Highland Council formally rejects Boundary Commission's proposals
19th January 2021
Following discussions at the recent Council meeting, the Council Leader has formally written to the Local Government Boundary Commission on their proposals for councillor numbers and ward boundaries in the Highland Council area.
She advised the Boundary Commission that the Council rejected the Commission's proposals in their entirety and formally requested that they halt this process immediately and review the whole issue of remote and rural area boundaries and councillor numbers in consultation with the Highland Council and other local authorities who have mainland councils with inhabited islands.
Commenting on the proposal, Cllr Margaret Davidson, Leader of the Council said: "The Council is deeply unhappy with the Commission's proposals. They totally contradict the ethos of the Island (Scotland) Act, which was to enhance the democratic process and increase representation of remote and geographically disadvantaged areas. Much of our mainland areas are more remote and have far fewer transport links than many of the islands who have quicker and more reliable links to Scotland’s major cities. The parity level for the islands is one to 800 electorate. In Highland the parity level is a staggering one councillor to 2,800 electorate.
"There is simply no justification to subject our remote and fragile communities to an undemocratic and unwanted boundary review on the back of the Islands Act - particularly in the middle of a national pandemic. If our mainland ward structures are being altered then, it should be the case that the whole of Scotland’s local authorities must also be looked at. If not, it appears clear that Highland is being unilaterally singled out for a reduction in the number of councillors and that is wholly unacceptable. We are receiving a remarkable degree of support from our Community Councils and individuals across Highland."
She ended by saying: “The Commission’s approach to determining fair representation for geographically sparsely populated areas is profoundly unfair, contradictory and undemocratic and should be subject of a fundamental review. We have approached out local MSPs and the Ministers with responsibility for the Boundary Commission to register Highland’s concerns."
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Young people in the Highlands can call a dedicated helpline offering expert advice to anyone receiving their full Higher, National, and Advanced results on Tuesday, 5 August 2025. The pupils and students- along with their parents and carers - will be able to get support with their results through Skills Development Scotland's (SDS) Results Helpline, which opens from 8am on results day.
Wick Business Park has welcomed wind energy technology company ENERCON as the first occupant of one of four new units completed last year. ENERCON specialises in designing, producing, installing and servicing onshore wind turbines and has been operating in the Caithness area since 2013.
Additional empty homes officers are being recruited to bring more privately owned houses back into use. The new posts are being supported as part of a £2 million investment through the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership in 2025-26 which will see staff take a more proactive and targeted approach to tackling local housing issues.
The Highland Strategic Local Action Group (LAG) met in June 2025 and considered and agreed funding for 28 projects submitted to the Community-Led Local Development fund (CLLD), which makes up part of The Highland Council Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) programme. CRF is an umbrella term used to cover multiple external funding programmes administered by The Highland Council.
Highland Council has provided 12 ‘Talking Tub' resources for use in primary schools across the Highlands, in partnership with Union Technical who deliver community benefits as part of the Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme programme. Chair of Highland Council's Education Committee, Councillor John Finlayson, said: "This is a fantastic initiative being rolled out across Highland primary schools which brings innovation and inspiration to early years children.
Visitors will find it easier to dispose of their litter at several popular spots across Highland after the rollout of additional bins. The rollout has been planned to support the tourism season as part of the Council's ongoing commitment to improve and support sustainable tourism in the area.
Members of the meeting of The Highland Council (26 June 2025) have considered and agreed the Accounts Commission's Best Value report, which was published in April 2025 and highlights organisational improvements across leadership, performance management and community engagement. In April’s report, the Accounts Commission recognised and welcomed significant progress within the organisation since the 2020 Best Value Assurance Report (BVAR) and commended the embedded culture of transformation.
A new generation of community facilities is being planned for the Highlands. At a meeting of The Highland Council (Thursday 26 June), elected members approved the work to date in progressing the Highland Investment Plan workstreams - masterplan for Thurso and agreed to nominate the current Thurso High School site as the preferred location for the new Thurso Community Point of Delivery (POD).
At a meeting of The Highland Council (Thursday 26 June 2025), Members received a progress report on the partnership approach and important successes since declaring a Highland Housing Challenge in November 2023. Since establishing the ambitious Highland Housing Challenge, important successes included: A call for sites delivered 250 sites, with a potential 25,000 housing units which will support delivery against the target of an additional 12,000 houses over the next 10 years.
The Highland Council will deliver a transformative programme of energy efficiency upgrades across Council housing supported by a £9.2 million Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding proposal secured by Union Technical. The funding proposal will deliver approximately 1,000 individual energy efficiency measures to Council owned properties across the Highlands.