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).

Life in Orkney Islands: the official facts

Facts about the people who live here: their pay, homes, health and more, from official statistics. They describe the place, not you, and every council gets the same list. Each shows when it was measured.

Show the figures for:

Showing: Orkney Islands.

People living here: 21,920 people 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsAn official estimate of everyone who lives in the area, in the middle of the year.
Typical age: 50 years 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsHalf the people who live here are younger than this and half are older.
Money to live on, per person, per year: £25,234 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage household income per person after taxes, with benefits added: what people have to spend or save.
Typical weekly pay, before tax: £585 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsFor employees who live here: half earn more than this each week, half earn less.
Children growing up in poverty: 12.2% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsThe share of children under 16 in families on low incomes once housing costs are paid.
People claiming unemployment-related benefits: 1.6% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsThe share of people aged 16 to 64 claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit while looking for work.
Average price of a home: £216,479 August 2026 · HM Land RegistryThe average price of a home here in the month shown.
Years in good health: women: 74.1 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a girl born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Years in good health: men: 72.9 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a boy born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Greenhouse gases, per person: 15.6 tonnes per person 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroEmissions from the area in a year, shared out per resident, in tonnes of carbon dioxide or its equivalent.
Homes and businesses that can get the fastest broadband: 30.0% 1 January 2026 · OfcomThe share of addresses that can get gigabit broadband (1,000 Mbps).
Public chargers for electric cars: 386.0 per 100,000 people 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublic charging points at all speeds, for every 100,000 people.
Businesses trading here: 900 businesses 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with sales or staff in the year.

More figures for Orkney Islands from the ONS

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.