Yes, past council area electoral boundaries and Scottish Parliament boundaries since our establishment in 1973 are available from the Reviews or Data pages of this website. This data is Free to Use Data under the One Scotland Mapping Agreement. There are brief Terms of Use which you can download from the Data files page.
FAQs
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Can I get data of past Scottish Parliament and council area electoral boundaries to use in a geographical information system (GIS)?
Can I get data of current Local Authority and Scottish Parliament boundaries to use in a geographical information system (GIS)?
Yes, current UK Parliament constituency boundaries are available in Ordnance Survey’s OpenData portfolio of products.
Can I have a say?
Yes. The public consultation process is designed to allow everyone to express their view for or against our proposals. You can do this by letter or email, using our contact details given on this website. During consultation periods, we have a response form on this website. You can express your views in person at local inquiries. Views in support of our proposals are as important as those against.
What are the other rules for designing Scottish Parliament constituencies?
The other rules include avoiding excessive disparities between neighbouring constituencies, taking account of local authority boundaries, of special geographical considerations, and of inconveniences and any local ties which would be broken by changes to constituencies.
What are the electorate requirements for constituencies?
The electorate of each constituency has to be as near the average as is practicable.
What determines if a local inquiry is held?
A local inquiry is held depending on the comments received during a consultation. The law requires that, if a large number of objections are received, or if a local authority objects, then a local inquiry must be held.
We can also decide that there should be a local inquiry even if those criteria are not met. We arrange for a Sheriff Principal to chair any local inquiry and report on it.
What is the process for reviewing Scottish Parliament boundaries?
The process that we follow is largely defined by the law. The process can be summarised as:
- we develop Provisional Proposals;
- we publish our proposals for 1 month of public consultation;
- we consider all responses received during the consultation, hold local inquiries and produce Revised Recommendations as necessary;
- we publish any Revised Recommendations for 1 month of public consultation;
- we consider any further responses received during the consultation and produce Further Recommendations as necessary;
- we publish any Further Recommendations for public consultation; and
- we submit our report to the Secretary of State for Scotland.
As part of a review we produce a booklet explaining the process, which is available from us or from this website.
How often do you review Scottish Parliament boundaries?
We conduct a periodic review Scottish Parliament boundaries every 8 to 12 years. We can conduct an Interim Review of Scottish Parliament boundaries between periodic reviews if we judge it necessary. Interim Reviews have only taken place in the past when there has been a change to a council area boundary which coincides with a constituency boundary.
Where do local government areas end when they meet the sea?
Normally, the extent of a local government area ends at the low water mark. In a small number of cases, a local government area has been extended by legislation around a port or harbour into the surrounding sea beyond the low water mark. The largest of these seaward extensions is Yell Sound in the Shetland Islands, and there are also substantial extensions at Aberdeen and Greenock. We use the Ordnance Survey depiction of these seaward extensions.