The fact that four of Scotland’s biggest local authorities broke away from the body that previously represented all 32 councils has been complicating funding discussions and negotiations with the Scottish Government for some time.
When Aberdeen joined three other Labour-led councils - Glasgow, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire - in quitting the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), its leader Jenny Laing argued that the breakaway four would now have the freedom to negotiate a better deal on funding for council tax payers.
Eighteen months after the split it has become clear that no such negotiations are taking place. And now the Scottish Local Government Partnership (SLGP) - the name the breakaway councils gave themselves - has launched a blistering attack on the Scottish Government, claiming a quarter of the country’s population is being ignored in core issues such as health and education as ministers refuse to negotiate with the local authorities that represent them. The body called the situation a “travesty” and accused the SNP-led Holyrood administration of putting politics ahead of the needs of the 1.3m people – a quarter of the population - who live in these areas.
Former communities minister Alex Neil, who recently resigned from the Cabinet, made it crystal clear in a letter that negotiations could only be held with one representative body, and that would be Cosla. Ms Laing has now said she has no option but to take the SLGP’s concerns to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, adding that the Scottish Government has a “duty of care” to every citizen, not just those whose councils are members of Cosla.
So what are we to make of this latest bust-up? Well, alleging that the Scottish Government is playing politics with the crucial local services we all value is a serious matter indeed. The SLGP is also right to point out that the interests of all citizens must be looked after, regardless of how their local authority is represented. But surely the fact that all four of the SLGP’s members are Labour-led councils leaves it open to exactly the same charges of putting party before people?
With this in mind, it’s time for both parties in this dispute to start putting council tax payers first. In order for them to do this, it seems obvious that they will have to come to the table and negotiate a new way of working together. Both sides will have to compromise. Cosla must be given its place as the main representative body of Scotland’s local authorities. But ministers must also concede that the four councils in question should have their views taken into consideration on some level. Scotland’s biggest city surely deserves a voice with regards to local authority funding?
With local elections less than a year away, there is every chance that a change of leadership at any of the four breakaway councils could lead to an improvement in relations with central government. But what is unlikely to change in the near future is the harsh reality of the cuts facing all our local authorities, and the impact this is likely to have on key services such as social care. And it is this that both parties in this current dispute must keep at the forefront of their minds.
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