Council shake-up could deter would-be candidates for 2027 local elections, warns council leader
‘Candidates might want to know what their workload looks like’ - Cllr Kelly Parry
Uncertainty over the future of local authorities could deter people from standing in next year’s local elections, a council leader has wared
The Scottish Government wants to reorganise local government, replacing Scotland’s current 32 councils with between six and 10 regional authorities and, within these, up to 160 community authorities.
Ministers say the same councillors would be expected to serve on both the regional authority and their local community authority. But no details of how the new system would work have been set out.
And Midlothian Council leader Kerry Parry is worried people who might otherwise put their names forward or existing councillors who would stand again could be put off because they don’t know what they’re letting themselves in for.
She said: “I do hope that clarity comes sooner rather than later because I wouldn’t like it to impact either on the recruitment of new councillors or the retention of experienced councillors.
“Does someone really want to come back to live through years of local government reorganisation? And new candidates who might have caring or family responsibilities might want to know what their workload looks like.”
The government has made clear next year’s elections will go ahead as planned, but there is no timetable for when any changes would be brought in.
All parties are currently in the process of choosing candidates for the May 6 elections. Cllr Parry said she was involved in trying recruit potential new councillors.
“At the moment I'm speaking to prospective candidates and trying to explain how it works just now. We’ve got really good councillors in local government, but we need more of them.
“But the uncertainty about the future does create a barrier for those who have caring responsibilities or need to know how their lives might be structured for the next five years.”
The government has said the remit of the proposed regional authorities would include strategic planning, transport and economic development, while the community authorities would deal with local planning, licensing and park maintenance.
Leith was cited by the government as an example of an area which could have its own community authority.
But Edinburgh council leader Jane Meagher has warned the government’s proposals would effectively abolish the city council and break the Capital up into smaller units for local government. "It looks as if Edinburgh council could cease to exist,” she said.
City transport convener Stephen Jenkinson has acknowledged there are "obvious opportunities" in a regional approach on matters like transport and planning. He said: "I can see the benefit of the regional aspect of this. But at the other end, I think people would struggle to see the logic of breaking up Scotland's capital city from a local government perspective.”
And Edinburgh Tory group leader Iain Whyte said the creation of community authorities, served by a small number of councillors, could be “a Nimby’s charter”. He said: “If you put all the local planning and licensing in the hands of a very local group of councillors you’re never going to allow any new developments in those areas.”