Scottish communities seek more local powers

A review into the devolution of local powers in Scotland has published its initial findings, discovering that people overwhelmingly want more say about how public services are run in their area.

Receiving more than 4,000 responses from across Scotland, the findings mark the start of a process that could mean communities are given direct control of specific public services, including new powers across areas of health, environment and leisure services.

The Scottish Government is working with Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) on the next stage of the review, which will look further into the type of powers communities would like to control. The results of the review will be published in 2021.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “A wide range of people with very different backgrounds, experiences and interests overwhelmingly responded that they want to have more say about how local public services are run in their area.

“We want to see a step-change in democracy in Scotland where decisions on public services are made in communities - where they have the biggest impact. Options are open as to what services are devolved, and there is still a lot of detailed work to do but we have the opportunity to shape the future of democracy so local communities can really flourish.”