Swinney unveils plans for shake-up of local government in Scotland

Laying out his programme for the new session of the Scottish Parliament, he said it would be important to get the balance right between national, regional and local services but “we are faced with the reality that some of our councils are too small to be strategic and some are too big to be local. 

“The government believes that should change. What we propose is a rebalancing of power within Scotland, with our regions strengthened and our communities empowered to bring new life, new opportunities, into the places they love. “

There would be three months of  “intense engagement with our local government partners, and other parties in this chamber and beyond, about a new structure for local government in Scotland”. 

Mr Swinney said this exercise “must not create another layer of administration or a new group of politicians”. 

There would be “stronger and more strategic regions with the powers, the permission, and the flexibility they need to drive economic growth and investment in all parts of Scotland “.

The First Minister gave little precise detail on the future shape of local governance, saying: “While I enter these discussions with an open mind, and do not wish to be overly prescriptive at this stage, I do also have a very clear sense of what is needed. 

“There is not a blank sheet but, equally, our ideas are not delivered today, as though they were on tablets of stone.”

The First Minister said he was open to devolving powers over a broad range of economic levers to regions, including new devolved powers.  

“But within these regions, local communities must emphatically be empowered,” he said. 

“Reform must deliver councils that are big enough to be strategic, but which contain within them localities that are also small enough, and strong enough, to enable genuine local decision making. 

“And this process must involve resources currently caught up in a cluttered and complex landscape being freed to be spent on improving the lives of our citizens.” 

Turning to social care, Swinney said the service in Scotland was “overly complex, with competing lines of accountability. No one understands this more than those on the front line delivering these services.” 

He said social care reform would be part of engagement with local government, trade unions and the third sector.

“Again, I do not seek to be prescriptive, but I cannot see us resolving the fundamental challenges facing social care without a single line of decision making accountability and funding, with the NHS taking the lead.” 

Swinney also said he intended to reduce the 14 territorial health boards to only two and bring Scotland’s national environment public bodies into a single one.

Cllr Shona Morrison, president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), said: “There are important implications for local government and council services, particularly the proposed NHS reforms and what they will mean for the future delivery of social care.

“Over the coming days, COSLA will engage closely with our member councils and with Scottish Ministers to ensure these proposals are focused on what is best for communities across Scotland and respect the democratic legitimacy of local government.

“Public services work best when decisions are taken as close to communities as possible. We look forward to meaningful engagement with the Scottish Government and believe that the dialogue on the future of local governance must be carried forward with councils and COSLA as the collective voice of local government.”

Scotland’s local government was radically reorganised in 1975 to 53 districts, nine regions and three unitary island councils.

That system was abolished in 1996 when the present 32 unitary councils were created.

Mark Smulian