Hunch. The three fastest cases in the record all had a document written or a statutory route open on the day, while the Scottish government has said it wants to reach a shared view with councils first and Cosla has not agreed to anything.
The December market resolves on the Scottish government's own publishing record. It resolves YES if, between 22 September and the end of 31 December 2026, the Scottish government publishes on gov.scot a consultation with a closing date, or introduces a bill at Holyrood, proposing a change to the number or structure of Scotland's local authorities. The proposal paper of 21 September does not count, and neither does a speech, a press notice or a minister repeating the plan. If gov.scot search cannot be read that day, the Scottish Parliament bills list and reports by BBC Scotland settle it.
We looked for times when a UK government announced a plan to cut the number of councils before any consultation or bill carried it, and counted the days until a formal paper appeared. We found seven. England, Wales and Scotland were all announced in the Commons on 21 March 1991, so those three count once. Two more come from the same Welsh reform programme. Five came before the Scottish Parliament, which now decides this. The closest cases come first. Two dates, June 1991 and July 2014, are known only to the month, and we used the end of that month.