Hansard

This is not my final speech in Parliament, but I really appreciate the messages that I have had from members during the course of the debate. I have a members’ business debate later and portfolio question time tomorrow, so it is a long goodbye from me in my final week in Parliament. However, I appreciate members’ remarks.

The Scottish Parliament is taking an important step today to reinforce the autonomy of Scottish councils and, by doing so, to strengthen the status and standing of local government. I thank members for their excellent contributions to the debate and the passion that they have shown for local government and local democracy. It is clear that every member in the chamber values the unique and important role that our councils play in our lives.

The consistent message throughout each stage of the bill from key stakeholders has been that passing it will strengthen local democracy by ensuring parity of esteem between the spheres of government. That is why I said in my opening speech that we must not view the bill as the end or as a blunt instrument, but as a means to strengthen the relationship between those spheres, and as an opportunity to continue along the path towards making Scotland a fairer country.

Scotland has never needed its spheres of government to work together more than it needs it now. During the passage of the bill, we have had hybrid and virtual meetings, and members have contributed fully to debates via BlueJeans. That is a reminder, if one was needed, of how much life in Parliament, and in general, has changed. An even more stark reminder of what the country has been through is that today marks one year since lockdown began; we have collectively paid our respects to those who have lost their lives to this nasty virus. A milestone such as that gives us cause to reflect on what has happened, what worked and what comes next.

I thank our local authorities for all that they have done over the past year, because despite the obvious trauma and suffering that Covid has brought to so many people during the pandemic, there have been countless acts of kindness, solidarity and compassion as communities and the third sector, supported by our local government partners, have stepped up to look after everyone.

Although there has been a flourishing of good practice and community endeavour, Covid has brought into sharp relief the persistent inequalities that exist in Scotland, despite our best efforts. As the bill prompts us to think about how we want governance to move forward, Covid prompts us to think about the type of country that, along with our local government partners, we want to create.

We want to ensure that decisions are taken as close as possible to the people whom they will affect the most. We want a vibrant and inclusive democracy that supports local self-determination. Andy Wightman’s member’s bill is welcome; we hope that it will create the conditions for more ambitious changes to Scotland and how it is governed. Through the bill, the work of the social renewal advisory board and the desire and momentum to empower our communities, we will trust and support communities to make the changes that we all want in order to ensure that, in the recovery, things do not revert back to what was normal, because that normality failed too many people for too long.

On governance, how the country is structured and how decisions are made reminds me why I want independence for Scotland. I have never believed that Scotland is better than other countries, but I believe that it is as good as any other country and that we can make a success of independence. However, that should never be about bringing powers from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament. Instead, there should be full consideration of further devolution of powers to our councils and communities.

I am pleased to support the bill in its passage through Parliament. We want to ensure that decisions are taken locally. We want to ensure that the Parliament is responsive to the clear desire of our communities and councils to work in partnership to create the better country that we all know can be created. We want also to ensure that we create fairness in that process.

The bill prompts us to consider and think through how we work together with our local authority partners to ensure that Scotland is a success. As we seek to recover from the pandemic, we have never before needed so much to work in closer partnership with our councils.

Many people have played a part in getting us to this point. In particular, I acknowledge the role of COSLA, MSPs from across the Parliament and, of course, Andy Wightman himself, who has led us here. He and his team should be rightly proud of their achievement; I thank them for their collaborative working. I hope that the bill serves as a platform from which we can build a better and fairer Scotland.