Report of the Commission on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament: The Scottish Executive's Response: Page 4

76. 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.

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.

78. 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.

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 (16).

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.

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.

85. McIntosh recommends that COSLA should draw up a mutual protocol of understanding, governing the relationship between elected members and officers (21). 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.

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.

Report of the Commission on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament: The Scottish Executive's Response

Chapter 3: Other recommendations

Report of the Commission on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament:
The Scottish Executive's Response