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Relations with Parliament and Ministers
1. The Parliament and the 32 councils should commit themselves to a joint agreement - which we call a Covenant - setting out the basis of their working relationship. (Paragraph 34)
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. Legislation should be introduced to provide councils with a statutory power of general competence. (52)
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 -
8. Councils should be elected for a four-year term.(70). This should take effect at the elections due to be held in 2005, midway through the second Parliament (72, 74).
The electoral system
9. Proportional representation should be introduced for local government elections. 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)
10. The criteria to be used in determining the system or systems of PR to be adopted for Scottish local government should be (89) -
11. Of the possible electoral systems, AMS, STV and AV Top-up should be given particular consideration. (89)
12. The legislation governing the Local Government Boundary Commission should be reviewed with a view to providing greater flexibility in determining ward boundaries. (89)
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. (103)
14. Councils should give particular consideration to formalising the political leadership as an executive, but should also be able to consider other options. (106, 110)
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. (112, 113)
16. 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 (123). 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. (124)
17. The reviews should also involve a close and critical examination of the nature, volume and timing of business; all 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. (128)
18. As part of their general review of their business all councils should produce a job description for members. (131)
19. A pay and conditions package for councillors should be drawn up for the approval of the Parliament, to be implemented on completion of councils’ internal reviews. Remuneration for councillors should in future be subject to independent review (134)
20. Scottish Ministers and COSLA should jointly address the issue of the provision and resourcing of future arrangements for member training and personal development. (142)
21. COSLA should draw up a mutual protocol of understanding, governing the relationship between elected members and officers. (146)
22. 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. (152)
The voice of the people
23. The system of community councils should be retained and should be regarded as a valuable asset to the democratic life of Scotland. Their role should be seen within the wider context of the area approach being adopted by many councils, as a means of obtaining the fullest possible consultation at local level (165)
24. Local authorities, in conjunction with their reviews of their management arrangements should also review their local consultation arrangements with particular reference to the issue of meaningful consultation and feedback of information to community and voluntary organisations. Community councils should be involved in this review process. Local authorities should also address (166) -
25. Community councils, for their part, should undertake a process of renewal, specifically addressing their own representative nature and how effectively they establish public opinion within their own area; how they involve and establish links with other communities of interest; and how they involve young people in their work and in their organisation. The possibility of extending the vote in community council elections to 16 year olds should be given particular consideration. (167)
26. The Association of Scottish Community Councils should be provided with a level of core funding sufficient for the development of that body to play a full role in the representation of community council interests and in the dissemination of best practice. (168)
27. Parliament and local authorities alike should give further study to the development of civic education. (172)
What should happen next
28. The Joint Conference should be established, and every council should give a commitment to the self-review process, by 1 January 2000. Councils should complete their reviews by the end of that year (177)
29. Councils’ self-reviews should be formally assessed and validated, so that Parliament and public can have confidence that the process has been carried out thoroughly and in good faith. To this end, a panel of advisers should be appointed, by Ministers jointly with COSLA and subject to the approval of the Parliament, to scrutinise the results of the reviews and to report to Ministers, and through them to the Parliament. The panel should include strong representation from local government, both elected members and officers, and also a strong independent element. (180)
30. Our final recommendation is that all those to whom the recommendations are addressed view them as a whole: we have deliberately designed them as a package, whose elements are intended to work together and reinforce each other. (183)
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