Scotland with a population of 5.2 million people shares many cultural and demographic links with Ireland. Indeed the organisation of local and national government is also unsurprisingly similar albeit that with the establishment of the Scottish Executive, recent reforms in Scotland have tended to be more radical than is the case in Ireland. While the Victorian organisers of Irish local government might largely recognise much of the current Irish system the same could not be said of the local government system in Scotland.
There are 32 unitary authorities in Scotland following an extensive merger process in the 1990s with the smallest being the Orkney Islands Council (population 20,000) to the largest Glasgow (population 600,000). The then existing district and regional councils were the subject of the merger process in the 1990s but very quickly it became clear that the distance between the Unitary Councils and their electorate was too great.
Increasingly, the Unitary Councils are creating area based structures to deliver local services. In addition, there are now some 1,200 community councils underneath the Unitary Council structures providing an enhanced level of democratic participation along with the devolution of Unitary Council services where the principle of best value suggests that such devolution would be more appropriate…a feature which might well be noted as the local government reform process gathers pace in Ireland. This means that in Orkney some 21 community councils act as intermediaries between the local communities and the Council while in Glasgow over 100 such councils exist. The people on these councils are elected generally but there is an option for associate membership. Community councillors do not receive a salary. The councils are funded by the Unitary Authorities and are dependent upon delegation of local functions from the unitary councils.
Some 1,222 councillors sit on the Unitary Councils. They are elected every four years. Councillors on Unitary Authorities receive an annual salary in the order of £15,500 Sterling while additional payments to Council Leaders can bring their annual salaries up to between £30,900 -£51,000. The leading political party nominates the Council Leader while they can also appoint a Provost, the equivalent of an Irish Mayor, to deal with ceremonial affairs. The Leader is, however, the real power force in Scottish Local Government. Each council will also have a chief executive officer.
Services provided directly by the Scottish system includes:
Education
Social Work
Roads and transport
Economic Development
Housing and the Built Environment
The Environment
Libraries
Waste management
Police
Fire & Rescue
Arts, Culture and Sport
Other recreational services such as parks
Like their Irish counterparts, the Scottish Authorities play a critical role in co-ordination of local public services though the Community Planning Partnerships. These were established under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. However unlike their Irish counterparts, the County and City Development Boards, the CPPs have a real influence through the local area agreements they put in place for implementation through the full range of public service agencies. In this the Scottish local authorities are facilitated by working directly with central government on agreeing an annual compact which sets out budgetary obligations and resources, minimum standards in service delivery and enforcement procedures, something which remains a remote possibility in the Irish context. This annual compact is set within a statutory process called the Concordat between the Scottish Government and Local Government, signed in 2007. As part of the concordat each local authority has agreed a Single Outcome Agreement with the Government. This is based on the national priorities of the Government and the need to address specific local expectations.
Another key area of interest from an Irish perspective is the extent to which local community planning drives the policy process from local to national levels. In this regard Scotland can be genuinely considered an international leader. Importantly, the process is supported by a national series of guidance and engagement, leaving the local authorities to determine the detail in terms of geographic setting, themes and actions for delivery. There is also an expectation of genuine community engagement which again is also underpinned by flexible but realistic engagement models, something which is largely missing in the Irish context.
One of the key features of the local-national policy process is the negotiation between the two levels on financial affairs. Unlike the Irish system, which is increasingly expected to become self-funded, at least for day-to-day spending, the Scottish system is based upon the conditions of the concordat and therefore largely dependent on central government funding (roughly 80%) and local property taxes (which can be around £1,200 per household annually). The central funds are based upon the expected outcome parameters set out in the annual Single Outcome Agreements. There is, therefore, greater capacity in the Scottish system to set standards and to monitor their delivery within established reporting mechanisms. So, for example, the Scottish Government will provide, per the 2011 Settlement with the local government system and the Finance Secretary, some £34.5 Billion for the years between 2012 and 2015. This means that the Orkney Islands Council can expect to receive an annual £72 million sterling for each year to 2014 for revenue spending while Glasgow will receive in order of £1.4 billion per year. Capital spending on infrastructure such as schools etc. by local government is in the order of £3.5 billion sterling.
A number of key messages to be acknowledged from the Scottish system is that bigger has not proven to be better, particularly in regard to sustaining local democracy and that efficiencies do not necessarily come through bigger operations. The merger of local authorities has brought benefits but also the reality that local expectations also have to be managed and if not costs might well expand. Of equal interest is the role which the national representative body “COSLA” plays in on-going negotiation with the National Government. The idea that a single Department or Minister can determine, without reference to the local service providers, funding etc is alien to how it is done in Scotland. Equally, handing over resources without setting the policy outcomes within an annual and multi-annual basis is something that could be a significant contributor to reform in Ireland, if the Scottish system was to influence how local government reform in Ireland would happen.
Finally, the community planning process and the role of the community councils could also provide the Irish policy makers with access to practical policy experience. The question is whether the opportunity can be afforded to those addressing local government reform in Ireland to learn from a neighbour which shares so much of a common history and cultural perspective.
