Remembering Scotland’s regional and district councils as SNP open door for a return to two-tier system

Strathclyde Regional Council was responsible for, amongst many other things, schools. It was a good place to work. The members and the public relations team got on well with the press and public, actually spoke to reporters and were always helpful. The journalists and council officers are pictured above with Convener Sir Charles O’Halloran.

by BILL HEANEY

John Swinney’s announcement this week that the SNP government was looking at reforming Scotland’s local government model has prompted much speculation about what that might mean. Announcing his Programme for Government at Holyrood on Tuesday, the First Minister said he wanted to see a “rebalancing of power”.

He suggested some local councils were too small and others too big, and set out plans for a three-month consultation with stakeholders to discuss “a new structure for local government in Scotland”. Despite Mr Swinney insisting he did not want to see a new level of politicians – more councillors such as we have already in West Dunbartonshire, where there are 22 in post right now, have overseen the disaster that passes for democracy in Church Street – it has prompted speculation that a return to the old regional/council system might be considered. Now that would be wonderful since the long-suffering electorate in Dunbartonshire have had to put up with that lot in there who spend so much of their time fighting amongst themselves and looking the other way while their staff suffers victimisation and bullying – and even being sacked – for having done nothing to deserve it. The Health and Social Care Partnership is a case in point.

They may blame each other, but there is no question that the Labour administration, led by Cllrs Martin Rooney and David McBride, made budget cuts they never had to make.

They closed Balloch Library despite protests from schoolchildren in one of the most deprived areas of the County and carried on with their withdrawal of grass cutting services in open spaces and public parks. Everyone and his granny has seen the photographs which make Dumbarton and Vale of Leven look as if it has been abandoned by local government. They have had to live in it, of course.

The SNP cannot disagree since they have been invited to take over the administration and have refused point blank. No acumen, no courage, no vision. Just a sense of entitlement.

Labour members, anxious not to leave the salaries and perks of their part-time jobs behind, have foisted their stupid, unworkable policies on bin collections and the strategy for Alexandria and Dumbarton town centres. Dumbarton Town Centre has been neglected while a library that is neither wanted or needed is being refurbished for £millions. They often get more than 100 complaints a week in their online column, often manned online by so-called communicators who have banned The Dumbarton Democrat from speaking to them — even if the questions we have are important ones on matters the public should know about. Indeed, that the public has a right to know about.

But I won’t go on. Councillors have accused me of getting Dumbarton a bad name because I find out the facts about how badly this place is run and publish them.

However. the actuality is that it is their bad management, incompetence, and hubris when challenged that has brought the place to its knees.

The Democrat is here to give you the facts. To provide truth and transparency. To keep the public informed of what is being done – and not being done – in their name. We are truly local and have no connection with millionaires who have bought up newspapers, failed to invest in them, and then shut them down. We are true Democrats.

Anyway, here’s what is happening in regard to the proposed reorganisation of local government.

The two-tier structure was sparked by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, with the system implemented in 1975. It created nine regional councils on the mainland, as well as three island authorities, abolishing many historic counties as official entities.

Within these regions were dozens of district councils. Before the Act, Scotland had been a patchwork of over 400 local authorities, including country councils, cities, town councils, and district councils.

The 1969 Wheatley Report created the framework for the new system, which would streamline them into a simpler structure while maintaining a close link to locality.

At the time, many smaller councils lacked the tax base or resources for huge infrastructure projects, while it was also hoped the new model would accelerate urban growth by making it easier to take large projects, such as new roads, forward.

Under the system, regional councils were responsible for large-scale policy areas and strategic infrastructure such as education, social work, police, fire, water and sewage, roads, and transport. The smaller district councils were responsible for issues that impacted on everyday life, such as cleansing, housing, local planning, licensing, leisure and local planning.

The island authorities – The Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland – combined the responsibilities of both. Councillors were elected every four years, although these elections were staggered, so there were two years between regional and district elections.

The largest region was Strathclyde, which oversaw around half of Scotland’s population. Centred on Glasgow and dominated by the Labour Party, Strathclyde stretched from the Highlands to the Southern Uplands and even contained some Hebridean islands.

Its sheer size goes some way to explaining why the system eventually came to an end. Under the structure, councillors in Glasgow were making decisions on schooling on the remote island of Tiree, with the regional councils appearing remote to many voters.

There were often clashes between the two tiers, while Strathclyde especially was seen as a hugely powerful political opponent to first Margaret Thatcher, and then John Major throughout the 80s and 90s. As the Conservative government looked at ways of simplifying the structure, it faced accusations of gerrymandering, especially in Glasgow where outlying suburbs were eventually removed from the city, but these changes were backed by local people who had seen their areas become run-down under the district council. Just as has been repeated under the present system.

Eventually the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 paved the way for the creation of 32 local authorities, although the names of many districts and regions were retained by some of the new councils. This is the model that exists today, but may well be entering its final few years — or possibly even months.

Councils such as West Dunbartonshire are past their sell-by date. They should be consigned to the … BIN. That would be apposite, and hopefully it will happen before next May when the electorate will go to the polls. That would mean that we would have a geater choice of candidates, better than we have now.. And some of the officers, who are plainly not up to the job, would have been moved on via handsome pensions and commutation packages – and those contraversial golden goodbyes which too all often are a reward for failure.