Community Councils

Community Council resources

Scheme for Community Councils and Community Councils Guidance

Community Councils in Edinburgh are voluntary organisations who were first established in Scotland following the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. To carry out their important role, Community Councillors are strongly encouraged to familiarise themselves with both the Scheme for Community Councils and Community Councils Guidance.

Community Empowerment and Engagement

The Community Empowerment and Engagement Team has put together a Community Engagement Toolkit, to support Community Councils in building their confidence and skills in carrying out community engagement. The Toolkit covers a variety of topics, including an introduction to engagement and the national standards, planning your engagement, engagement methods, evaluation and impact, and expressing your views.

If you have further questions about community engagement, please get in touch with the Community Empowerment and Engagement Team at communityengagement@edinburgh.gov.uk

Community Councillor Induction Pack - May 2025

Community council inductions were held in May 2025. The in-person induction at the City Chambers on 12 May 2025 was recorded and is now available as a 2 hour learning resource.

The community councillor induction pack is also available to view. We would encourage community councillors to view the induction materials and familiarise themselves with both the Scheme for Community Councils and Community Councils Guidance.

Improvement Service

The Improvement Service website contains a wealth of information and resources to support community councils across Scotland.

Improvement Service and Open University Courses

The Improvement Service and the Open University (OU) in Scotland are working together to offer all community council volunteers the opportunity to upskill and reskill using OU courses.

There are courses available to assist community councillors fulfil their roles such as using Microsoft Teams and succeeding in a digital world, finance, fundraising, community and business skills.

The courses are free and to access, community councillors should register for a free account.

The OU provides many courses to choose from and if community councillors would like to suggest additional topics for training not covered that would benefit community councils both in Edinburgh and across Scotland please e-mail: scottishccs@improvementservice.org.uk

Spatial Data Resources for Community Councils

A wide range of map-based information about the location, area and size of Council assets and boundaries is available through the City of Edinburgh Council’s Open Spatial Data Portal

This portal provides free and open access to map information that can support local planning, community development, and evidence-based decision-making.

Two key feature layer datasets currently available are:

Each boundary dataset includes key attributes such as:

  • ‘STATUS’ – which indicates whether a Community Council is currently active or inactive;
  • ‘AREA’ – which represents the geographic size of the Community Council in square km;
  • ‘POPULATION’ – based on Mid-2022 estimates from National Records of Scotland (NRS).

Community Council boundary data is also available via the Improvement Service’s Spatial Hub