Faster Reform Needed To Protect Key Services

1st October 2024

An Audit Scotland report published today (1 October 2024) is yet another warning about he state the finances in Scottish councils. The jargon in he report hardly disguises the fat that yet more cuts in some places are coming. If a service is not a "vital service" it may well be reduced or cut.

Councils have been transforming how they operate and deliver services for many years.

Now reform is increasingly urgent - councils have never faced such acute challenges, putting budgets and workforce under severe stretch and strain. Councils and key partners must significantly increase the pace and scale of major changes if they are to protect vital public services.

The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace) and the Improvement Service have established an ambitious sector-led Transformation Programme. This represents a positive change to how councils work towards transformation. But work is at an early stage, and there are significant risks around workforce capacity and skills to realise ambitions, given the need to continue delivering vital services every day.

Councils cannot deliver the required reforms alone. It is essential that all relevant public bodies, including the Scottish Government, alongside community planning partners, third sector and communities, recognise the urgent need to collaborate to help deliver the change needed.

A determination from both Scottish and Local Government to deliver on the commitments made in the Verity House Agreement is also critical. This will support the development and delivery of local government transformation, helping secure future local services and finances.

Jennifer Henderson, Accounts Commission member said, "Local government has been transforming how they deliver services for years. But given growing demand and ongoing financial pressures, councils must now move with an ambition and pace we've not yet seen if they're going to successfully address the financial sustainability, workforce and service challenges they're facing.

"To protect vital services, to pivot to prevention and increase the pace of collaboration, councils must commit to and sustain their own transformation programmes, whilst collaborating with sector-led work."

"Successful delivery of transformation programmes is essential to achieve financial sustainability and improve the lives of individuals and communities. Collaborating with others, both within and out with local government, will be a key part of the solution."

Throughout the report the word most repeated is "Transformation" but no specific suggestions are made. That will be up to councils, health boards and the third sector to come up with he ideas and actions to work within the budgets that Scottish Government gives them.

Rising costs in recent years have for the past few years not matched what is required to balance budgets. Already councils have cut back in several areas and much more will be seen in the budget round later this year. Scottish government always says they have increased the amount of money given to council but as councils all will say that does not match inflationary pressures.

Using reserves has limits and some council may well have already used up what it is possible to safely use. With all the arguments about freezing council tax in previous years inevitably it has had consequences for what councils could deliver.

Read the full report HERE
Pdf 19 Pages