A think-tank has published a blueprint for a complete overhaul of local governance in Scotland.
Reform Scotland argued that local democracy had been eroded by successive governments ‘over many decades’ and ‘needs to be revitalised.’
Its report, Blueprint for Local Power, called for a new constitutional relationship between local and central government governed by a new piece of legislation that recognised the importance of councils to democracy and the operation of public services.
The think-tank said local authorities should be responsible for all areas not specifically reserved to Holyrood and tasks should also be carried out at the lowest level practical.
This ‘principle of subsidiarity’ would, the think-tank said, replace uniformity and drive forward on-the-ground innovation.
The report also called for councils to have complete control over the type and level of taxes levied on local residents.
‘Successive governments at Holyrood and Westminster have paid lip service to the importance of local government while centralising its power and reducing its autonomy and accountability,’ said Reform Scotland’s director, Geoff Mawdsley.
‘If there is any point in having a level of local government, and if we want it to mean anything, then we have to allow it to exercise power and, with it, take responsibility.
‘That is why we are proposing legislation to cement local authorities’ place in the spectrum of governance in Scotland.
‘Local democracy is at a crossroads – it is time for politicians to follow decades of words with some action,’ he added.
