This document was drafted in early March 2026, then approved at NTBCC’s meeting on 13 April 2026.

A statutory review of the Scheme for Community Councils was concluded on the 21st of August 2024 following three phases of consultation. The final Scheme and Boundary Review was considered and approved by the City Council on 24th of September 2024 and again on 7 November 2024 following certain amendments.

Nominations were open from the 6th of February until the 27th of February 2025, with the possibility of elections being held on the 27th of March, if the number of nominations exceeded the number of places on the Community Council.

A request to NTBCC Community Councillors elected in 2025 to provide feedback of their experience of the elections was made by the Chair in August. This was separate from the Council’s survey which reported in December and to which Community Councillors responded on an individual basis. The request was in part supposed to provide feedback to the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils but the call for comments produced no responses, reflecting that the actual conduct of the elections had overall gone well. It was treated as a completed task at the NTBCC September meeting but there was still a view that there should be some NTBCC comments on the election.

To bring matters to a conclusion, I have produced a summary of the views of NTBCC on the Community Council elections last year.

The main views about the elections about which Community Councillors are asked to comment are as follows:

1. The actual conduct of the elections from the perspective of NTBCC is that it went very smoothly, and there are no significant changes that would be required regarding this. NTBCC was able to work closely with the Returning Officer, Councillor Claire Miller, which proved helpful for the process.
2. More effort should at future elections go into publicising the elections with the intention of increasing the number of people coming forward for election, and in particular the number from demographic groups that are known not to be so well represented on Community Councils.
3. More should be done to inform people considering nominating themselves for a place on a Community Council about the work of their Community Council and what being a Community Councillor entails. NTBCC undertook such an exercise, but it would have been helpful if the City Council had provided more resources for this.
4. Overall, the transition for the old Community Council to the new one happened smoothly, except in the case of those who were not able to attend the meeting of the first meeting of the new Community Council. Simpler and clearer arrangements for such circumstance would be welcomed.
5. A requirement for Community Councillors to sign a Declaration of Acceptance at the first meeting of the new Community Council caused problems. The wording of the Declaration was only made known after the election had been concluded. The Declaration of Acceptance included the provision that a Community Councillor would undertake their duties according to the best of their judgement and ability and doing so to comply with the requirement and standards contained in the City Of Edinburgh Council Scheme for Community Councils and associated Guidance. Inter alia such a requirement was thought to be far too vague and difficult to interpret precisely. This requirement was subsequently in effect dropped. However, in its review of the elections, the City Council has indicated that it intends to include the provision for a Declaration of Acceptance to be included in the next update of the Scheme for Community Councils. It is a view of NTBCC that, unlike what happened in 2025, there should be a proper consultation on any such declaration put forward.

Peter Williamson, Chair NTBCC