All Things Scotland: A look into what February holds for local government

Last weeks motion in North Ayrshire Council which tasks the Chief Executive, Craig Hatton, to make a “robust” response to the 2023-23 budget, sets the tone for February, where once again the 2023-24 budget settlement is sparking debates over local government financing.

At COSLA, the Save our Service’s campaign continued this week, with COSLA spokesperson Cllr Katie Hagmann appearing on the BBC Sunday Show and STV’s Scotland Tonight to discuss the state of local government finance this year.

From the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, a new in-depth briefing on what the 2023-24 budget means for local government allocations clearly sets out the impact across Scotland.

Also from the SPICE, a new spotlight blog uncovers Scotland’s view of the levelling up fund. For more on the levelling up fund, check out the LGIU response to the last funding round here!

This was the message repeated by Council finance directors from Glasgow, Dundee and Argyll in Holyrood, with the BBC reporting how the ring-fencing of local government funding is likely to lead to significant rises in rates.

 The Scottish Government is consulting the public on plans for new Community Wealth Building legislation – the first of its kind in the world – as part of its wider strategy to transform Scotland’s economy. Proposing a new legal duty on Councils to align their economic levers towards CWB, you can out more about the first Scottish Council’s experience with CWB here!

Finally, Scotland’s onshore GDP fell by 0.1% in November, after growing by 0.7% in October, according to statistics announced this week by the Chief Statistician.

This week the Guardian asked why the hyper-local ‘15-minute city’ is gaining ground in urban planning circles?

To understand the impact of a 20 minute neighbourhood in Scotland, Improvement Service, Scottish Rural Action and Geoxphere are hosting a free evening webinar for community councillors to learn more about Community Map Scotland. Taking place on Wednesday 15th February at 6pm, you can book your place here!

Complexity and staffing issues are behind planning delays in Dumfries and Galloway, with 8 applications currently sitting undecided. Check out the BBC for a Council breakdown of wind farm applications.

With homelessness from a private rented tenancy rising, an update on Homelessness Statistics covering 1 April to 30 September 2022 has been released by Scotland’s Chief Statistician.

Passengers will be boarding the world’s first fully sized, self-driving bus service in Edinburgh from the Spring, after it was awarded a share of £81 million in joint UK government and industry support for self-driving transport technology.

Carol Beattie is to remain as Chief Executive of Stirling Council following a meeting with senior Stirling Councillors who accepted the request to cancel the resignation process.

Coming up soon, the Improvement Service, Scottish Rural Action and Geoxphere are hosting a free evening webinar for community councillors to learn more about Community Map Scotland. Taking place on Wednesday 15th February at 6pm, you can book your place here!

Find out how May’s local government elections impact on Lerwick’s Up Helly Aa festival and committee here!

Leading the policy agenda into February is a new report from the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. Announcing that Scotland will not meet its ambitious target of being net zero by 2045 without a more empowered local government sector, the report outlined the importance of local democracy by highlight local governments democratic credentials, local knowledge, a capacity to lead by example and well-placed partnerships.

Termed a “watershed moment for tackling climate action”, Cllr Gail Macgregor, COSLA Environment and Economy Spokesperson used the report to drive home local governments need for closer collaboration with Scottish Government, a clear costed roadmap for local governments role and more funding and budget flexibility.

In other climate updates, £21 million has been awarded to Glasgow City Council through the Scottish Government’s Recycling Improvement Fund to support the introduction of a new twin-stream service for the separate collection of recyclable materials.

This week, Public Health Scotland released two key reports with implications for local government

• The first report examines the public health framework for prevention and the key contribution NHSScotland makes to preventing poor health outcomes.
• A second report marks the end of a series being undertaken by researchers at Frontier Economics which looks at the impact of Minimum Unit Pricing on the alcoholic drinks industry in Scotland.