Analysis: Councils bear the brunt

FIRST the good news. The four-year plan outlined by the Chancellor last week in his spending review should allow councils to look long-term at financial planning in a considered way over a decent amount of time. But there the good news ends.

These cuts are far too fast and far too deep. Ultimately, it is the Scottish Government which will determine local government's fate, but it is fair to say George Osborne has left Scottish ministers with a ticking timebomb in terms of public sector finance.

As president of Cosla - the councils umbrella organisation - my message to the decision- makers within the Scottish Government is clear - ignore Scotland's councils at your peril; protect other spheres of the public sector in Scotland at our expense and the consequences will be disastrous.

Over the summer, I have been bitterly disappointed by the fact that nobody outwith the local government community has championed our cause - that is perhaps because local government has been slow off the mark in terms of highlighting the first class services we deliver.

Why is it that when people mention the NHS they think of life and limb services, and they don't when local government is mentioned? Scottish local government provides a huge range of services that enable our communities to grow and flourish; services that help sustain and grow local economies and provide valuable jobs in communities throughout the country.

From making sure the food we eat is safe, the buildings we live and work in are fit for purpose, and the communities we live in are clean and vibrant, councils are there providing vital round-the-clock services that support every aspect of our work, our learning and our leisure. From registering births to carrying out cremations, councils really can be relied on from the cradle to the grave.

This is not about preserving the status quo. The reality is that ignoring our frontline services carries major risks and could set the most vulnerable in Scotland's communities back by decades. We in Cosla have a real duty of care to those who benefit from local government's many services, and to our employees who deliver those services.

We regularly hear from the Westminster government that the private sector will fill the gap in jobs left by public sector cuts.This defies logic. The bottom line is that the loss of local government jobs in Scotland will affect the private sector every bit as badly as the public sector.We must move away from the old rhetoric of damaging the public sector being good for the private sector.Councils provide a safety net for all of us - housing the homeless, protecting women and children from domestic and sexual abuse, helping those with mental health issues and rehabilitating offenders.

We deal with those that others often choose to ignore and this must be recognised in the decisions that will be taken by John Swinney and his cabinet colleagues in the days and weeks ahead.

I also have a supplementary message for the Scottish Government - it is not them or Cosla who can deliver a Council Tax freeze - it is individual democratically-elected councils.And while there is probably not a council leader in the whole of Scotland who wants to raise Council Tax, we do want the flexibility to raise Council Tax if that is the decision taken by a local council based on their own individual needs and local priorities.

• Councillor Pat Watters is president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities