| Reacting to Deputy Lord Provost Ian Borthwick’s suggestion that Dundee, Angus and Perth and Kinross Councils may have to consider reunification to protect public services from financial pressures, Councillor Ken Guild said, “I would welcome discussion on it. But that decision would not rest with the local authorities. That would lie with central government and the Boundaries Commission.”
Both councillors were speaking after an Audit Scotland report warned councils need a “radical rethink” of the way they deliver services in the face of future budget cuts.
Mr Borthwick mooted a debate on the viability of reintroducing the Tayside Regional Council that was disbanded 14 years ago.
Mr Guild today supported such a debate, saying, “I have an open mind on it. We need to take dogmatic approaches out of it and analyse how it would work best. We are already in discussion on sharing services between the three authorities. Councillor Borthwick is not saying anything new here.”
The three councils already work together in the Tayside Procurement Consortium and Tayside Contracts, an approach which Mr Guild said greatly helped the region’s means of tackling this winter’s big freeze.
One issue concerning the viability of a return to one council is the geographic and demographic differences between the regions and whether a blanket approach would suit all.
Mr Guild said, “We have the model of the Tayside Regional Council where there were disparate areas with someone in rural Perthshire making decisions for urban inner-city Dundee. There are inbuilt problems, but then there may also be inbuilt benefits.”
Labour group leader Councillor Kevin Keenan was also open to readdressing how the existing three councils deliver public services, saying today that a concerted approach may offer better amenities.
He said, “I think it would likely be a decision that would be made elsewhere, but we should be looking towards delivering the best public service. We have three directors of education and three directors of finance. One council would have one director, but probably three assistant directors on similar salaries.
“When I look at public services like the health board or the fire and rescue service I think how can we deliver the best service? If we could maintain ice-free pavements would we have fewer people visiting hospitals in the winter?
“We need to look differently at how we deliver better services in the public sector.”
A Scottish Government spokesman today said, “The Scottish Government will not undertake structural reform of local government during the term of this parliament.
“Shared services are a key element of our efficiency agenda. We must achieve good quality services that are valued by their customers and ensure efficiencies are applied consistently and proactively across the whole public sector.” |
