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How Do Local Authorities Make Decisions

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How Do Local Authorities Make Decisions The Scottish Parliament and Scottish Parliament Infor mation C entre l ogos. Financial Scrutiny Unit Briefing How Do Local Authorities Make Decisions? 19 December 2013 13/85 Richard Marsh This briefing provides an overview of the decision making structures of local authorities in Scotland. The briefing includes the structure and role of decision making committees, recent developments in governance and four case studies of local authorities. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................. 3 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION ................................................................................................................. 4 ROLE AND FUNCTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ................................................................................................. 4 STRUCTURE AND DECISION MAKING ..................................................................................................................... 5 Committees .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Committee members ............................................................................................................................................ 5 CASE STUDIES ........................................................................................................................................................... 6 Fife Council .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 Glasgow City Council ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Scottish Borders Council .................................................................................................................................... 11 Orkney Islands Council ...................................................................................................................................... 12 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................................... 15 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Each of Scotland’s 32 local authorities is governed by a council comprised of councillors elected directly by local residents, normally every four years. The elected members are headed by the Leader of the Council, usually the leader of the largest single political grouping in the council. Councils in Scotland are autonomous bodies, independent of central government and are accountable to their electorates for the delivery of services. The services provided by local councils include education, social work, roads and transport, economic development, housing, regulatory functions, the environment, libraries, waste management, arts, culture and sport. Traditionally, authorities have tended to operate through a structure of committees and sub- committees. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 allows local authorities to devolve most decision-making to committees, sub-committees or council officers. Each council decides the most appropriate structure suited to its particular circumstances. In recent years a number of local authorities have altered their decision-making structures, in attempts to achieve more efficient, accountable and transparent arrangements. Some councils, for example, have streamlined their committee structures, by reducing the number of service- specific committees, and instead concentrating on broader, more cross-cutting thematic areas. Other Councils have dispensed with traditional committee structures in favour of executive structures, with responsibility for most strategic decisions delegated to an executive committee. For example, Fife Council recently adopted the executive committee structure with 20 members drawn from the 78 elected councillors. In this kind of structure, it is the role of non-executive elected members to scrutinise the executive’s activities. The majority of committee members are drawn from elected councillors. Some committees and groups appoint unelected members to draw on external expertise, knowledge and experience. Section 124 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 requires all local authorities to appoint three persons representing churches and other religions to committees or groups either advising the council on education or discharging education functions of the council on its behalf. There is no requirement for councils to adopt a particular political decision-making and scrutiny structure and the four case studies presented in this briefing demonstrate a diverse approach to decision making. Orkney Islands Council operates just 16 committees and groups compared to 48 in the Scottish Borders Council. Glasgow City Council maintains 21 area committees compared to just 7 area committees in Fife Council. 3 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION Local government in Scotland consists of 32 local authorities, responsible for the provision of a range of public services. Each of the local authorities is governed by a council comprised of councillors elected directly by local residents. Local government elections are normally held every four years1 and at the last elections (2012) 1,223 council seats were contested. The elected members are headed by the Leader of the Council, usually the leader of the largest single political grouping in the council. Additionally, each local authority elects a civic leader, the Provost or Convenor, who chairs council meetings and acts as a figurehead for the area. The Scottish Government provides an online overview of local government in Scotland. ROLE AND FUNCTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT Councils in Scotland are autonomous bodies, independent of central government and are accountable to their electorates for the delivery of services. The powers of local councils are conferred by statute and include: mandatory powers such as providing schooling for 5-16 year olds and social work services; permissive powers such as economic development, recreation services; and regulatory powers such as trading standards and environmental health and issuing licences for taxis and public houses. The main services provided by local councils include: Education The environment Social work Libraries Roads and transport Waste management Economic development Arts, culture and sport Housing and the built environment Other recreational and leisure services Regulatory and licensing functions Police and fire & rescue services were previously funded by local councils. Responsibility for funding these services transferred to the Scottish Government following the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. Police Scotland and Fire & Rescue Scotland were established on 1 April 2013 with responsibility for policing and fire & rescue services across the whole of Scotland. 1 The Scottish Parliament legislated to separate local government and Scottish Parliament elections by temporarily extending the terms of office of councillors elected in 2007 and 2012 from four years to five years. The electoral commission provides a summary of the 2012 council elections in Scotland. 4 The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 gave a statutory basis to partnership working between all agencies responsible for delivering public services in an area, including health boards, benefits agencies, further and higher education institutions. Local councils are responsible for facilitating the community planning approach. STRUCTURE AND DECISION MAKING Committees Traditionally, authorities have tended to operate through a structure of committees and sub- committees. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 allows local authorities to devolve most decision-making to committees, sub-committees or council officers. The full council meeting is the sovereign body of the council, where all councillors meet to debate and take the key decisions of the authority. These decisions include electing the convenor and deputy convenor, appointing councillors to all committees and panels, deciding on strategic objectives and corporate policies and setting the annual budget and council tax. The council is headed by the Leader of the council and each local authority elects a civic leader, the Provost or Convenor. In the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, the Provost is known as the Lord Provost. Local authorities in Scotland must take corporate decisions as there is no legal provision for policies being made by individual councillors. There is no requirement for councils to adopt a particular political decision-making and scrutiny structure. Each council decides the most appropriate structure suited to its particular circumstances. The Improvement Service published an introduction to local government showing, in recent years, reviews of local democracy sponsored by the Scottish Government have prompted a number of local authorities to alter their decision-making structures. These changes have attempted to achieve more efficient, accountable and transparent arrangements. Some councils, for example, have streamlined their committee structures, by reducing the number of service-specific committees, and instead concentrating on broader, more cross-cutting thematic areas. Other Councils have dispensed with traditional committee structures in favour of executive
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