Highland Council is seeking a meeting with First Minister John Swinney as it pushes for a direct role in shaping major reforms to local government and public services across Scotland.
Councillors agreed on Thursday 17 September that the authority should continue direct engagement with the Scottish Government as ministers consider changes which could reshape councils, health boards and social care.
The Scottish Government has begun a three month period of discussions over the future structure of local government, with proposals centred on stronger regional government alongside greater decision making within individual communities.
It also intends to replace Scotland’s 14 territorial NHS boards with two strategic health boards and substantially reduce the number of public bodies.
Highland Council believes its existing structure puts it in a strong position to contribute to those discussions because it already combines a large regional authority with area committees and more than 150 community councils.
Council Convener Bill Lobban said:
“We recognise that public services must continue to evolve to meet changing demands, demographic pressures and ongoing financial challenges, but it is essential we are an active partner in shaping that.
“The Highland Council can make a valuable contribution to the discussion as we already operate on a regional scale that enables strategic investment and solutions to regional problems, while strengthening local democratic accountability through our area committee structure.
“We are keen to engage positively and constructively with the Scottish Government to share our learning and explore how councils can be given more powers, flexibilities and economic levers to support growth and improve outcomes for local communities.
“Our ambition is to build on the significant progress made in recent years and ensure that any future reforms strengthen local decision-making, protect democratic accountability and provide the flexibility needed to meet the distinct needs of Highland communities.
“As these discussions progress, it will also be important to ensure future funding properly reflects the challenges and opportunities of serving an urban centre and large rural area.”
The scale of the potential reforms has also prompted Highland Council to pause its current review of how health and social care services are delivered.
Under the existing Lead Agency model, NHS Highland delivers adult services on behalf of the council while the council provides some children’s health services for the health board.
The First Minister has indicated that future social care arrangements should have a single line of decision making, accountability and funding, with the NHS taking the lead.
Highland councillors have therefore agreed to pause their own review until the Scottish Government provides greater clarity about what the national reforms will mean.
Planned October events connected with the Highland Outcome Improvement Plan will continue, while councillors are due to receive another report on the implications of the reforms in December.
The wider argument Highland Council is now taking to the Scottish Government is that reform should recognise the unusual geography it already governs.
From Inverness to some of Scotland’s most remote mainland communities, Highland Council believes it can offer a working example of how regional scale and genuinely local decision making can sit within the same authority.
With Scotland’s public services potentially heading towards their biggest structural changes in years, Highland Council wants to make sure the Highlands are helping shape those reforms rather than simply adapting to them afterwards.
