Chocolate Teapot

News finally came yesterday - that all of Scotland's 32 councils have agreed to accept the Scottish Government's proposals for a further one-year freeze on the council tax.

Earlier this year some of the big Labour-run councils in the central belt - around Glasgow and Lanarkshire - raged against the government's proposals, but their campaign has finally ended with a whimper - not a big bang.

Which just goes to show that local government in Scotland is not taken very seriously any longer - so what's the point of an organisation like COSLA you might ask?

And I did just that back in April 2011 - during the Scottish Parliament elections.

Seems to me that the world has moved on from the 1980s and 90s - when local councils in Scotland were seen as vital and relevant - as a defence against out-of-touch Tory ministers in Westminster.

In those days people could see what local councils were doing - working and campaigning in support of their local communities.

But now we have a Scottish Parliament which the public seems to trust to defend their interests - certainly much more than they trust local councils and COSLA.

So COSLA has got its work cut out in 2012 - if it is not to become even more of an irrelevance than it is today - no one is listening any longer to the 'voice' of Scottish local government.

Here's hoping they bring in some new blood - maybe some new ways of thinking and doing things - instead of the dreary types who have been running the show for years.

Because at the moment COSLA is going backwards - it has nothing relevant to say - in fact it's about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

COSLA isn't working anymore (April 16th 2011)

One thing that's becoming clear during this course of this Scottish election campaign - is that no one holds local government in very high esteem anymore.

The main parties are all committed to a council tax freeze - some for longer that others - but the $64,000 question is - 'If councils don't set their own council tax rate, then what are they really for?'.

So by extension what's the point in an expensive - publicly funded - 'talking shop' like COSLA - which nobody appears to be listening to anyway.

SNP and Labour are both committed to a single national police force - and Labour is committed to a new 'national' care service which would dilute the role of local councils in this area.

Support is also growing for removing education and teaching services from council control - with schools having a more direct relationship with the Scottish government - perhaps by creating new, strategic education authorities.

The main public sector unions - Unison, Unite and GMB - have traditionally placed great emphasis on 'local democracy' and local decision-making.

But they appear to have been muzzled during the election campaign - as often happens - behind the scenes the Labour high command tells union bosses not to rock the boat.

And as they are all loyal Labour supporters - that's exactly what they do - instead of speaking up for what they believe is right.

So local government is being squeezed and the present leadership seems unable to articulate a coherent case - about the benefits of local decision-making.

Maybe that's because so many of them have been there for so long - they have become part of the establishment - and simply lack credibility these days.

Maybe it's because so many of them are Labour hacks and jobsworths - that they can't build a strong cross-party alliance - capable of connecting with the wider public.

Or maybe it's because the voters have switched off - in the absence of big political figures who can stand up for their local communities.

Who knows, but one thing's for sure - 'COSLA isn't working anymore'.