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• Community Health and Wellbeing Profiles
• Know Fife Quick Briefs
• Members' Services

We have 78 councillors in Fife – together they make up Fife Council. In the May 2007 elections, Fife's 78 wards were reduced to 23 with three or four Councillors in each ward representing you.

Councillors are people elected by the residents of Fife following Local Government elections. They usually serve for a period of four years before retiring or standing for re-election.  Each councillor represents a specific area or "ward" and acts as the representative of the residents of that area.  You can download the register of councillors interests to find out more about your councillor.

If you want to contact your councillor you can call direct or attend one of their regular "surgeries". This is where you can meet your councillor face-to-face to give them feedback on the work of the Council or raise any issues you would like them to help resolve.

Councillors work together in ‘committees’ to make decisions about public services in Fife. As well as being part of this decision-making, councillors have many different roles:

1. Representing the local community

Councillors are responsible for expressing the views of their local community, supporting local campaigns, consulting local residents and taking up local issues with the relevant bodies.

2. Representing individual constituents

Through councillors’ surgeries, residents have the chance to speak about particular concerns or problems. Councillors can act as a go-between for individuals and larger bodies or organisations, dealing with feedback, complaints and suggestions.

3. Representing the Council

Councillors can take on ceremonial roles, attend civic functions, conferences and act as representatives of the council. As well as attending Fife committee meetings, councillors can also represent Fife Council in other organisations - such as the Health Board or nationally through the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

4. Policy and Decision-making

Through committee meetings and the main Fife Full Council meeting, councillors are usually asked to vote on specific issues – policy, finance or legislative. This helps set out what the council plans to achieve and how money should be spent. Some councillors also have extra duties – to act as chairperson, deputy chairperson or spokesperson for specific committees.

5. Monitoring and Scrutinising

All councillors also have a shared responsibility to scrutinize and influence the quality of services delivered across Fife. They monitor the leadership of the council and check performance across all services.