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I AGENDA ITEM No ...................
To: Policy and Resources Committee
From: Chief Executive
NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL
Subject: Scottish Executive’s Response to the McIntosh
Commission - Comments by North Lanarkshire Council
REPORT
Date: 23 November 1999 I Ref: NJ/Ol/MCR072
1.0
1.1
2.0
2.1
2.2
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
Purpose of Report
The purpose of this report is to draw attention to the Scottish
Executive’s response to the McIntosh Report and to seek approval to
comments by the Council.
Background
The Scottish Executive has published a response to the McIntosh
Report and comments are sought on this response by 29 November 1999
(Appendix 1)
Views are sought on a number of issues on which the Scottish
Executive have invited further comments. This report seeks to
address each of the eight specific questions in order.
North Lanarkshire Council Draft Response
question One
How can we best reach out to the most disadvantaged young people
and help them become active citizens?
Response
North Lanarkshire Council has initiated a number of
opportunities for young people to become active citizens by e.g;
developing a youth strategy in partnership with young people
themselves. Earlier in the year the Council arranged three ‘Open
Space’ events, one for practitioners from departments, other
agencies and the voluntary sector who work directly with young
people, the second for young people themselves including the most
disadvantaged from homeless accommodation or residential children’s
homes and a third which brought the two groups together for a 2%
day conference.
Consultation and participation were central to the process of
preparing the first Children’s Services Plan with copies of the
Summary circulated to all children of nursery and school age in
North Lanarkshire together with meetings for particular user groups
including children looked after and accommodated and young people
who live in supported accommodation.
The Council, through the Social Strategy, established a pilot
project - Health and Homelessness - in partnership with Lanarkshire
Health Board to promote health, fitness and opportunities for young
homeless people accommodated by the Council and Blue Triangle
Housing Association. Following the successful implementation of the
pilot a further three programmes were delivered during 1999.
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3.7
3.8
3.9
3.10
3.1 1
3.12
3.13
3.14
3.15
3.16
However, there is much more which requires to be done to engage
more positively with young people. The development of our Youth
Strategy and Community Learning Strategies should help to address
this issue. The role of formal education through the curriculum
requires to be further explored.
While the issue raised in the Response paper centres on
disadvantaged young people, the question should be raised of why
this should be seen as an issue only for one category of young
people. It is suggested that the wider question of involvement of
young people in civic life generally and the whole process of civic
education should be the principal focus.
Ouestion TWQ
Ministers would welcome views on proposals for improving the
resource allocation, management and transparency of the local
government finance system, within the current policy framework.
Response
Pooling funding streams: This is worthy of fbrther consideration
and should be linked to the Modernising Government agenda,
particularly in terms of integrated service provision. There are
already developments undenvay in areas such as the overlap between
social work and primary health care which could be researched to
identify the attendant difficulties, benefits and opportunities.
I.T. must be a key driver for progress in this area and it would be
useful to clarify the Executive’s position on this and the future
of initiatives such as Invest to Save and the Capital Modernisation
Fund to finance the necessary I.T. developments.
Long Term Stability: The introduction of the Comprehensive
Spending Review (CSR) has been helpful but has lost momentum with
the advent of the Scottish Parliament and the bedding in of its own
financial procedures. Assuming that current indications of a
further CSR in Summer 2000 are realised, it would be beneficial to
see this established as an annual, rolling three year review.
Useful work has been done by the CIPFA Directors of Finance section
in preparing guidance on three year budgeting, which is due to be
issued in the near future. Supporting arrangements on the finding
side by the Executive will, however, be essential if the maximum
benefit is to be obtained for both revenue and capital
planning.
Financial Management: The suggestion of an exchange of best
practice in this area is welcome and could build on arrangements
already in place, such as practitioners’ seminars, conferences and
so on. The idea of secondments between different strands of the
Scottish public sector (including the Executive), and perhaps also
the private sector, as a means of promoting best practice should be
supported. There may be scope here for CIPFA andor Audit Scotland
to develop a forum which could develop this and other initiatives
designed to improve financial management.
Business Improvements Districts: Much would depend on precisely
what this entails and what the purpose of these would be. There is
certainly a need to foster a better understanding of the current
rates system in the business community and to begin to amend the
perception of local authorities as unfriendly to business and
incapable of being trusted with control of business taxation. If
this strand is to be pursued the scope of the exercise should be
widened to allow consideration of the general issue of the
relationship between local authority services and finding, insofar
as these impact on the business sector.
The Executive’s response to McIntosh also indicates that local
authorities may wish to raise other financial matters for
consideration:- section 3.15 to 3.18 highlights other issues to be
discussed.
Best Value: The Executive is concerned with the overall
allocation of finds which are mainly provided via the Treasury’s
block grant mechanism. The principal elements in this allocation
are local government, the health service and government agency
bodies such as Scottish Enterprise and Scottish
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3.17
3.18
3.19
3.20
3.21
3.22
3.23
3.24
3.25
Homes. It would be interesting to know whether, and if so how,
Best Value or its equivalent is applied in these other areas and to
what extent it is taken into consideration in the overall
allocation of funds. This could be a productive approach to the
question of whether local government receives an appropriate level
of resources. Caution is needed, however, to ensure that the system
of resource allocation remains essentially needs-based.
GAE Distribution: The current arrangements are soundly based and
represent a credible and objective approach to complex and
difficult issues of resource allocation between Councils. This
point needs to be emphasised, notwithstanding the acknowledged
turbulence in the system as a result of local government
reorganisation. The specific issue regarding indicators of
deprivation may be particularly problematic given the limited
availability of quality data but is in principle no different to
other factors involved in the distribution process. If there is a
political desire to address this matter as a priority, this can be
achieved through an injection of additional funding. This could
either be the subject of a bidding process or be distributed on a
basis agreed between the Executive and COSLA, pending the
development of robust indicators.
Capital Control: The annuality problems associated with section
94 arrangements have long been recognised and the Executive’s
commitment to three year budgeting makes annual capital consent
limits difficult to justify. The overall requirement for section 94
control is also questionable given the incorporation of debt
charges into revenue guidelines. With the onset of resource
accounting into central government, this may be the right time to
address this issue.
Council Tax: A number of proposals to improve Council Tax
collection were contained in the joint Scottish Office/COSLA
consultation paper ‘It Pays To Collect’ issued last year. These
ranged from joint billing and collection of council tax and rent,
to the lodging of earnings arrestments directly with employers,
rather than through Sheriff Officers. Many of these would require
changes in legislation and little progress has been made since the
paper was issued. With the Parliament now up and running, and other
aspects of Council Tax collection receiving political attention,
the time may be ripe for pressure to be applied to accelerating the
delivery of arrangements to improve the level of collection and
reduce arrears.
Ouestion Threc
Should local authorities in Scotland be given a power of general
competence? Does the lack of such a power really hamper
authorities? What form should that power take? What safeguards
should we provide?
Response
The relationship between Local Government and other key public
and private agencies has developed significantly over the past few
years. There are a number of Partnership arrangements established
to address key strategic issues e.g. Social Inclusion; New Deal;
Childcare Provision.
The Community Planning Agenda is being developed by all Local
Authorities in Scotland, with Plans to be submitted to the Scottish
Executive by the end of the year.
In formulating the Community Plan for this area the North
Lanarkshire Partnership have expressed the principles which will be
adopted by working together. One of the underpinning principles is
that of Continuous Improvement - the key purpose of a community
plan is to articulate the way in which the residents of the area
can benefit through new approaches to service delivery by the
public sector agencies. This will be at the heart of all community
planning activity. The partner agencies undertake to apply a
philosophy of continuous improvement to their joint activity, to
set in motion processes which seek to identify opportunities for
more efficient and effective partnership working as a matter of
course.
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3.26
3.27
3.28
3.29
3.30
3.3 1
3.32
3.33
3.34
3.35
3.36
3.37
If through the Community Planning process organisations identify
areas of joint action the powers currently conferred on Local
Authorities may restrict participation. Local Government
legislation and in particular the Local Government Act (Scotland)
1973 does not now reflect the new role for Local Government, acting
in partnership with others, and in a community initiative role, for
the benefit of the residents in an area.
