About East Lothian Council
East Lothian Council provides the county’s 113,740 residents with a wide range of services including education, adult and children’s wellbeing, planning, economic development, roads, housing, transportation, environmental health, refuse collection, street cleaning, recycling, food safety, trading standards, community development, sports, recreation, parks and countryside, libraries, museums, registration of births, deaths and marriages and burial grounds.
Around 4,958 (4,094 full-time equivalent) people work for the council.
There are 22 elected councillors:
- 10 Scottish Labour
- 6 Scottish National Party
- 4 Scottish Conservative
- 1 Scottish Green Party
- 1 Independent
Key strategic and policy decisions are taken by a cabinet of six Scottish Labour Councillors chaired by the Council Leader.
The East Lothian Council Plan
The East Lothian Council Plan 2022-2027 continues the journey towards realising our vision for an even more prosperous, safe and sustainable East Lothian, with a dynamic and thriving economy, that enables our people and communities to flourish.
The plan retains two of its original overarching objectives:
- reduce poverty and Inequality – supporting our communities to deal with the growing levels of poverty and inequality
- respond to the Climate Emergency – meeting our net zero climate change targets
The Council Plan has thematic objectives – Grow our Economy, Grow our People, Grow our Communities, and Grow our Capacity. As a result of financial and other pressures which have intensified since 2022, it has been agreed that we need to focus on delivering a smaller number of priorities.
These are:
- ensure the financial sustainability of the council through the delivery of approved savings and transforming the way we deliver services
- target resources on statutory services and focus on the highest risks and those most in need
- deliver key infrastructure, economic development and environmentally sustainable projects within available council resources and maximising external funding.