About your council

East Lothian Council provides the county’s 104,000 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 4,842 (3,750 full-time equivalent) people work for the council.

There are 22 elected councillors:

  • 9 Scottish Labour
  • 7 Scottish Conservative
  • 6 Scottish National Party

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 2017-22 sets out our vision to create an even more prosperous, safe and sustainable East Lothian with a dynamic and thriving economy that allows our people to flourish.

It has an over-arching priority: 'To reduce inequalities across and within our communities', and four key objectives:

Growing our Economy - to increase sustainable and inclusive economic growth as the basis for a more prosperous East Lothian

Growing our People - to give our children the best start in life and protect vulnerable and older people

Growing our Communities - to give people a real say in the decisions that matter most and provide communities with the housing, transport links, community facilities and environment that will allow them to flourish

Growing our Capacity - to deliver excellent services as effectively and efficiently as possible within our limited resources