More fundamentally the whole issue of a power of general
competence goes to the heart of the relationship which should be
developed between Central and Local Government and can truly be
regarded as a test of the trust which Central Government is
prepared to invest in Local Government. Local Councils are being
asked to take on a leadership role for their communities and, in
doing so, they have what no other local agency or deliverer of
local services possesses which is a democratic legitimacy based on
the fact that members are elected to office.
If Local Government is to be regarded as more than just the sum
of the local services it provides, then it is important that that
role should have a legal basis whereby Councils can take action to
meet the perceived needs of their communities without always
running the risk of the ultra vires rule being broken. It is
accepted that this might be statutorily constrained by a financial
limit (McIntosh has suggested, say, 1 per cent of the Council’s
general fund expenditure) and that restrictions would be required
to ensure that Councils did not encroach on the statutory functions
of other agencies.
Ouestion Four
Should the Scottish Local Government elections be held on the
same day as the Scottish Parliamentary elections or should they be
held mid-term?
Response
In terms of the electoral cycle a case can be made for either
the Local Government Elections being timed mid point of the
Parliament or on the same day as those for the Scottish Parliament
and the Scottish Executive’s Response document sets out well the
cases for and against.
It could be argued that a combined poll diminishes the
importance of Local Government with electors focusing on national
issues and that voters may be confused by the different electoral
systems. The danger is that a vote in the Local Government election
is not in fact a vote in relation to the Council or indeed any of
the Local Government candidates and that in itself diminishes the
role of the Council.
The alternative argument is that if the primary purpose is to
increase voter turnout then this can best be achieved by a combined
poll along with the Scottish Parliament elections. An ancillary
point relates to the mechanics of the combined poll. Although Local
Government coped with the May 1999 elections, and the evidence
tends to show that voters coped with the number of ballot papers,
in many areas the system showed signs of strain. Further
clarification would be required in relation to the process of
having two counts.
It is suggested that the balance of the argument lies in there
being separate elections for Local Government. If Local Government
seeks to enhance its own democratic legitimacy and its community
leadership role, then that purpose can best be served by a separate
and distinct electoral process.
question Five
Should there be legislation to allow political management
structures that involve a directly elected leader? If so, how
should that leader be elected? Should there be some sort of
provision that would allow local people to insist that the idea of
a directly elected leader be put to the people? What sort of
safeguards on the power of the leader would be needed?
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3.3 8 Response
3.39 The debate on the concept of an elected leader has been
limited because the role is not clearly defined.
3.40 It could involve an elected figurehead, with an entirely
facilitating and influencing function, or it might involve a range
of powers. These powers could range from a simple veto to a wide
variety of policy making responsibilities, including powers of
appointment.
3.41 Essentially there are a number of different models for the
elected leader, and the advantages and disadvantages for each model
need to be identified and subjected to close scrutiny. It is not
possible to elaborate on such an analysis in this paper, but a
number of issues which may be raised are:-
0 there does not appear to be a great deal of factual evidence
on how the notion will refresh democracy - as opposed to a
potentially greater likelihood of encouraging better leadership, or
acting as a more effective change agent.
0 the question of how much power should be concentrated in the
hands of one individual must be considered very carefully - much of
the debate has assumed a ‘strong’ Leader role, but there is a case
to be made that the role could be exercised effectively through the
building of alliances, facilitation and leadership
0 any concentration of executive power in the hands of one
individual would need to be balanced by equally robust mechanisms
for review and check.
0 the increased profile given to one individual potentially
contradicts the emphasis being placed otherwise on the need for
community planning, and on the notion that a community and citizen
focus should be at the core of the constitutional arrangements of
local democracy.
0 the role of the elected Leader, and the extent of powers
delegated to the position, cannot be considered without a parallel
re-assessment of the roles of other elected members whether as ward
councillors or as policy makers, and the collegiate manner of
decision making through the Committee system..
0 the idea of an elected Leader is only one of a number of
options available to revitalise political management and leadership
- there are other models available which do not involve the elected
Leader.
3.42 In considering a future role of elected Leader, one must
also have regard to the civic and ceremonial roles carried out by
current provosts. This civic or ceremonial role is a very important
function of local government and should not be discounted. There
has to be some doubt as to whether one person could adequately
combine the present civic duties with that proposed for a post of
elected leader with substantial executive responsibilities and for
political leadership.
3.43 The proposed role of elected leader which is most commonly
envisaged is more like the role currently performed by a Council
Leader. Not all Councils have separate posts but where they do, it
is the Council Leader who is effectively the political head of the
Council.
3.44 The Commission did not find any significant body of support
for directly elected leaders (“provosts or mayors”) and this would
suggest that there is not widespread support for any legislative
change to provide for delegation of power to a single member.
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3.45
3.46
3.47
3.48
3 -49
3.50
3.51
3‘.52
3.53
3.54
3.55
3.56
Furthermore, analysis of the Scottish Local Government
Information UnitKOSLA 1999 Scottish Councillor’s’ Survey shows that
although a large majority of Scotland’s councillors support the
McIntosh recommendations that Councils should have a power of
general competence, control over business rates and that there
should be an independent review of local government finance, there
was very little support for a directly elected leader.
While the issue should be further examined as the McIntosh
debate progresses along with the Leadership Advisory Panel, the
view is offered at this stage that there is no immediate
requirement for legislation to allow for executive delegation of
power to a single member: and while the presently separate
positions of Provost and Leader of the Council should be subject to
appointment by the Council itself, there is not considered to be a
significant demand for a leadership model involving election by the
wider community.
Ouestion Six
Views are invited on -
whether the ban on employees serving as members of their own
Council should remain
whether, if the general ban was maintained, a relaxation on the
need for an employee to resign on nomination to their own authority
would be worthwhile (while maintaining the requirement to resign if
elected to serve); and if a relaxation were to be considered,
whether option (i) or option (ii) above is preferable.
Response
The arguments about retaining the ban on employees serving as
members of their own authority are clear; there can be a clear
conflict of interest which could lead to acute difficulties
particularly on discussion on management, policy or budgetary
proposals. Equally important is the question of perception and
public confidence. Whether or not an employee is, by virtue of
their job, in a position of direct conflict, if he or she is an
elected member, a public perception would be created of conflict of
interest. On the separate question of amending legislation to allow
an employee to stand for office without prior resignation on the
basis of a resignation if elected, it would seem more equitable if
there was some relaxation to the present rule that the employee
must resign at the time of nomination. Option 1 is less complicated
that Option 2 and therefore may be preferable.
Question Seven
Views are invited about whether the salary threshold should be
increased, and if so, to what level?
Response
Politically restricted posts account for only 2% of local
government staff in Scotland and it is suggested that there is no
overwhelming argument for raising the current salary threshold for
politically restricted posts. The current system, including the
review mechanism is, however, unduly complex and not well
understood by many staff and should be reviewed with a view to
making the rules clearer.
Ouestion Eieht
The party whip in Council business. Views are invited. Would
amendment of standing orders be effective?
Response
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3.57 The primary responsibility for reviewing whipping practices
should rest with political parties themselves, as identified in
both the McIntosh Report and the Scottish Executive Response.
3.58 The general background to this debate should recognise that
if a candidate for political office as an elected member is elected
on a particular party ticket then that member should recognise that
the party system requires a degree of discipline to be in
force.
3.59 There are a number of areas where political groups could
make it clear that it is inappropriate for whipping to be applied
such as quasi judicial issues concerning issues such as planning or
licensing, propriety matters and staff disciplinary matters. It is
suggestion that, rather than the Council Standing Orders, it would
be more appropriate if the National Code of Local Government
Conduct could articulate these areas in detail so that members,
officers and the public alike could all be clear on where whipping
should or should not be applied.
