Exclusive:Bring back district and regional councils, say Scottish Greens

The Scottish Greens say there should be a major shake-up of local government by bringing back regional and district councils.

On Tuesday the Scottish Government is due to set out its programme for government, including what ministers will be prioritising over the next 12 months.

The Greens say the SNP should use the programme for government to make a return to two-tier councils in a bid to bring decision-making closer to communities.

Scottish Green co-leaders Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer, along with Mark Ruskell MSP, Lorna Slater MSP and Ariane Burgess MSP.

Under their proposals, they say district councils would provide “a strong local democratic voice” while regional councils would be able to deliver services across a wider area.

Kristopher Leask MSP, the party’s local government spokesman, said: “Scotland’s local government system is failing the communities it is supposed to serve.

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“In too many places our councils are simply too big to be truly local, while the system as a whole is too fragmented to plan properly for the future.

“We need to put local democracy back at the heart of local government. District councils would give local people a direct say over the decisions that affect their neighbourhoods, while regional councils would have the scale to deliver services efficiently and tackle the big challenges facing Scotland.

“This would bring decision-making closer to people while making sure councils have the capacity to tackle the big challenges facing our communities.”

The Greens say the current system of having 32 different councils is an “international outlier”, and means some councils are so large they struggle to function.

It is part of a package of measures the Scottish Greens want the government to adopt to improve local government, including giving more powers to local communities and replacing the council tax system.

Mr Leask added: “After years of centralisation, it is time to stop treating local government as an afterthought.

Kristopher Leask MSP | Jane Barlow/Press Association

“We need to rebuild local democracy, give our councils and communities real power and create a system that works for the people it is meant to serve.

“That must also mean funding our councils properly by finally scrapping the broken council tax system and replacing it with a fairer and better way of funding the local services we all rely on.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “Public sector reform is focused on delivering high quality, efficient and sustainable public services for generations to come by tackling duplication, sharing services across organisations and making better use of data, digital tools and the public estates.

“The Scottish Government is committed to greater empowerment of regions and communities across Scotland and is working closely with partners to identify how best to do that and how to deliver change at pace.”