The Case for One Ayrshire

The problem

Ayrshire is divided between three separate local councils: North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire. Each was created in 1996 when Scotland reorganised its local government. Nearly thirty years later, the split is showing its age.

Ayrshire is one place. It has a shared economy, a shared transport network, a shared coastline, a shared cultural identity — and Robert Burns. But it has three sets of elected councillors, three chief executives, three management structures, three communications teams, three IT departments, and three everything else.

The duplication

Consider what unification would consolidate:

• Three chief executives and their senior management teams
• Three separate HR, legal and finance departments
• Three IT systems — often incompatible with each other
• Three communications, marketing and digital teams
• Three planning departments for a contiguous region
• Three economic development functions competing for the same investment
• Three sets of office estates, support services and procurement contracts

Estimates of the savings from unification vary, but comparable English and Welsh mergers have produced savings of 15–25% of combined administrative costs within five years. For three mid-sized Scottish councils, that means tens of millions of pounds — redirected to frontline services.

Note: these figures are indicative. We are calling for a proper feasibility study to produce authoritative numbers for Ayrshire specifically.

The democratic deficit

When Ayrshire needs to make its case to the Scottish Government — on housing targets, on transport investment, on economic development — it speaks in three separate voices. This is a structural weakness that costs us influence every time decisions are made in Edinburgh.

A single Ayrshire council would be one of Scotland's larger councils by population and geography. It would carry real weight. It would have a directly elected leader with a genuine mandate to speak for all of Ayrshire.

One identity

Ask anyone in Saltcoats, Kilmarnock or Maybole where they're from. They'll say Ayrshire. Not North Ayrshire. Not East Ayrshire. Ayrshire.

The three-council structure is an administrative convenience that has become an administrative burden. The identity was never split — the institutions were. It's time the institutions caught up.

What we're asking for

This campaign makes one ask: a full, independent feasibility study into Ayrshire council unification, commissioned by the Scottish Government or jointly by the three councils, with a clear timetable and public reporting.

We are not asking for an immediate merger. We are asking for an honest look at what one Ayrshire could achieve — and the costs of the alternative.

See the figures for yourself

We publish North Ayrshire Council's own spending data as readable charts — what it spends, who with, and how much stays in Ayrshire. It won't tell you whether one council would be better than three; that's what the feasibility study is for. But it is a start on arguing from evidence rather than assertion.

Where the money goes →

What happens next?

Add your name to the campaign. Then write to your MSP. The more voices that call for a feasibility study, the harder it becomes to ignore.