3.60 The Executive’s reservations on whether amendment of
standing orders would be as effective as McIntosh suggests are
recognised. It is suggested that while guidance on the
circumstances where the use of the party whip is appropriate or
inappropriate is a matter for the National Code, Councils could
make provision for recording in their Standing Orders declarations
that the whip has been applied in particular items of business.
4.0 Recommendations
4.1 It is recommended that the Committee
(i) approve the comments detailed in this report;
(ii) authorise the Chief Executive to submit these to the
Scottish Executive as representing the views of the Council;
and
(iii) authorise that these views be communicated to CoSLA.
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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE SCOTTISH
PARLIAMENT
THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE’S RESPONSE
September 1999
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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE
FOREWORD BY MINISTER FOR COMMUNITIES
When the report of the Commission on Local Government and the
Scottish Parliament (the McIntosh report) was published we lost no
time in indicating that we welcomed its recommendations, and
weimmediately set in hand a programme of action based upon them.
Our overall response was set out in the statement which I made to
the Scottish Parliament on July 2, in which I said that the heart
of the McIntosh report is a process of self-renewal by councils, a
process which the Scottish Executive is happy to endorse and
assist.
I also promised in my statement that we would issue a
consultation paper setting out how we plan to develop the McIntosh
recommendations. There are also a number of issues on which we wish
to hear further views before taking decisions.
This paper fulfils that commitment. It first sets out, in
Chapter 1, the various strands of action which we are pursuing.
Chapter 2 introduces and discusses the topics on which we are now
inviting further comment; and the final chapter deals with other
recommendations, which were not specifically addressed to the
Executive.
Local government belongs to us all: it matters to every
individual in the country. Our aim is to take it forward into the
21" century. In doing that, we want to hear from everyone who has a
point of view. Your comments are invited, particularly on the
questions highlighted in the paper, but also on any other aspect of
the programme set out in this paper. Details of how and when to
submit your response are given below.
Wendy Alexander Minister for Communities
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 : WHAT THE EXECUTIVE IS DOING
............................................................. 3
CHAPTER 2: QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
.......................................................... 13
CHAPTER 3 : OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
...................................................................
22
APPENDIX 1 : SUMMARY OF MCINTOSH RECOMMENDATIONS
............................... 24
APPENDIX 2: MINISTERIAL STATEMENT OF 2 JULY
................................................... 27
Responses to this paper should be sent to
Donald Coutts Local Government Division 2A The Scottish
Executive Area 3-H Victoria Quay EDINBURGH EH6 6QQ
Or by e-mail to [email protected]
Ministers may wish to publish responses to this paper. Should
you wish your comments to be treated in confidence, you should make
this clear in any papers you submit.
Further copies of this paper are available by writing or e-mail
to the above address or by telephoning and leaving a message on 013
1 244 1477. Please speak slowly and clearly giving your name,
address and postcode. Please give the title of the document you
want and the number of copies required.
Comments should reach us by 29 November
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CHAPTER 1: WHAT THE EXECUTIVE IS DOING 1. As announced in the
statement of 2 July, the Scottish Executive has taken immediate
action on several of the key recommendations of the McIntosh
report, as follows - The Renewing Local Democracy Group
2. The report made several fundamental recommendations relating
to the composition of councils, including: the introduction of
proportional representation for council elections (9- 11)’; a
review of the nature, volume and timing of business, with a view to
organising the business so that a wider cross-section of the
community could realistically consider taking on the
responsibilities of council membership (17); and a review of the
remuneration of councillors (1 9)
3. The Executive intends to take these recommendations forward
as an interlinked set of issues and has appointed a group - the
Renewing Local Democracy Group - under the chairmanship of Richard
Kerley (Director for the full-time MBA at Edinburgh University
Management School) to advise on them. The membership of this group
was announced on 2 July. It includes representatives of the major
political parties, as well as people with a range of skills who
will be able to consider the issues in detail. The group’s formal
remit is:
“Building on the recommendations of the Mclntosh report, to
consider ways in which council membership could be made attractive
to a wider cross-section of the community, and councils could
become more representative of the make-up of the community.
To advise on the appropriate numbers of members for each
council, taking account of new management arrangements and the
particular characteristics of city and rural authorities; and on
the most appropriate system of election, taking account of the
following criteria -
proportionality; and the councillor-ward link fair provision for
independents allowance for geographical diversity and a close fit
between council wards and natural communities
To advise on an appropriate system of remuneration for
councillors, taking account of available resources”
4. The group’s work will thus extend beyond the McIntosh
recommendations, in that it is to advise on the appropriate number
of members for councils, taking into account the differences
between rural and urban areas and also the impact of the changes to
the political management structures of councils that will result
from the implementation of other of the McIntosh recommendations.
The group met for the first time on September 7 1999 and will
report early next year.
5 . McIntosh also recommended that the legislation governing the
Local Government Boundary Commission should be reviewed with a view
to providing greater flexibility in determining ward boundaries.
The Executive accepts this in principle. It will be examined in the
context of the report of the Renewing Local Democracy group; since
the electoral system
~~~
’ The numbers in brackets, here and throughout this paper, refer
to the numbered recommendations in the McIntosh report. The
report’s recommendations are reproduced at Appendix 1 to this
paper.
4
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chosen may itself have a fundamental effect of the work of the
Boundary Commission.
The Leadership Advisory Panel
6. Another key set of McIntosh recommendations concerns the way
in which councils organise their business and their political
decision-making : every council is recommended to review its own
conduct of business, against stated criteria of openness and
accountability (13,14) and to draw up a job description for members
(1 8). These reviews are to be scrutinised by a specially
constituted advisory panel (29) and are to be completed by the end
of 2000 (28)
7. This panel - to be known as the Leadership Advisory Panel -
was appointed on 3 1 August, under the chairmanship of Alastair
MacNish, Chief Executive of South Lanarkshire Council. It has
members with a wide range of experience and expertise both within
local government and beyond. Its remit is:
“To advise councils on the review of their decision making and
policy development processes and the working practices which
support those processes. In addition, the Panel will provide advice
to Ministers on the outcome of the reviews councils undertake.
”
8. The Panel will work closely with each council throughout the
review process, taking account of their views and in dialogue with
them, so that the results should be acceptable to Ministers,
Parliament and the public. The Panel itself will be providing more
detailed and specific guidance on the conduct of reviews and the
criteria against which the proposals will be assessed; but the main
criteria are -
0 Council business should be managed in such a way that policy
proposals and matters for decision by the Council are subject to
open debate
e the Council must be able to effectively scrutinise the actions
of the leadership or Executive and hold it to account for its
performance
e the work of the Council should take place, as far as possible,
in public and the reviews should look at whipping practices to see
if they could be relaxed
e Council business should be organised in a way which makes it
possible for as wide a cross-section of the community to
realistically consider becoming a Councillor.
9. The McIntosh report emphasised, and Ministers agree, that in
order to meet the first of those criteria, Councils with an
informal political leadership structure should move to a formal
structure. In many cases, this may require an Executive to be
established in the Council, although Ministers do not want to be
prescriptive about the type of structure that should be adopted.
However, setting up an Executive does not of itself guarantee that
the criteria will be met. As councils begin to undertake their
reviews they will start to develop the detail of how an Executive
will work in practice, both in terms of the operation of the
Executive itself and how it relates to the Council as a whole. It
is this level of detail which the LAP will require to adequately
assess councils’ proposals. The panel will need to, and want to,
understand the rationale behind proposals for each council’s
particular circumstances. However it is expected that any proposal
would:
e provide all members of the Council with effective roles
5
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0 spell out the relationship between proposed new structures and
any decentralised decision making or advisory forums and community
councils
0 strike a balance between giving the Executive the freedom it
will need to operate effectively and the need for robust scrutiny
through the Council and other appropriate forums
10. The panel needs particularly to be able to clearly
understand how the function of scrutiny of the executive will work
in practice. In many respects the development of the scrutiny role
is the area which presents the most challenges and which also
presents the greatest opportunity for innovation.
