Your council

Orkney Islands: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Orkney Islands Council: Scottish unitary authority (unitary), Scotland. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code S12000023.

Council website

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D council tax set by Orkney Islands for 2026–27: £1,669.07 a year. Excludes water and sewerage charges.

Every band

Orkney Islands: council tax by band, 2026 to 2027
Band	A year
A	£1,112.71
B	£1,298.17
C	£1,483.62
D	£1,669.07
E	£2,192.97
F	£2,712.24
G	£3,268.60
H	£4,089.22

Source: Scottish Government, Council Tax by band 2026-27 (Open Government Licence).

Your own bill depends on your band and any discounts or reductions.

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Orkney Islands reported it to the Scottish Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in Scotland.

Orkney Islands: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education	£52.5 million
Culture and related services	£5.1 million
Social work	£33.8 million
Roads and transport	£37.8 million
Road bridges	none budgeted
Environmental services	£5.0 million
Building, planning and development	£3.8 million
Central services	£11.1 million
Housing (outside the housing revenue account)	£2.4 million
Trading services	−£1.5 million
Total net revenue expenditure	£149.9 million

Net revenue expenditure: spending less the service’s own income.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Scottish Government, Local Government 2025-26 Provisional Outturn and 2026-27 Budget Estimates: revenue workbook (Open Government Licence).

Orkney Islands in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population: 22,020 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 49 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £25,234 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £585 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 12.2% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count: 1.6% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £214,106 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Female healthy life expectancy: 74.1 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy: 72.9 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions: 15.6 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 30.0% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers: 386.0 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses: 900 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

21 seats in 2026. Run by: independents, with a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Independent / Other 20, Scottish Green Party 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 21 councillors, by ward

Gillian Skuse (Independent / Other) — East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray
James Moar (Independent / Other) — East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray
Raymie Peace (Independent / Other) — East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray
David Dawson (Independent / Other) — Kirkwall East
Gwenda Shearer (Independent / Other) — Kirkwall East
John Ross Scott (Independent / Other) — Kirkwall East
Steven Heddle (Independent / Other) — Kirkwall East
Ivan Taylor (Independent / Other) — Kirkwall West and Orphir
Kristopher Leask (Scottish Green Party) — Kirkwall West and Orphir
Leslie Manson (Independent / Other) — Kirkwall West and Orphir
Sandy Cowie (Independent / Other) — Kirkwall West and Orphir
Heather Woodbridge (Independent / Other) — North Isles
Mellissa Thomson (Independent / Other) — North Isles
Stephen Clackson (Independent / Other) — North Isles
Graham Bevan (Independent / Other) — Stromness and South Isles
Janette Park (Independent / Other) — Stromness and South Isles
Lindsay Hall (Independent / Other) — Stromness and South Isles
Duncan Tullock (Independent / Other) — West Mainland
Jean Stevenson (Independent / Other) — West Mainland
Owen Tierney (Independent / Other) — West Mainland
Rachael King (Independent / Other) — West Mainland

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.