Hansard

It is a great privilege to speak on behalf of the Government in the concluding moments of the process that I hope will see us pass this important bill.

This will be the final piece of legislation that I am directly involved with as Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government and as a member. It is a privilege to be elected to the Parliament. We are entrusted with making life better for the people and communities that we are here to represent. The bill will make significant and positive improvements for governance in Scotland because it sends a strong signal about the value that we place on local government.

Incorporating the European Charter of Local Self-Government into Scots law is of prime importance to COSLA, for which it has been a long-held objective. Tonight, we have the opportunity to realise that ambition. The member in charge of the bill has brought us to this stage and I commend Andy Wightman for his tenacity in pursuing the bill and for his long-held passion for local government.

At stage 1, I highlighted that there were some drafting issues that could be improved by technical amendments. I committed to engaging positively with Andy Wightman and his team to discuss what that might involve. I believe that we have accomplished that and that the collaborative approach to amendments has delivered the best and most effective legislation possible. I again thank Andy Wightman and his team for working closely with me and my officials to ensure that today is the day when the Parliament will, I hope unanimously, pass the bill.

I thank the Local Government and Communities Committee convener and members for their work in scrutinising the legislation and getting us to this stage. I also thank the committee clerks and the parliamentary staff who have helped steer the bill during a pandemic. Of course, I extend my thanks and appreciation to my bill team and private office staff who have worked tirelessly and so incredibly hard throughout the process on some very technical issues and amendments. They are a brilliant team and deserve this praise for keeping me right on the bill.

Although the bill is of obvious domestic importance, it will also align the standing of local government in Scotland with that in many other countries by securing a strong legal foundation for local government’s right to self-government. The bill places duties on the Scottish ministers to act compatibly with the charter articles and to promote local self-government. That is as it should be.

When I was appointed as cabinet secretary for local government almost three years ago, I had no doubt about the importance of subsidiarity and of local government. I have sought to ensure that our relationship is as strong as it can be. That is because, when that relationship is right, it is the people of Scotland who gain the most. That determination has always been shared by my valued colleague, the COSLA president Councillor Alison Evison.

That meaningful approach to partnership working has, by and large, been achieved and has been successful. Whether we have “Councillor” before our name or “MSP” after it, we are bound by the aims and vision to make our country fairer and more equal and to see our communities flourish.

That ambition drove COSLA, representing all 32 local authorities, and the Scottish Government to work in partnership to agree our national performance framework. It sets out the sort of country that we want Scotland to be: one that has wellbeing, kindness and dignity at its heart and which—regardless of which sphere of Government we come from—pursues those shared priorities to achieve the best possible outcomes for the people of Scotland.

Local and central government also share a commitment to subsidiarity and local democracy through the joint work of the local governance review. Last week saw the publication of the “Democracy Matters” materials, which will offer people a clearer sense of how their aspirations for local democracy could be realised.

Through the work of the review, we now also have proposals from councils across Scotland who have come forward to share ideas that can strengthen our local democracy and promote a shift of power that benefits our communities. An exploration of those ideas, involving all relevant public service partners, will offer the next Scottish Government a platform for dialogue with COSLA following the Scottish parliamentary elections.

Local and national Government also share the ambition to ensure that our children have the best possible start, and the work that we are doing together to expand the hours of flexible, high-quality child care provision is significant. That is driven by local and national Government working hand in glove, united by a focus on the positive impact that that will have on our youngest children and families.

The expansion, originally intended for August 2020, was paused last April to give local authorities the flexibility to focus on responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, from August 2021, all eligible children will benefit from at least 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare.

The pandemic has shown us once again the importance of collaboration, with local and national Government working together to respond to local circumstances in order to keep the most vulnerable in our society safe and essential services available.

Councils have played—and will continue to play—a central part in our response to the pandemic. From delivering critical childcare to supporting the vulnerable and paying lifeline business grants to help local businesses survive, the heroic efforts of the local government workforce have been remarkable.

As we move forward at pace with the vaccination roll out, we will see the balance shift from dealing with the immediate health crisis of Covid-19 to dealing with its enormous social and economic impact and its long-term effect on people’s wellbeing.

The journey of recovery and adaptation will be a central purpose for local government over the coming years. In that respect, local government, and Alison Evison in particular, has played a key part in the social renewal advisory board whose report set out actions to help guide that recovery. As part of our response to that, we will need to build on the incredible work that councils have done and embed the positive changes to ensure that our services best meet the ever-evolving needs of our people and communities.

I have set out how we have always sought to work in partnership with local government and how, when we do, the outcomes are positive. The bill will strengthen and build on that relationship, although the bill is not the end of the story, but the start of building something better. I believe that it can act as the catalyst to not only strengthen relationships but open up opportunities to discuss what kind of future we want and what more transformative policies we can introduce to improve the lives of the people of Scotland.

I hope that all members across the chamber will support the bill this evening and I underline my thanks to Andy Wightman for steering it to this stage.