11. It is important that these reviews should be open and
transparent. They should involve interested individuals and groups
in the review process and should detail the consultation
arrangements carried out as part of the review and the results
obtained. In any case, as a minimum, opposition groups on the
council, the council's senior management team and the general
public should all feature in any consultation process.
.
12. The relationship between proposed new structures and
existing area committees, area forums and community councils should
also be spelled out in the council's change proposals.
13. Councils are being asked to work to a tight timescale and
are to produce their change plans, having completed their
consultation, by the end of next year. Those plans will be
submitted to the First Minister who will ask the Panel to advise
him whether the proposals will meet the given criteria. Ministers
hope that councils will have worked sufficiently closely with the
Panel to ensure that their plans will be acceptable.
14. It will be evident that the thrust of the change process
should be one of self- renewal by councils. Many have already begun
the process and others are ready to start. Ministers hope that all
authorities will see this as an opportunity to reorganise
themselves in a way that fits the needs of government in the 21"
century. Although different councils will produce different
proposals, Ministers do not expect any council will be in a
position to report that no changes are required: there is always
room for improvement.
Other initiatives: the Community Leadership Forum, and Champions
for Change
15. In order to assist this process of self-renewal further,
Ministers have convened a Community Leadership Forum, bringing
together local government Ministers and the Leaders of the 32
councils in Scotland. It met first on 9 and 10 September. Its aims
are to explore the components which make for strong leadership
through a process of discussion and interaction; and to exchange
views and experiences on the process of cultural and organisational
change in order to build on experience and good practice. It will
be assisted by a number of individuals - Champions for Change -
from other walks of life who bring to it a proven track record in
the management of change.
16. The work of the Forum, the Champions for Change, the
Leadership Advisory Panel and the Renewing Local Democracy Group
are closely interlinked and their work will be dovetailed to
produce a coherent package.
6
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Local government and communities
17. Several of the McIntosh recommendations are concerned with
local government’s relationship with communities (23-26). They
focus to a large extent on the role of community councils, but also
acknowledge the range of other ways in which a council can relate
to the communities within its area. Ministers recognise that in
many parts of the country community councils continue to meet a
felt need and provide a vital link between local communities and
the council; and they recognise also the value of there being a
cornmon organisation, the Association of Scottish Community
Councils.
18. Community councils were however created to respond to a
specific situation, namely the loss of local representation brought
about by the creation of regional and district councils, and the
abolition of the small burghs, in the reorganisation of the early
1970s. Much has changed since then: government policy on social
inclusion, local government initiatives in developing other forms
of consultation, for example through citizens’ panels and citizens’
juries, and local voluntary initiatives - all these things add up
to a complex tapestry of relationships between councils and
communities. It is against this background that the McIntosh
recommendations need to be viewed.
19. Ministers believe that it is essential that communities are
placed at the heart of decision making about the things that most
affect them: health; education; housing; regeneration. This theory
is being put into practice by building community participation into
flagship programmes like community ownership, New Community
Schools, Healthy Living Centres and Social Inclusion Partnerships.
Local Authorities have a key role to play in all of these
initiatives as service providers, partners and supporters of local
communities and as partners of other agencies and the Scottish
Executive.
20. push the boundaries of community involvement further through
two new programmes.
Community participation is central to Executive policy but the
Executive is keen to
a The Listening to Communities programme will provide practical
support to communities and encourage organisations to change their
structures, processes and behaviour to make community participation
a meaningful reality. Supported by S3m to March 2002, the programme
aims to get the best out of community focused initiatives by better
co-ordination and sharing of expertise. Initially the programme
will support the piloting of People’s Juries and Citizen’s Panels
in Social Inclusion Partnerships, and the development of a National
Skills Development Programme for community representatives and the
people from agencies who work with them. The ultimate aim is to
provide the strategic framework that will support the development
of effective community participation in programmes aimed at
promoting social inclusion.
e Working for Communities is another example of an Executive
programme designed to bring together service providers and excluded
communities. In this case the focus is on delivering local services
which meet local needs and priorities. The initiative is supported
by ElOm of investment to March 2002. It funds 13 pathfinder
projects, across Scotland, aimed at testing innovative ways of
giving communities much more influence over the delivery of local
services. The programme will allow best practice to be developed
and rolled forward to other areas.
21. Local Authorities are central to the development of these
programmes through
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their key role in Social Inclusion Partnerships and Working for
Communities pathfinders and through the Convention of Scottish
Local Authorities’ (COSLA) membership of the National Steering
Group for the Listening to Communities programme.
Local government and other bodies 22. A further dimension is
added by Community Planning, as the McIntosh report acknowledges.
Acting on the recommendation of the Community Planning Working
Party, which reported last year, five councils have acted as
pathfinders to develop new ways of bringing together in partnership
and with a common focus the whole range of bodies interested in
aspects of the welfare of local communities. The pathfinders have
now reported, and their reports have been evaluated, under the
joint auspices of the Scottish Executive and COSLA. Other councils
are keen to follow; and the Executive intends to work with COSLA in
developing appropriate guidance and support for all councils.
23. McIntosh also made a recommendation that the option of
transfer to local government should always be considered in any
review of other bodies delivering public services (6). This is
already being implemented. Prior options reviews involve a rigorous
test of the range of functions provided by a public sector body.
Such reviews are carried out every five years to determine the
future status of the body and include the examination of several
options including: - continuation in present form, abolition,
privatisation, contracting- out, transfer of ownership and merger
with other public sector organisations. During the review process
each option is assessed fully against agreed criteria. Examination
of the options of transfer of ownership or merger with other public
sector organisations will cover the full range of possibilities
available (including transfer to local authorities).
Civic education 24. McIntosh recommended that Parliament and
local authorities alike should give further study to the
development of civic education (27). Although the recommendation is
addressed to Parliament and the local authorities, the Scottish
Executive acknowledges a responsibility in this matter; and it is
worth setting out here the various initiatives that are already
underway with backing from the Executive, from local authorities
and through the voluntary sector.
25. Ministers have:-
e set out a new agenda for the development of community
education in Scotland following the publication of the report
“Communities: Change Through Learning’ (November 1998).”
e advised local authorities2 to develop targets to demonstrate
local progress in achieving Ministers’ new priorities for community
education particularly in relation to social inclusion, lifelong
learning and active citizenship.
e supported the work of Community Learning Scotland, an active
member of Scottish Youth Work Forum, which promotes and supports
the development of youth forums.
e welcomed the initiative led by Community Learning Scotland and
YouthLink that
’ In Departmental Circular 4/99 issued in April 1999 8
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involved young people in developing and establishing a youth
Parliament that met for the first time last June.
26. Civic education is also included within the curriculum in
schools, giving children a grounding of knowledge that will help
them participate fully in the democratic process when older. The
5-14 Programme offers a number of opportunities for pupils to learn
about citizenship education under the subject headings of Personal
and Social Development, Religious and Moral Education and, in
particular, under Social Subjects within Environmental Studies.
27. In the context of the Scottish Parliament the Scottish
Executive Education Department is currently looking at a range of
measures aimed at highlighting the importance of education for
citizenship: -
e The Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum have been
asked to undertake a mapping exercise to identify and highlight for
teachers the relevant strands of citizenship within the 5-14
curriculum framework.
e The current review of the 5-14 national guidelines on
Environmental Studies will provide an opportunity to specify more
clearly aspects of the political literacy strand of citizenship
within People in Society in Social Subjects.
e HM Inspectors of Schools are co-operating with the Gordon Cook
Foundation3 to produce a publication that will provide schools with
a means for auditing and evaluating citizenship within the
curriculum.
A proposed clarification and exemplification of personal and
social education will highlight aspects of citizenship in the
current 5-14 guidelines on Personal and Social Development.
The production of curriculum materials related to the new
Scottish Parliament will provide an opportunity to highlight the
political literacy strand.
