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Falkirk (council area)

Falkirk (an Eaglais Bhreac in Gaelic) is one of the 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland. It borders onto North Lanarkshire to the south west, Stirling to the north west, West Lothian to the south east and, across the Firth of Forth to the north east, Fife. The council area was formed on 1st April, 1996 from the exact boundaries of Falkirk District Council by way of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. Prior to 1975 the majority of the council area was part of the county of Stirlingshire and a small part, namely Bo'ness and Blackness, was part of the former county of West Lothian.

From 2003–2007 the Council was led by an SNP/Independent coalition, but after the 2007 elections a Labour/Ind coalition of 16 councillors equalled the previous coalition's 16, so a pack of cards was cut. Labour's card was higher than the SNP's, and so control has now swung to the Labour Party. The new Labour leader of the new administration is Councillor Linda Gow.

Area Forums

The council area is further divided into six Area Forums which represent aggregations of both council wards and community council areas. Forums are usually held every eight weeks or so and their membership consists of all councillors representing the area, a representative from each community council, the local unit commander from Central Scotland Police and nominees from other local community groups.