Following
the Local Government (Scotland) Act (1974), a two-tier
system of local authorities was created. There were
nine Regional Authorities (broken down into 53 District
Councils) and three unitary Island Councils. This system
remained in place until 1995.
"Tayside" was one of
the nine regional authorities, and was formed from the
counties of Perthshire, Kinross-shire and Angus (formerly
known as "Forfarshire"). At this time, Dundee
was part of 'Angus'.
The new "Tayside" had
a single regional council- "Tayside Regional Council"-
and three district councils: Angus, Dundee, and Perth
& Kinross.
In 1996, Tayside Region was dissolved
(along with the other eight Scottish regions) and its
three "districts" became unitary local authorities.
For the local NHS though, it was felt best that this
should continue to cover the three areas as one health
service. This was also the case for the area police
force and fire brigade. Today, we have NHS
Tayside,
Tayside Police, and
Tayside
Fire & Rescue,
all of which
cover the three local authority areas of Angus,
Dundee
City
and Perth
& Kinross.
Today,
the "Tayside" area contains a population of
385 500, with 109 180 living in Angus, 142 700 living
in Dundee, and 133 620 living in Perth & Kinross.