28. Ministers are acutely aware of the need to engage the most
disadvantaged young people in the process of civic education. It is
of key importance that such young people are given the tool of
knowledge of democratic processes and the encouragement to make
their voice heard in local decision making. The “Connect Youth”
network of young peoples’ forums aims to involve and empower young
people to become active citizens, particularly those with little or
no previous experience of formal youth activities. We would however
welcome views on other ways in which it may be possible to reach
socially excluded young people and help them participate fully in
the democratic process.
II Q1. How can we best reach out to the most disadvantaged young
people and help them ll become active citizens?
The Gordon Cook Foundation is a charitable organisation which
funds work in the field of values in education 3 throughout the
UK
9
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Finance
29. Although finance was not included in the remit given to the
McIntosh Commission, their report includes a recommendation ( 5 )
that an independent review of local government finance should be
set up. Ministers do take seriously the Commission’s view that
financial matters are part of the agenda for change, but they are
not persuaded that an independent review at this time would be
beneficial. Instead, Ministers are already taking action.
30. The system of Local Government Finance has developed over a
number of years through consultation between central and local
government. Separate arrangements operate for local authorities’
annual revenue expenditure on services (other than housing) and
debt servicing; for local authority capital expenditure and for
housing finance. At their heart, these arrangements aim to provide
a system of funding which is both fair and stable, but which can
also respond to changing demands and circumstances. Local
government finance is not, therefore, a fixed system, but is
undergoing a constant process of review and evolution.
3 1, Local authority revenue expenditure is funded from a
combination of local taxation (the council tax) and grant support
from the Scottish Executive (known as Aggregate External Finance or
AEF). AEF comprises three elements:
Specific Grants;
Non-Domestic Rates Income; and
Revenue Support Grant
The distribution of AEF aims to ensure that local authorities
across Scotland are able to provide an equivalent level of basic
service, to the same standards across the country, for a standard
level of council tax; whilst acknowledging geographic, demographic
and other differences which impact on their spending needs.
32. Whilst Non-Domestic Rates are collected locally, a standard
system for calculating rates bills, linked to rateable values and a
common poundage rate, applies across all local authority areas in
Scotland. The proceeds are pooled and distributed to authorities as
part of the needs- based central government grant distribution.
33. This distribution system allocates allowances to the various
local authority service headings (e.g. social work, education,
etc.) based on Ministers’ assessments of what authorities need to
spend on these. These allowances are then distributed between
individual authorities using criteria agreed through consultation
with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. The allowances
for different services are illustrative only, to help in
calculating the total level of grant support for each authority. It
is for individual authorities to determine their own expenditure
priorities from the total resources available to them, other than
for the small proportion of grant (around 8%) allocated through
specific grants.
34. Separate arrangements apply for the annual section 94
allocations for authorities’ non-housing capital expenditure. These
are also determined following consultation with CBSLA and are
calculated on the basis of authorities’ relative expenditure needs
for capital investment. Capital allocations, however, account for
only around half of the total gross expenditure of local
authorities, the rest being made up from authorities’ own
resources,
10
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mainly receipts. The Government has agreed with COSLA that the
priorities for gross capital spending should be pursued jointly
through new partnership arrangements over the CSR period and that
the existing system should be kept under review.
35. Ministers remain committed to the current framework for the
needs based distribution of local government finance, Nevertheless,
they recognise that there are many aspects of the present financial
arrangements that need to be addressed and will aim to work closely
and constructively with local government on these. Improved
financial management, budget accountability and partnership use of
resources are all central to our view of the modernising agenda for
local government finance, to improve both accountability and
management more generally. Ministers have suggested the following
issues merit further consideration:
The innovative pooling of funding streams between central
Government, local government and other public bodies, to deliver
savings and joined up government, and to look at new ways of
drawing in private sector resources.
e Ways of promoting greater long-term stability in the financing
of local government.
e Ways of improving financial management in both local and
central government and the scope for both sides to exchange best
practice.
An examination of whether Business Improvement Districts could
promote closer working between councils and businesses in their
area.
36. Local authorities may have further issues which they would
like to addto this agenda and views have already been sought from
COSLA in discussions with the Scottish Executive over the summer,
when it was agreed that the Executive and the Convention would
jointly develop a paper for consideration at the next Ministerial
meeting between the 2 sides, scheduled for November. In addition,
since the Report of the McIntosh Commission was published in July,
action has continued on a number of other fronts.
37. Firstly, a programme of reviews of the arrangements for
distributing grant to local authorities was set in hand following
reorganisation in 1996. The reviews need to be completed as soon as
practicable and progress has been achieved this year in a number of
areas, including population distribution, loan and leasing charges
and stability. The outcome of these 3 reviews will be ready for
implementation in 2000-0 1. Ministers have also discussed the
process itself with local authorities over the summer and have
agreed their request to add to this programme a further review of
the priority given to secondary indicators of poverty and
deprivation in the distribution process. The remit for this further
review will be agreed by November 1999 and the aim will be to
complete it for implementation in 200 1-02.
38. The review of the (non-housing) capital finance system is
continuing and has been looking, in partnership with COSLA, at the
single allocation formula and the development of arrangements to
monitor delivery of the shared capital expenditure priorities
(education, public transport and care and repair). A major part of
the review is monitoring how the new arrangements for taking
receipts into account in the distribution process will affect the
distribution of net capital allocations in 2000-0 1.
39. The Scottish Executive also has in hand a major exercise
that will lead to a revaluation of business rates, which will take
effect on 1 April 2000, in Scotland, England and Wales. The
Executive is committed to maintaining the principles of
cross-border harmonisation and a
11
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level playing field for business and industry. Differences in
the commercial property markets of Scotland and England could
however lead to different rate poundages in future, even to raise
identical sums as at present. Against this background, Ministers
believe it would be wrong to introduce any further turbulence for
business, for example by altering the national regime for
non-domestic rates.
I
40. Taken together, the various reviews currently in hand or
under consideration add up to a serious and heavy agenda and
reflect Ministers’ commitment to keep the wider issues of local
government finance under review.
I 4 2 . Ministers would welcome views on proposals for improving
the resource allocation, management and transparency of the local
government finance system, within the current policy framework.
12
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CHAPTER 2: QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION 41. This chapter deals
with a miscellany of recommendations, on each of which Ministers
wish to hear a wide range of views before coming to
conclusions.
A power of general competence 42. The McIntosh report
recommended that legislation should be introduced to provide
councils with a statutory power of general competence. The report
describes the current position on the powers of local authorities.
Local government legislation sets out the constitution of
authorities and a variety of other Acts give them specific powers,
duties and functions. But there is nothing in legislation that
embodies the authorities’ role as a champion for its community.
Local government in Britain may do only those things which statute
empowers it to do. This is said by some to prevent authorities from
engaging in activities that would benefit their communities since
anything for which they do not have specific powers could be deemed
“ultra vires” (i.e. outside the legal scope of their powers). This
also has a close read-across to local authorities’ community
planning role where the type of activities in which they become
involved may stray into areas where the legal basis for their
actions in at best unclear.
43. At its broadest, a power of general competence would allow
an authority to do anything that it believed to be of advantage to
its area that was not otherwise specifically reserved or
prohibited. Such unfettered power has obvious dangers and most
agree that there would need to be some form of built-in control.
That is where the problems begin: how could we give enough power
and enough certainty to the scope of that power to make it
effective without providing carte blanche for authorities to
interfere in the work of other public bodies, Government
Departments, agencies and the voluntary sector? What sort of
financial controls would there need to be and how would that impact
on our present systems? While we see that there is a case for
something to be done, we need to be careful not to make the
situation worse by creating a new set of uncertainties.
44. There are arguments both for and against giving local
authorities a power of general competence. In its favour:
0 it would help with the community planning role in that:-
0 councils could identify things that would be of benefit to
their area that are not being done by another agency and take
action without the need for specific statutory powers to be
created; and
0 councils would have more freedom to take part in joint action
in partnership with other agencies.
it would encourage innovative solutions to problems that could
help deliver the Best Value agenda
0 it would express in statute for the first time the fundamental
purpose of local authorities as democratically elected champions
for their communities.
it would symbolise the new trust that exists between local and
central government, expressing the belief that local authorities
will make responsible decisions about how
13
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to promote the interests of their area without the need for
close statutory controls.
