Local government reform in Scotland proposed by Holyrood to improve public service delivery and public spending efficiency.

The Scottish Government is preparing to enter a consultation phase on a proposed two-tier structure. Under the plans, Scotland’s 32 local authorities would be replaced by six regional councils and between 120 and 160 community authorities, marking the first review of local government structures since 1999.

The Local Government and Housing Directorate states: “the current structure of local government sees some authorities that are either too big to be local or too small to be strategic. That is why the Government believes there is a need for regional authorities, alongside more decentralised community authorities.”

Additionally, the proposal suggests that councillors would continue to be elected at the current ward level, retaining existing boundaries, and would sit on both their respective community authority and the overarching regional council.

The statement published last week indicates that Holyrood seeks to reach an agreement on next steps by the end of the year. The Scottish Government expects more detailed proposals to emerge as dialogue progresses. However, the flagship plan has already faced backlash from council leaders across Scotland.

David Ross, leader of Fife Council has commented: “Most local government services cannot simply be broken down into ‘community areas’ or they lose the economies of scale and operational efficiencies. Anyone who went through the last local government reorganisation in 1995/96 knows the complexity and disruption of this process and if the first minister thinks there will be any financial savings from the process then he is sadly mistaken.”