Constrained autonomy and uncertain viability: local government finance in Scotland

The LGIU’s Local Democracy Research Centre is exploring how local government is funded in different countries as part of ongoing work to develop new ideas and solutions to tackle long-standing problems. This report takes an in-depth look at the system in Scotland.

Over the past 10 years, we have been asking council leaders, chief executives, cabinet members for finance and section 151 officers their opinions on how local services are financed in England. The evidence revealed by these surveys – that there has been a major sustained failure to properly fund local services in England – has become undeniable.

So the question now is: how could local government finance be different?

The Local Democracy Research Centre has commissioned experts at the University of Northumbria, led by Dr Kevin Muldoon-Smith, to look at how local government is funded in different countries around the world.

The research takes a whole-system approach, considering local government finance as a system operating within varied national contexts, including the constitutional and legal framework, politics, expectations, roles and responsibilities. These comparisons will illuminate our understanding of local government as a system and help us develop new approaches and solutions to long-standing problems.

This is the fifth report produced as part of this project. It is both a detailed assessment of local government finance in Scotland and a useful point of comparison with other systems. It covers the historical, legal, and constitutional context, as well as some of the Scottish system’s politics and peculiarities.

Download the report

Further reading

The limitations of local government finance in England: A system-wide perspective

A system-wide perspective of local government finance in Germany

A system-wide analysis of local government finance in Italy

A Systematic Analysis of Local Government Finance in Japan

Local government finance: a comparative study is an introduction to the full research programme with an overview of the funding systems in England, Germany, Italy and Japan.

LGIU@40

This research is part of a body of work that informs our campaign LGIU@40: For the future of local government.

Together with our members and the wider sector, we are establishing a set of new ideas about how local government could work better and how we can build the firm foundations we need to navigate an uncertain future.

Read our full collection of international perspectives on local government finance.

Local Democracy Research Centre (LDRC)

The LGIU’s Local Democracy Research Centre (LDRC) has an international programme that engages local authorities and universities in original research to solve key challenges facing our local democracies everywhere. We develop new ideas and approaches for governance, municipalism and citizen participation.