0 the McIntosh report notes that it would give specific form to
the principle of subsidiarity .
0 it would reduce the need for authorities to spend resources
checking the vires of proposed actions to be taken in the interests
of their area.
45. Against:
0 it could increase the pressures on councils to spend which
would lead either to less resources going to other services or to
an increase in council tax.
0 it could lead to a duplication of provision unless the council
engage in a careful reassessment of priorities, particularly at the
margins as local authorities overlapped with the services that
others provide.
0 there could still be a problem with vires if councils were
thought to be using their powers irresponsibly.
it is not entirely clear that current legislation is a real bar
to useful local activities so there may be no need for new
legislation.
46. The Government at Westminster announced last year4 that it
intends to introduce legislation for England and Wales to place on
councils a duty to promote the economic, social and environmental
well-being of their areas and to strengthen councils’ powers to
enter into partnerships. That legislation will not apply in
Scotland since local government is a devolved matter. It will
enshrine in law the role of the council as the elected leader of
their local community. The legislation will require councils to
take a long-term view of the well-being of their areas and will put
sustainable development at the heart of council decision making.
They will be required to weigh up decisions against the three
elements - economic, social, and environmental - and if necessary
strike a balance between them. As well as the new duty, councils
will also be given a discretionary power to promote the well-being
of their areas providing that it is not used in ways that prejudice
other council functions or the functions of other statutory bodies.
The Government will also retain a reserve power to exclude
particular activities or to set a financial limit where national
interests might need to be protected. A Bill will be introduced to
provide for these matters as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
47. The proposals for England and Wales represent a more tightly
drawn power of general competence. Here, COSLA have suggested that
the power should be couched in terms of a Power of Community
Initiative which they would like to see complementing and mirroring
a Duty of Community Planning. In their response to the McIntosh
Commission’s second consultation paper COSLA suggested some of the
safeguards that might be put in place to control the use of such a
power:
‘ ‘mere the statute requires a council to do certain speciJic
things and prohibits it JFom doing others the council would still
have to comply with those requirements and prohibitions in the
exercise of its power of community initiative. It would mean, in
eflect, that the council only had the fieedom to do things in
fields where the law did
In the White Paper “Modern Local Government: In Touch with the
People” July 1998 ISBN 010 140 1426 4
14
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not already set out what councils can and cannot do. ”
“Secondly, the new power would be prescribed by a requirement
that it did not prejudice theJirnctions of other statutory bodies
in the area. ”
“Thirdlyl a council would be required to ensure that the power
was not exercised contrary to the provisions of the Human Rights
Act 1998 or that it was in breach of a council ‘s fiduciary duty
towards its council taxpayers and ratepayers. ”
“Lastly, there will be a requirement to set a sensible limit on
the expenditure. This would be best expressed as a percentage of
the council’s general fund expenditure; I % would be an appropriate
level. ’’
48. Since local government is a devolved matter, the Scottish
Parliament is free to decide what will work best in the Scottish
context. It may be that given OUT different legal system and
different traditions, a different approach to that being adopted in
England and Wales would be appropriate. Equally, many of the
fundamental issues are the same and that is an argument for
developing similar legislative proposals to those which the
Government has put forward for England and Wales. Views on these
questions are invited.
Q3. Should local authorities in Scotland be given a power of
general competence? Does the lack of such a power really hamper
authorities? What form should that power take? What safeguards
should we provide?
The term of office for councils, and the timing of local
elections
49. McIntosh recommended that councils should be elected for a
four-year term, and that elections should be arranged to fall at
the mid-point of the term of a Scottish Parliament. (8)
50. The case for a four-year term rests on the argument that
there is a need for reasonable stability for planning purposes and
enough time for the council’s policies to be seen to take effect.
The fact that the Scottish Parliament is also elected for four
years is also relevant. However there remains the question whether
the local elections should be held at the same time as the
parliamentary election or at mid-term. There are potential
advantages and disadvantages to each and commentators have
suggested the following as relevant factors:-
Turn-out.
5 1. Turn-out at parliamentary elections is normally much higher
than for local elections; but when the two coincide most voters in
the parliamentary election use their local government vote as well.
That was also borne out in the recent elections to the Scottish
Parliament. Thus the local government poll is augmented, which is
desirable; but arguably the increase is for the wrong reason. The
democratic mandate of local government ought to be a strong one in
its own right.
Voting on local rather than national issues
52. It is argued that when national and local elections are held
simultaneously, the voters will vote on the same set of issues,
i.e. national ones, in both. As against that, there is evidence
that local elections held in the mid-term of a government are used
to express a protest at unpopular aspects of government policy.
Perhaps more to the point, parties campaigning in a
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national election tend to have little time or resources to spare
for a distinct local campaign.
Voter confision, and administrative issues
53. In the elections of May this year, voters were faced with
three ballot papers. On the whole the electorate seems to have
proved able to cope with this, helped by a public education
campaign. If however the local elections had been held on the same
system as the Scottish Parliament election - an option which the
Renewing Local Democracy is to consider - there would have been
four ballot papers; and the consequence of that is unknown.
54. A combined poll is more expensive; but overall the costs of
combining elections are probably smaller than those of separate
elections.
55. The May elections this year put a very heavy strain on the
administrative arrangements of the returning officers. In the
future, if local elections are held on any other system than the
traditional first-past-the-post, the administrative problems - and
the risk of breakdown - will be magnified.
Implications for the political parties
56. A combined poll in effect forces candidates to choose which
election they will stand in, and some will be casualties and end up
with nothing. It is a question for the parties whether they have
access to enough good candidates who will want to have to run this
risk at every major election.
Voter fatigue
57. The choice of timing of elections also affects how many
separate polls there will be over the coming years. Voters in
Scotland are asked to vote in elections for local government, for
the Scottish Parliament, for Westminster, and for the European
Parliament. The table on the following page sets out how those
elections might fall in the next 12 years (one cannot of course be
certain that the various legislatures will run for the maximum
possible period before a new vote is taken).
5 8 . The table shows that if the local government elections are
held at the same time as the Scottish Parliamentary elections,
voters will be asked to turn out 6 times over the next 12 years. If
the McIntosh recommendation of mid-term elections were adopted,
voters would be asked to turn out 8 times (assuming that the local
government and European elections were held on different days in
2009 when both would be due). Under the McIntosh recommendation and
given our Westminster assumption, they would be asked to turn out
every year for the period 2001 to 2005.
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Timing of elections Scottish
Parliament European Parliament
99 I J I J
Westminster Local Local Local Government Government
Government
(present (McIntosh (phased with legislation) recommendation)
Parliament)
J J J
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
(The dates for the Westminster elections are particularly
uncertain and, purely for the purpose of illustration, the table
assumes that each administration runs for its maximum 5-year
term.)
? J J
J J
J
J J
I
J ? J
J
J J
J J J
59. The decision on when local government elections should be
held is also to some extent dependent on the conclusions that are
reached by the Renewing Local Democracy Group. If they recommend an
electoral system that is different to that used for the Scottish
Parliamentary elections, that has implications for the voting
arrangements and timing, as noted above. The question for decision
then is whether the electorate will be able to cope with casting
three or four votes at once using different types of voting system.
The choice of voting system also has implications for the speed
with which it can be introduced. For these reasons Ministers will
not decide on the timing of elections until the Group has reported.
We would however like to hear views on the timing of elections.
44. Should the Scottish local government elections be held on
the same day as the Scottish Parliamentary elections or should they
be held mid-term?
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Delegation of powers to a single member
A directly elected council leader
60. The McIntosh report says that the Commission found “only
slight interest” in the idea of delegation to a single councillor
and “not much evidence that it has been worked out in any detail”.
