ONE of the rebel councils which walked out of the umbrella body for Scotland's 32 local authorities has performed a U-turn and decided to remain.
The move by West Dunbartonshire throws plans for a rival to Cosla into some disarray, with so far just four councils signing up to the breakaway group.
West Dunbartonshire was one of eight Labour-led authorities which served notice to quit Cosla but becomes the second of the group, after Inverclyde, to reverse that.
The council said its members had voted to "remain part of the organisation which provides the national voice for local government in Scotland".
It said the decision followed assurances from Cosla's chief executive that West Dunbartonshire would not face additional costs for remaining part of the organisation, despite the withdrawal of the other local authorities.
Despite the withdrawals of political colleagues at Glasgow, Aberdeen City, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire, the council's leader has defended Cosla, claiming it helped remove the effects of the bedroom tax in its area, one of the most deprived in the country.
It said: "In light of this, and the important function that COSLA serves to lobby the Scottish Government on local authority issues and deliver national frameworks for pay and conditions, West Dunbartonshire Council voted to withdraw its notice."
Last month it was revealed that the new body is due to be in place by March 2015 and is provisionally called the Scottish Local Government Partnership with membership "open to all Scottish local authorities".
With Cosla negotiating wages for council employees, including teachers, talks are due to begin with trade unions in the New Year, throwing up the possibility of different rates of pay for workers doing the same job in different authorities.
Cosla has described the proposals by its challenger as 'disingenuous' and accused the four breakaway councils of "cherry picking" certain issues instead of represents councils across a broad range of policy areas.
Martin Rooney, leader of West Dunbartonshire, said: "Ultimately I want West Dunbartonshire to be a key player in national discussions on the issues that matter to local residents. The only way to do that is by working as part of Cosla for change with the Scottish Government.
"Many residents will ask what Cosla does? I can assure them that it saves this council money by managing our recruitment advertising, negotiating on our behalf on national terms and conditions, and sharing the costs of a job evaluation platform. If we pulled out then we would need to fund all these things ourselves.
"Also by negotiating collectively with the Scottish Government we can achieve greater success. For example, it was through Cosla that the Department of Work and Pensions and the Scottish Government worked together to remove the adverse effects of the 'bedroom tax' in Scotland."
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