REFORM SCOTLAND: Time for action instead of ‘perpetual talk’ on local government powers

Think tank calls more financial controls to be devolved from Holyrood to local authorities

Reform Scotland, the independent, non-partisan think tank, has today released its response to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee’s call for views on the sustainability of local government finances.

The think tank suggests that successive Holyrood governments have failed to create the conditions for sustainable local government, and that political discourse has been dominated by “perpetual talk without action”.

For example, nearly 15 years ago the Christie report highlighted the necessity of early intervention and preventative spending programmes. The importance of that report is regularly highlighted by politicians and policymakers, yet it has not been delivered upon.

To make matters worse, prevention programmes are often delivered by the third sector in collaboration with local authorities, and with councils’ budgets under growing strain, all too often these programmes are first in the line for cuts.

In its response, Reform Scotland calls for:

• Collaboration on new approaches for financing local government activity, such as social bridging finance
• The end to central government interference in the setting of Council Tax rates, and an empowerment of local authorities to consider the adjustment of bands and exemptions
• More fiscal powers to be devolved to local authorities to allow them to respond to local needs

Reform Scotland Director, Chris Deerin, said: “During the 25 years of devolution, we have focused on the transfer of powers between Westminster and Holyrood, but we have taken our eye off the ball when it comes to the power of local authorities.

“Unfortunately, in that time we have seen Scotland become further centralised. This approach must end. Scotland is too diverse to presume that the solutions which can work for Edinburgh can work for Elgin, or those that work for Glasgow can work for Gairloch.

“We need to shift away from a drip-drip approach of devolving small, occasional powers, which simply encourages councils to come cap in hand to the Scottish Government, and towards empowerment and recognising that local communities are best placed to meet local needs.

“We have seen years of broad agreement that a one-size-fits-all approach cannot work, yet this has amounted to little more than perpetual talk, without action. Now is the time for action.”

The full response can be read here.