It says the same about the concept of a directly elected leader
(mayor or provost) (1 5) . Nevertheless it does not entirely close
the door on these ideas. Ministers too believe that they should not
rule out anything that may help councils put in place structures
that fit their particular circumstances and at the same time help
to fit local government for the 21” Century. Councils will be
working closely with the Leadership Advisory Panel to develop their
ideas and identify structures appropriate to them. It may be that
when new organisational frameworks are worked out in detail some
councils want to adopt structures that require delegation to single
councillors. The most common form of such a structure would be one
where single councillors hold executive portfolios and form the
membership of an Executive Group. Ministers will therefore keep
closely in touch with the work of the Leadership Advisory Panel as
councils develop their schemes. If, having studied the matter,
there is a demand from councils for legislative change it will be
considered at that time.
61. Direct election of a council leader would also require
legislative change. It is possible that some councils and some
voters (particularly in urban areas) would find it an attractive
option. Equally, Ministers are aware that in other areas there is
little enthusiasm for the idea. Ministers are committed to giving
local voters a strong voice in the decision about the type of
political management structure that should be adopted for their
Council. Various political management structures incorporating a
directly elected leader are possible. The leader could for example
select an executive group with individual portfolios from the
council or could work in tandem with a council manager to whom
strategic policy and day to day decision making would be delegated
under the political guidance of the leader.
62. The Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions has
published a Local Government (Organisation and Standards) Bill, for
England and Wales, that will require that a referendum be held to
allow the electorate to accept or reject any scheme put forward by
the council that includes a directly elected mayor. The results
will be binding on the council. It also provides a means whereby
local people can call for the introduction of a directly elected
mayor if the council has not itself come forward with such
proposals. If 5% or more of the electorate sign a petition
demanding a directly elected mayor, the council would be under a
duty to draw up a formal detailed proposal on that basis and to
hold a referendum on this within a given period.
63. There are both potential advantages and disadvantages in
having directly elected leaders. A directly elected leader can
raise the profile of the council, act as its champion and provide
strong and clear leadership that is highly evident to the
electorate. There is also the possibility that a directly elected
leader would re-invigorate local politics and help increase turnout
at local elections. However, Ministers also recognise and
appreciate the concern that many have about the concentration of so
much power in the hands of one person and the risk that presents
for the misuse of that power and patronage. There are also concerns
that such a leader could distance local communities further from
the decision making process. Given the strong powers that would be
vested in a directly elected leader, those local views could be
ignored with impunity.
Q5. Views are therefore invited on these various ideas. Should
there be legislation to allow political management structures that
involve a directly elected leader? If so, how should that leader be
elected? Should there be some sort of provision that would allow
local people to insist that the idea of a directly elected leader
be put to the peopIe? What sort of safeguards on the power of the
leader would be needed?
18
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Election of council employees to the council; and political
restrictions on council officers 64. McIntosh has recommended that,
subject to appropriate safeguards, employees other than the most
senior and those in politically sensitive posts should be permitted
to stand for election and to serve as elected members (22).
65. There are two separate ways in which local government
employees may be restricted in their political activities. Firstly,
under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, no local government
employee may stand for election to the council that employs them.
If they wish to stand, they must resign their job. There is no bar
under this Act preventing employees of one council standing for
election to or becoming members of another.
66. Secondly, under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989
local government officers in certain “politically restricted”
posts’ are barred from standing for election to any local authority
or the House of Commons or European Parliament. The Local
Government Officers (Political Restrictions) Amendment Regulations
1998 also bar Scottish local government employees fiom standing for
election to the Scottish Parliament. Such employees are further
barred from acting as election agents or sub-agents, becoming an
officer of a political party or branch (if that involves
participating in the general management of the party or acting for
the party with those outside that party), canvassing for a
political party or a candidate for election or speaking to the
public at large in favour of a political party.
67. The net effect of this is that the majority of local
government employees may stand for election to authorities other
than their own, but that there is a class of employee whose
political activity is more closely restricted and who may not
become a member of any authority.
68. The McIntosh Report concerned itself primarily with the
first of these types of restriction - the ban on employees standing
for their own authority. The report sets out the main issues for
consideration. They note:
the ban bites more strongly since the 1994 re-organisation
introduced unitary authorities. It is a particularly acute problem
in more rural areas where the council can be the largest employer
(and has always been an issue in the islands authorities);
there may be implications.under the European Convention on Human
Rights;
there may be scope for conflicts of interest;
it is important that the public perceive that there can be no
conflict of interest; and
there could be particular problems if the majority of a council
were also its employees (although the report dismisses this, as a
matter which the electorate could settle at the ballot box).
69. There are strong arguments in both directions. Ministers
have noted the submissions made on the subject by COSLA, SOLACE and
SOLAR who all expressed opposition to the idea of
‘.. Section 2 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 sets
out a number of posts that are classified as politically
restricted. The definition covers chief executives, chief
officers such as Directors of Finance, deputy chief officers, the
council’s monitoring officer, anyone on point 44 or above of the
Administrative Professional and Technical pay scale, any member of
staff who regularly gives advice to councillors and any member of
staff who speaks on behalf of the authority to journalists or
broadcasters.
5
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lifting the ban. Equally, Ministers are aware that the ban can
cause more difficulty in some areas - notably the Highlands and
Islands - than others, and this may not be equitable 70. The
McIntosh report suggests that employees in non-politically
restricted posts could serve as members if there were “appropriate
safeguards”. The difficulty is however to devise appropriate
safeguards. While some rules are easy to conceive (that for example
prevented teachers from taking on the education portfolio), it is
more difficult to envisage a scheme that avoided all potential
conflicts of interest. For example, should an employee be allowed
to join in the debate and vote on the budget when this could affect
his own job? If not, does that provide fair representation on a key
issue for those he represents? On the other side of the equation,
is it sensible to bar all Council employees from membership,
particularly in areas where the local authority is the largest
employer, when such people would have valuable skills to bring to
the councillor role? Given that Ministers are shortly to introduce
legislation to implement the New Ethical Framework that will
enforce high ethical standards amongst councillors, is the threat
of conflict of interest really so great?
.
71. Ministers are also aware that there could be potential
operational difficulties. In their response to McIntosh, SOLAR note
“ even where it is a relatively junior member of staff who is a
member of the Council, that employee’s manager will encounter very
serious problems in fulfilling their r61e vis-a-vis that person.”
However, it may be possible that some form of code or guidance
could be developed to govern the working relationship.
72. If it were to be thought that the general ban should not be
lifted, there may still be scope for some relaxation of the rules
relating to non-politically restricted employees standing for
election. At present, the employee must resign at the time of
nomination, It could be that employees would stand for election if
the rules meant that they would only have to leave their job if
they were successfully elected to the council that employed them.
It would be possible either to:
(i) amend the 1973 Act to allow employees to stand for election
to their own council without resignation, but maintain the
requirement for resignation if they are successfully elected;
or
(ii) amend the terms and. conditions of appointment such that
employees who resign to stand for election to their own council are
given a guaranteed right of return to their post within a fixed
timescale after the election if they are unsuccessful. This would
also need to include provisions with regard to continuity of
service with respect to pension and other rights.
73. Option i. is clear cut and would not require any
consequential changes to protect pension rights and so on, but it
could be seen as inviting employees to express views in public that
may be at variance with the policies of the council that they as an
employee are required to implement. There is however no ban at
present on those in non politically restricted posts stating
political views, and indeed those who are employed by one council
but are a member of another clearly and publicly demonstrate their
political affiliations. Option ii. is more complicated since the
employee would have a gap in service, but would mean that the
candidate was not an employee of the council during the time they
were canvassing and publicly expressing political views about the
activities of their own council. Option ii. maintains the greatest
distinction between employee and employer.
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74. There is little hard evidence to show whether the
requirement to resign on nomination is actually a problem for
employees and therefore whether any amendment to the current
requirements would be worthwhile.
