Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 23 March 2021
I wished Tom Mason all the best, and I do the same for the cabinet secretary. Aileen Campbell and I go back to the good old days of the SNP Glasgow regional association; recent events have been nothing in comparison with what we had to put up with in those days, and that was only among a few of us. She has been a great friend and colleague for a long time, and she has been an absolute pleasure to work with as cabinet secretary while I have been convener of the Local Government and Communities Committee.
I am delighted to speak on the bill today. As committee convener, I pledged our support at stage 1, and I am pleased to see that the cabinet secretary and the member who introduced the bill, Andy Wightman, have worked so collaboratively to iron out most of the—mainly technical—amendments that were required.
At first, the Scottish Government adopted a neutral stance on the bill to allow the opportunity for officials to carry out due diligence and an analysis of its potential implications. As convener, I welcomed the officials’ on-going work and support through the stages of the legislative process.
There was, and probably still is, some slight concern that the charter might be used to bring frivolous or politically motivated court cases against the Government of the day; we do not have to go too far back in time to see how that could possibly happen. However, we were convinced by the witnesses that that has not been the case in other countries that have the charter in place and have safeguards that would make that difficult.
The committee supported the bill for a number of reasons, including the fact that it brings Scotland in line with European jurisdictions, and the fact that we back the principle of increased devolution of decision making to local government. I agree with my colleague Keith Brown that that has been the direction of travel since 2007, when we came into power.
We agree, however, that there is room for levelling up the relationship between Holyrood and the local government sector. As we have seen through the pandemic, increased co-operation between national Government and local government has better supported people in our communities, and we want to ensure that that continues. We often take it for granted, but local authorities deliver such a wide range of services that are part of our daily lives.
The aim of the bill is to strengthen local democracy by increasing the autonomy of local authorities and enshrining support for local government into law. I know that the Scottish Government is fully committed to subsidiarity and to empowering local authorities and communities, which has been clear through policies such as the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and participatory budgeting. Greater community engagement and participation leads to the delivery of better and more responsive services and better outcomes for communities. The bill will help to increase the involvement of local people in shaping the communities in which they live, which can only be a positive thing.
I pay tribute to Andy Wightman, committee members and their excellent clerks, and the Scottish Government for reaching this stage. Once passed, the legislation will bring Scotland into line with some of our European partners and, more importantly, help create the conditions for further, more ambitious changes to how Scotland is governed.
17:26