Your council

West Lothian: 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.

West Lothian Council: Scottish unitary authority (unitary), Scotland. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code S12000040.

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 West Lothian for 2026–27: £1,627.59 a year. Excludes water and sewerage charges.

Every band

West Lothian: council tax by band, 2026 to 2027
Band	A year
A	£1,085.06
B	£1,265.90
C	£1,446.75
D	£1,627.59
E	£2,138.47
F	£2,644.83
G	£3,187.36
H	£3,987.60

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 West Lothian reported it to the Scottish Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in Scotland.

West Lothian: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education	£300.5 million
Culture and related services	£12.1 million
Social work	£160.6 million
Roads and transport	£17.6 million
Road bridges	none budgeted
Environmental services	£25.8 million
Building, planning and development	£6.4 million
Central services	£29.3 million
Housing (outside the housing revenue account)	£13.0 million
Trading services	none budgeted
Total net revenue expenditure	£565.3 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).

West Lothian in numbers

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

Total population: 186,440 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 41 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £23,214 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £673 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 13.8% 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: 2.5% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £227,354 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Female healthy life expectancy: 60.3 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: 60.0 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: 5.8 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 92.3% 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: 137.3 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: 5,030 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

33 seats in 2026. Run by: Labour, as a minority administration. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Scottish National Party (SNP) 15, Labour Party 11, Conservative and Unionist 4, Independent / Other 1, Liberal Democrats 1, Reform UK 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 33 councillors, by ward

Andrew McGuire (Independent / Other) — Armadale and Blackridge
Lynda Kenna (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Armadale and Blackridge
Susan Manion (Labour Party) — Armadale and Blackridge
Harry Cartmill (Labour Party) — Bathgate
Pauline Stafford (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Bathgate
Tony Pearson (Labour Party) — Bathgate
William Boyle (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Bathgate
Angela Doran-Timson (Conservative and Unionist) — Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh
Janet Campbell (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh
Mike Carlin (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh
Tony Boyle (Labour Party) — Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh
Carl John (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — East Livingston and East Calder
Damian Doran-Timson (Conservative and Unionist) — East Livingston and East Calder
Danny Logue (Labour Party) — East Livingston and East Calder
Veronica Smith (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — East Livingston and East Calder
Cathy Muldoon (Labour Party) — Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley
Craig Meek (Labour Party) — Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley
Pauline Clark (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley
Pauline Orr (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Linlithgow
Sally Pattle (Liberal Democrats) — Linlithgow
Tom Conn (Labour Party) — Linlithgow
Alison Adamson (Conservative and Unionist) — Livingston North
Andrew Miller (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Livingston North
Anne McMillan (Labour Party) — Livingston North
Robrt De Bold (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Livingston North
Lawrence Fitzpatrick (Labour Party) — Livingston South
Maria MacAuley (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Livingston South
Moira McKee Shemilt (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Livingston South
Peter Heggie (Conservative and Unionist) — Livingston South
David McLennan (Reform UK) — Whitburn and Blackburn
George Paul (Labour Party) — Whitburn and Blackburn
Jim Dickson (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Whitburn and Blackburn
Mary Dickson (Scottish National Party (SNP)) — Whitburn and Blackburn

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.