46. Views are invited on - whether the ban on employees serving
as members of their own Council should remain
whether, if the general ban was maintained, a relaxation on the
need for an employee to resign on nomination to their own authority
would be worthwhile (while maintaining the requirement to resign if
elected to serve); and if a relaxation were to be considered,
whether option i or option ii above is preferable.
75. The issues to be considered in relation to holders of
politically restricted posts are rather different. Problems of the
potential for conflict of interest are more acute and for that
reason, McIntosh agrees that the ban should remain. Politically
restricted posts account for only some 2% of local government staff
in Scotland. There is in any case a statutory appeal mechanism
whereby any officer caught by the ban may apply to the Local
Government Political Restrictions Adjudicator for an exemption.
Ministers do however recognise that the legislation introducing the
ban was introduced some time ago and that there is a case for
reviewing its operation to date. In particular, they are
considering whether to increase the salary threshold at which the
ban begins to bite.
4 7 . Views are invited about whether the salary threshold
should be increased, and if so, to what level?
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CHAPTER 3: OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS 7 6 . Not all of the McIntosh
recommendations are for action by the Scottish Executive. This
chapter draws attention to them, and sets out Ministers’ own views
on them, where appropriate.
Local government and the Scottish Parliament
77. The McIntosh Commission was specifically instructed to
consider the relationship between local government and the Scottish
Parliament, and its first two recommendations are concerned with
this. It recommends that local government and the Parliament should
commit themselves to a covenant setting out the basis of their
working relationship; and that Parliament and local government
should set up a standing joint conference.
7 8 . The Commission had to do its work before the Parliament
was elected, and therefore without knowledge of the committee
structure the Parliament would adopt. In the event, there is a
local government committee of the Parliament; and Ministers will
consult with that committee about this recommendation.
79. Alongside these two recommendations, McIntosh also
recommended that a formal working agreement be drawn up between the
Scottish Executive and COSLA. The Executive has inherited a good
relationship with COSLA and intends to maintain it: Ministers will
discuss this recommendation with COSLA.
The party whip in council business
80. McIntosh recommends that the political parties should review
their advice to local parties on the application of the party whip
to council business, so as to ensure that it is not applied
inappropriately or indiscriminately; and that councils should
incorporate in their standing orders rules to the effect that where
whipping is applied in council business it should be declared at
the commencement of the relevant discussions and minuted for public
information and record (1 6).
81. Ministers strongly support the recommendation that parties
should review their use of the whip. The McIntosh Report clearly
sets out how over-application of the party whip can damage local
democracy. It can make it impossible for the electorate to be sure
who is taking the decisions and who should be held accountable for
those decisions. It can make it difficult for councillors properly
to represent the views of their wards. It is one of the reasons why
public debates in committee or council can appear to the electorate
to be a sham and one of the reasons why there is public
disillusionment with the working practices of councils.
82. Like McIntosh, Ministers recognise that there is a perfectly
legitimate and indeed necessary role for party politics and party
discipline in local government. It enables effective decisions to
be taken and electoral manifestos to be delivered. But Ministers do
not believe that should be at the expense of transparency, of
openness of decision making and of clear accountability.
83. Ministers regard this recommendation as being of key
importance. They would urge the political parties to review their
whipping practices with a view to ensuring that the whip is applied
appropriately.
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84. Whether amendment of standing orders would be as effective
as McIntosh appears to suggest is a more debatable question. It is
a matter in which legislation could be brought in to enforce the
requirement, if that is considered desirable and necessary.
11 0 8 . Views are invited. Would amendment of standing orders
be effective? II Elected members and officers
85. McIntosh recommends that COSLA should draw up a mutual
protocol of understanding, governing the relationship between
elected members and officers (2 1). Ministers support this
recommendation and look to COSLA to move forward on this. The need
for clarity of understanding about the respective roles of officers
and members will be all the greater in the new forms of political
organisational structures for councils that will be developed in
response to recommendations elsewhere in the McIntosh Report.
Electoral administration
86. McIntosh recommended that the rules and arrangements for
conduct of local elections should be reviewed, with the general aim
of simplifying procedures for the public and improving access
(7).
87. Ministers support this recommendation in principle. The
revitalisation of local democracy needs to be tackled on every
front possible; and that includes making sure that the physical act
of voting is made as easy as possible for all voters. The Scottish
Parliament does not at present have powers to legislate in all
these areas. Matters relating to the franchise such as the question
of a rolling electoral register are a reserved matter- that is to
say that the Westminster Parliament has retained responsibility for
making legislation on this for England, Scotland and Wales, as it
has for Parliamentary elections in general.
88. The UK Government has been actively considering all these
matters in relation to parliamentary elections. In January 1998 the
Home Office Working Party on Electoral Procedures was established,
and the group (known as the Howarth Group) reported in July of this
year. Their terms of reference required them to consider
recommendations for changes to electoral practice that will
contribute to democratic renewal in the United Kingdom. Amongst
other things, they recommend the introduction of a rolling
register, postal voting on demand and that there should be a number
of pilot schemes at local elections to test the effectiveness of
more flexible ways of voting (such as mobile polling, all postal
ballots and electronic voting.)
89. The Scottish Executive considers that it would be
appropriate if the local government committee were to study this
matter in relation to local elections. The committee could look at
the work of the Howarth Group and at experience in Scotland.
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APPENDIX 1: SUMMARY OF McINTOSH RECOMMENDATIONS
Relations with Parliament and Ministers 1. which we call a
Covenant - setting out the basis of their working relationship.
(Paragraph 34)
The Parliament and the 32 councils should commit themselves to a
joint agreement -
2. Parliament and local government should set up a standing
Joint Conference to be a place where parliamentarians and local
government representatives may hold a dialogue on a basis of
equality. (34)
3 . A formal working agreement should be established between
local government and the . Scottish Ministers (45)
4. competence. (52)
Legislation should be introduced to provide councils with a
statutory power of general
5. An independent inquiry into local government finance should
be instituted immediately. (57)
6 . The option of transfer to local government should always be
considered in any review of other bodies delivering public
services; and likewise where new services are developed, prior
consideration should always be given to whether local government
should be their vehicle, subject to consideration of efficiency and
cost effectiveness. (62)
Electing the council 7. The rules and arrangements for conduct
of local elections should be reviewed, with the general aim of
simplifying procedures for the public and improving access (66) and
with particular reference to -
A rolling electoral register More accessible polling places
Electronic voting Wider and easier access to postal voting
8. elections due to be held in 2005, midway through the second
Parliament (72, 74).
Councils should be elected for a four-year term.(70). This
should take effect at the
The electoral system 9. A review should be set up immediately,
to identify the most appropriate voting system for Scottish local
government, with a view to legislation which should take effect in
time to govern the next council elections in 2002 (89)
Proportional representation should be introduced for local
government elections.
10. Scottish local government should be (89) -
The criteria to be used in determining the system or systems of
PR to be adopted for
proportionality the councillor-ward link fair provision for
independents allowance for geographical diversity and
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a close fit between council wards and natural communities.
11. consideration. (89)
Of the possible electoral systems, AMS, STV and AV Top-up should
be given particular
12. reviewed with a view to providing greater flexibility in
determining ward boundaries. (89)
The legislation governing the Local Government Boundary
Commission should be
The conduct of council business 13. Every council should carry
out a review of its management of business and working practices,
under the guiding principles of accountability and accessibility.
(94) A prime aim of these reviews should be to set on a formal,
open and accountable footing the political leadership within the
council, in whatever form is most appropriate to the circumstances
of the individual council, so that policy proposals and matters for
decision by the council should be subject to open debate, and so
that the council may scrutinise the actions of the leadership and
hold it to account for its performance. (1 03)
14. executive, but should also be able to consider other
options. (106, 110)
Councils should give particular consideration to formalising the
political leadership as an
15. We do not consider that it is necessary at present to
legislate to permit delegation to a single councillor nor direct
election of a council leader; but we consider that the latter
option should be kept in view, in the light of developments which
may take place elsewhere in Great Britain. (1 12, 1 13)
16. The political parties should review their advice to local
parties on the