Scots have until December 11 to share their views on how local government should look across the country.
First Minister of Scotland John Swinney during a visit to Hibernian FC’s Easter Road Stadiumin Edinburgh, to mark Women and Girls in Sport Week and meet young players involved in football across Scotland.
Scots have been invited to have their say on John Swinney’s plans to force the merger of councils as part of an SNP Government cost-saving excercise.
The First Minister has pledged to reduce the number of NHS health boards to just two and is also committed to cutting the country’s 32 local authorities and replacing them with around 10 regional bodies – despite neither policy being included in the SNP’s election manifesto.
But the Nationalists’ plans have been repeatedly attacked for lacking detail – and are already beginning to attract opposition in suburbans areas, where locals may be unwilling to join up with larger cities.
The shake-up of local government comes ahead of council elections scheduled for next May – where Scots will be asked to vote for local authorities that may be abolished soon after.
Scottish Labour has previously claimed Swinney of having set out to reorganise the country’s councils and NHS boards “without a clear purpose, or a plan or a process”.
Hannah Mary Goodlad, the public finance minister, said today the SNP Government would “carefully consider all the views”
The MSP added: “Reforming councils and local government is about making services work better for the people of Scotland and empowering communities, pushing power out and across the country and decision-making as local as possible.
“Over the last two months, we have had constructive discussions with a range of organisations, including councils and unions, and now we want to hear more on what our communities across Scotland think, not least their experiences of council services and their priorities.
“Alongside the insights and perspectives already shared, public views will help inform the next phase of this important work on the future of local governance.”
It comes as the SNP Government faces plugging a £5 billion blackhole in the public finances by 2030.
Ministers have so far been unable to say now public sector jobs will be lost as a result of the decision to slash health board numbers and local authorities.
Cosla, which represents all 32 local authorities, has previously called for the Scottish Government to “rethink” its proposals.
The umbrealls organisation said plans should start with the 32 existing councils, building in better “regional collaboration and shared capacity”.
They said that would involve services being joined up across wider areas “without automatically assuming a new regional authority is needed”.
There could be “voluntary consolidation of councils” where that is supported locally, but only “subject to democratic agreement”.
