Scheme for Orkney Community Councils 2021

The current Scheme for Orkney Community Councils has been reviewed to reflect the recent Covid-19 restrictions which meant that meetings could only be held online. In addition, there have been some other minor amendments made in response to feedback over recent years. Full details of the amendments are as follows:

2.2. A sentence has been included to permit changes to Community Council boundaries which result from Local Government Boundary Commission reviews without the requirement to amend the entire Scheme.

3.1. The minimum age to stand for, or vote, in Community Council Elections has been reduced from 18 to 16 years.

4.7. The period of absence permitted without a satisfactory explanation has been reduced from 1 year to 6 months which is similar throughout Scotland.

5.2. This clause has been added to permit meetings via online platforms.

8.2. This section has been reworded to remove any reference to a business letter and better reflect the modern communication practices which have been established and implemented by Democratic Services for several years.

9.7. This clause has been included to specify the need to hold insurance costs for property, projects or Community Council activities.

Section 12 has been amended to reflect current Equalities legislation.

Section 13 has been included to cover Data Protection legislation.

Any review of the Scheme for Community Councils must form part of a public consultation process, with a minimum period of 8 weeks, and the Scheme for Orkney Community Councils 2021 must be made publicly available.

Accordingly, the Scheme can be found in the Related Downloads section at the bottom of this page. Members of the public are invited to provide comments on the proposed scheme prior to deadline of Friday, 16 July 2021

If you require any additional information please email the OIC Community Council Team.