Angela Leitch, chair of SOLACE Scotland, on how difficult times can also present opportunities

The continued drive to tackle inequality and to more effectively support areas of greatest disadvantage is a major challenge for public services. It also has to be considered within the context of other challenges facing local government which are longstanding and complex.

Grant funding has reduced by over 8 per cent since 2010/11, presenting increasingly difficult choices for elected members. Councils are faced with ever increasing demand for public services from a growing population and in particular, older people needing care.

Our commitment to equality as well as excellence drives multiple forms of service delivery with associated cost

Rightly, the public expect ever higher levels in quality and choices of services. Our commitment to equality as well as excellence drives multiple forms of service delivery with associated cost.

Yet, across the piece, we’ve been skillfully managing the changing and growing needs of our communities against a backdrop of real-term reductions in funding while continuing to have ambitious goals for our local areas. 

Almost all councils have reduced their staffing and have developed innovative methods of delivery to protect frontline services. Councils are making improvements in efficiency and productivity so that the cost of delivering services has reduced while service output and outcomes have been maintained and in some cases improved. 

For example, the total number of pre-school places provided by councils across Scotland rose by almost 12 per cent between 2010-14; providing almost 11,000 additional places against a backdrop of a 5.4 per cent reduction in gross expenditure; and the cost per dwelling of collecting council tax has reduced by almost 17 per cent since 2010. At the same time as the average collection rate remains at over 95 per cent.

However, looking to the near future, there are major opportunities for local government.

The Scottish Commission on Local Tax Reform which will seek an alternative to Council Tax should lead to local authorities being able to raise more of our own income that can be channelled towards local priorities.

Councils have a key role to play in providing leadership to their communities, supporting economic growth and planning for the future

Devolution of power to Scotland, based on the Smith Commission proposals, brings opportunities for public services at local level, for example, responsibility for parts of the welfare system. It will be important for local government voices to be heard clearly to ensure that the new constitutional settlement is based on subsidiarity.  

Health and social care integration offers real opportunity for change and could be a springboard to more reform, leading to savings that can be invested in further preventative options. There will be other opportunities along the way as we bring together and integrate teams from quite different cultural backgrounds to develop new models of care leading to better outcomes.     

Councils have a key role to play in providing leadership to their communities, supporting economic growth and planning for the future. But planning for growth brings its own challenges, not least in funding the infrastructure investment on a scale not possible with the current financial arrangements. The City Deal, of which Glasgow’s is hopefully the first example in Scotland, provides an opportunity to find the scale of investment our city regions require. We will also need further changes in how councils can attract contributions from developers aiming to generate profits from new housebuilding.

The increasing focus on community empowerment is an opportunity for councils to do more of what they do best: represent the interests of their local communities.  Many councils have already established formal area arrangements to set priorities at local level and direct resources accordingly. Provided we can increase community capacity and resilience then we will begin to reap the benefits as communities come together to promote place-based solutions to local issues.  

These strands are woven into Solace Scotland’s annual conference this year in North Berwick on 21 and 22 May. Our speakers include the journalist Gavin Esler, who through contacts with world leaders, has drawn together some lessons on how we can all present ourselves and our objectives, and Francesca Osowska OBE, Director at the Scotland Office who will be able to talk to us about implementing the Smith Commission proposals. I hope you’ll join us there.