This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Local democracy ahead of 2007 elections
03/05/2006
The next local government elections will be a major step forward in the drive to renew local democracy in Scotland, Public Service Reform Minister Tom McCabe said today exactly one year ahead of the May 3, 2007 polling day.
The Executive has introduced a number of new initiatives through the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004.
These include:
- Fair and transparent remuneration for councillors, including a salary of £15,452 for basic councillors
- The elections will be conducted under the Single Transferable Vote system
- A nationwide awareness campaign will help ensure people understand the new voting system
- An e-counting system is being trialled for the local government and Holyrood elections
- Measures contained in the Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services Bill also aim to improve access to and participation at elections, enhance security and improve administrative effectiveness
Mr McCabe said:
"With one year to go until the local government elections on May 3 2007, it is the perfect time to highlight the work we have undertaken to renew local democracy. I believe we have made great progress and the range of measures we have put in place will make a real difference.
"We are introducing a fair and transparent system of remuneration for our councillors. And we are also offering a severance scheme to long-standing councillors which will recognise the service they have given their communities while offering the opportunity for new people to stand as councillors.
"And, of course, these will also be the first elections under the new Single Transferable Vote (STV) system which will see the introduction of multi-member wards. There is no doubt that the switch to STV presents a number of challenges, but they are not insurmountable.
"STV provides a greater degree of choice for the voter than available under the current system and we consider that there will be more scope for under-represented groups to gain access to council membership.
"We have been examining an e-counting system in partnership with the Scotland Office and the results have been encouraging. We will make a decision soon as to whether this system will be used for the count next year. E-counting has the potential to make dealing with the complexities of a STV count far easier.
"The most important issue, however, will be ensuring voters understand how to cast their vote on May 3. To help people understand the new voting system and to encourage a high turn-out, we will be working in partnership with the Electoral Commission on a nationwide awareness campaign in the run-up to polling day."
The key points of STV are:
- Each council ward will now be represented by either three or four members, depending on its size
- Voters will be able to rank the candidates for election in their ward in any order they want
- They will be able to do this by putting a '1' for their favourite, a '2' for the next, and so on
- Voters can rank as many, or as few candidates as they want
- If the voter's first choice does not need their vote, either because he or she is elected without it, or because he or she has too few votes to be elected, then the vote is transferred to the voter's second choice candidate
- These transfers continue until the correct number of candidates are elected
The benefits of STV are:
- The number of seats secured by a party is likely to reflect more accurately the number of votes cast. Councils are therefore more likely to represent the full spectrum of views expressed by their electorate
- It enables the voters to express opinions effectively. Voters can choose between candidates within parties. Voters can also express preferences between the abilities or other attributes of individual candidates
- There is no need for tactical voting. Voters can cast a positive vote and know that their vote will not be wasted whatever their choice is
E-counting
- The Executive and Scotland Office are currently assessing the suitability of e-counting for the 2007 combined elections. Trials were successfully completed in February-March and this led to a decision to proceed to the Acceptance Phase which took place during week beginning April 24 in Glasgow
- The Acceptance Phase involved further testing of the e-counting machines and demonstrations to a wider audience than attended the trials. Invitations were issued to political parties, Holyrood party leaders, the Local Government and Transport Committee, members of the media, local authorities and other key stakeholders. An evaluation of the Acceptance Phase is now being carried out
- A decision on whether to proceed with e-counting for the 2007 elections is likely to be taken following assessment of the Acceptance Phase and following discussion with the Scotland Office
New remuneration arrangements for councillors
- The Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee is an independent statutory Committee established under the provisions of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Ministers asked the Committee to provide advice on new arrangements for councillors' remuneration, taking into account set criteria, as part of the package of measures being introduced for the 2007 STV council elections
- The Committee reported at the end of January 2006. Their proposals centred on the abolition of the various allowances that councillors currently receive, and their replacement with a clear salary structure and pension arrangements. The Committee also advised on the severance scheme for councillors choosing to stand down in 2007
- Ministers published their response to SLARC on March 23. Of the 26 recommendations made by SLARC, Ministers have accepted 19 in their entirety, accepted the principles of two but modified the details, and rejected five
Voter awareness and publicity campaign
The Executive and the Electoral Commission have jointly appointed Citigate Smarts, the BIG partnership, and Civic Computing to develop a public information campaign for next year's Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections which will be held on May 3, 2007.