The county councillors to be elected for such burgh shall be elected by the town council of such burgh from among their own number, at a meeting of the town council to be held in the month of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety, and in the month of November in every subsequent year in which the election of a county council is appointed to take place.
(2) (2.) The term of office of a county councillor for a burgh shall be three years, provided that his term of office as a county councillor shall terminate when he ceases to be a town councillor, and the town council shall fill up any casual vacancy arising under this section at their first meeting after such vacancy occurs, but such appointment shall only be till the time of the next county council election.
(3) (3.) The provisions of this section shall apply to a royal burgh which contains a population of more than seven thousand, but does not return or contribute to return a member to Parliament, and to any burgh which contains a population of more than seven thousand, but does not maintain a separate police force.
(4) (4.) The expression ‘the Representation of the People Acts,’ in section three of the Representation of the People Act, 1884 , is hereby declared to include the Acts regulating the registration of municipal electors.
9 Disqualifications for being councillor or member of committee.
(1)9.—(1.) No woman shall be eligible for election as a county councillor; and
(2) (2.) A person shall be disqualified for being elected and for being a county councillor or member of a committee in this Act mentioned, if and while he—
(a .) Holds any office or place of profit under the county council or any committee in this Act mentioned; or
(b .) Has directly or indirectly, by himself or his partner, any share or interest in any contract or employment with, by, or on behalf of the council or committee.
But a person shall not be disqualified, or be deemed to have any share or interest in such a contract or employment, by reason only of his having any share or interest in—
(c .) Any lease, sale, or purchase of land, or any agreement for the same; or
(d .) Any agreement for the loan of money, or any security for the payment of money only; or
(e .) Any newspaper in which any advertisement relating to the affairs of the council or committee is inserted; or
(f .) Any company which contracts with the council or committee for lighting or supplying with water, or insuring against fire, any property of the council or committee; or
(g .) Any railway company, or any company incorporated by Act of Parliament or Royal Charter, or under the Companies Act, 1862 .
Convener of the County.
10 Regulations as to convener and vice-convener of county.
(1)10.—(1.) The chairman of the county council, who shall be called the convener of the county, shall be a fit person elected by the council from among the councillors, and shall by virtue of his office be a justice of the peace for the county.
(2) (2.) The term of office of the convener of the county shall be one year.
(3) (3.) The county council may from time to time appoint a county councillor to be vice-convener, to hold office during the term of office of the convener, and, subject to any rules made from time to time by the council, anything authorised or required to be done by or to or before the convener may be done by or to or before the vice-convener.
(4) (4.) A casual vacancy in the office of convener or vice-convener of the county caused by death, resignation, or disqualification, shall, as soon as practicable, be filled up by the county council; but the person filling any such vacancy shall retain his office so long only as the vacating convener or vice-convener would have retained the same if such vacancy had not occurred.
Powers of Council.
11 Transfer to county council of powers of commissioners of supply, road trustees, &c.
11. Subject to the provisions of this Act there shall be transferred to and vested in the council of each county, on and after the appointed day, or at such times as are in this Act in that behalf respectively specified:—
(1) (1.) The whole powers and duties of the commissioners of supply, save as herein-after mentioned;
(2) (2.) The whole powers and duties of the county road trustees;
(3) (3.) The whole powers and duties of the local authority of the county under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts and the Destructive Insects Act, 1877 ;
(4) (4.) The whole powers and duties of the local authorities under the Public Health Acts of parishes so far as within the county (excluding burghs and police burghs); and
(5) (5.) The administrative powers and duties of the justices of the peace of the county in general or special or quarter sessions assembled in respect of the several matters following, namely:
(i.) The execution as local authority of the Acts relating to gas...
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