Ashtrays and Motorbikes (02/14)
The rebellion amongst local councils in Scotland appears to be gathering steam as yet another, this time Labour-run Renfrewshire, threatens to quit COSLA - according to this report on the BBC web site.
Now you can take your pick as to how you see COSLA: as the self-styled voice of Scottish local government or as a useless talking shop.
I happen to favour the latter because I thought that COSLA was about as much use as an 'ashtray on a motorbike' - when it came to doing the right thing over equal pay.
And I have to say that I disagree with the comments of my old colleague from Unison, Dave Watson, who suggests that the problems about implementing with the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement were all to do with local pay determination.
Now this is not quite correct because the 1999 Agreement was a national agreement - not a local one - and although it allowed for councils to decide certain issues at local level this had to be done within a nationally agreed framework.
Yet when the councils employers failed to do what they promised to do (many of the biggest and most influential ones being Labour-run at the time, of course) - the Labour supporting trade unions had virtually nothing to say.
No national strikes, demonstrations or high profile public campaigns to persuade the council employers (individually and collectively) to do the right thing - with the support of the Labour-led coalition government at Holyrood, of course.
So, if you ask me, COSLA is a busted flush - and that's why Scottish councils are voting with their feet.
By Jamie McIvor
Cosla helps local councils makes collective decisions on public service policies
Another major council has said it is planning to leave Cosla, the body that represents Scottish local authorities.
Labour-run Renfrewshire Council is the third to warn it may quit.
It believes Cosla is not doing enough to stand up for councils against government policies.
Another two councils in the west of Scotland are expected to decide whether they should also quit in the next few weeks.
Aberdeen Council has already decided to leave the body next year. Separately, Dumfries and Galloway may also leave the organisation.
Another major council has said it is planning to leave Cosla, the body that represents Scottish local authorities.
Labour-run Renfrewshire Council is the third to warn it may quit.
It believes Cosla is not doing enough to stand up for councils against government policies.
Another two councils in the west of Scotland are expected to decide whether they should also quit in the next few weeks.
Aberdeen Council has already decided to leave the body next year. Separately, Dumfries and Galloway may also leave the organisation.
Formula changed
At the heart of the dispute is the formula used to distribute government money between Scotland's 32 councils.
Typically about 80p of every pound each council spends comes from a Scottish government grant.
A long-standing and complicated formula divides up the cash. It takes account of factors such as the relative prosperity of an area, the demographics of the population and how urban or rural the population is.
But some Labour councils think they are getting a bad deal and want the formula changed.
Changing the funding formula would mean there would be winners and losers and many other councils are happy with it as it stands.
Leaving Cosla will not mean a change in the formula - that would ultimately be up to the Scottish government.
But some Labour councillors are known to feel frustrated that they cannot gain an agreement at Cosla to try to get the formula changed and feel that membership of the umbrella body is not currently value for money.
One source said there was frustration that Cosla was not able to take a stand against Scottish government policies which they believed were harming local government, even although Labour-controlled councils provided Cosla with the majority of its cash.
Because Cosla seeks to represent the views of all 32 Scottish councils, it is rarely possible for it to gain agreements to take a stand on any controversial party political issue.
At the heart of the dispute is the formula used to distribute government money between Scotland's 32 councils.
Typically about 80p of every pound each council spends comes from a Scottish government grant.
A long-standing and complicated formula divides up the cash. It takes account of factors such as the relative prosperity of an area, the demographics of the population and how urban or rural the population is.
But some Labour councils think they are getting a bad deal and want the formula changed.
Changing the funding formula would mean there would be winners and losers and many other councils are happy with it as it stands.
Leaving Cosla will not mean a change in the formula - that would ultimately be up to the Scottish government.
But some Labour councillors are known to feel frustrated that they cannot gain an agreement at Cosla to try to get the formula changed and feel that membership of the umbrella body is not currently value for money.
One source said there was frustration that Cosla was not able to take a stand against Scottish government policies which they believed were harming local government, even although Labour-controlled councils provided Cosla with the majority of its cash.
Because Cosla seeks to represent the views of all 32 Scottish councils, it is rarely possible for it to gain agreements to take a stand on any controversial party political issue.
Collective interests
Councils are required to give a full financial year's notice of their intention to quit Cosla.
Three other Labour councils in central Scotland - including Glasgow - are likely to decide what to do in the next few weeks while some others are known to be watching events closely.
Cosla currently represents the collective interests of all councils and also negotiates Scotland-wide pay deals with unions.
Dave Watson, Scottish organiser for pay and campaigns with trade union Unison, said that while the union had had disagreements with Cosla over the years, he would not encourage or support its break up.
Mr Watson said: "Local government needs a strong collective voice in the face of government centralisation and cuts.
"Breakaways simply weaken the message and encourages divide and rule. We would therefore encourage the parties to sort out their disagreements as the procedures allow.
"The employers' side of the national bargaining machinery is administered by Cosla, but it could be done in a different way. Again we are not encouraging this.
"The experience of single status implementation and equal pay highlights very clearly the problems with local pay determination.
"No sensible council would want to repeat those mistakes and the financial consequences in the current environment."
The Scottish government said membership of Cosla was up to individual councils but defended the system used to distribute cash.
A Cosla spokesman said: "The reality is that Cosla is the only local government association in the United Kingdom with a 100% membership.
"This will continue to be the case for the rest of this financial year and all of next financial year and during this time the organisation will be doing its absolute utmost to ensure that we resolve the issues that have been raised with us and as well as representing our full 32-council membership."
Councils are required to give a full financial year's notice of their intention to quit Cosla.
Three other Labour councils in central Scotland - including Glasgow - are likely to decide what to do in the next few weeks while some others are known to be watching events closely.
Cosla currently represents the collective interests of all councils and also negotiates Scotland-wide pay deals with unions.
Dave Watson, Scottish organiser for pay and campaigns with trade union Unison, said that while the union had had disagreements with Cosla over the years, he would not encourage or support its break up.
Mr Watson said: "Local government needs a strong collective voice in the face of government centralisation and cuts.
"Breakaways simply weaken the message and encourages divide and rule. We would therefore encourage the parties to sort out their disagreements as the procedures allow.
"The employers' side of the national bargaining machinery is administered by Cosla, but it could be done in a different way. Again we are not encouraging this.
"The experience of single status implementation and equal pay highlights very clearly the problems with local pay determination.
"No sensible council would want to repeat those mistakes and the financial consequences in the current environment."
The Scottish government said membership of Cosla was up to individual councils but defended the system used to distribute cash.
A Cosla spokesman said: "The reality is that Cosla is the only local government association in the United Kingdom with a 100% membership.
"This will continue to be the case for the rest of this financial year and all of next financial year and during this time the organisation will be doing its absolute utmost to ensure that we resolve the issues that have been raised with us and as well as representing our full 32-council membership."
COSLA (8 February 2014)
Two out of Scotland's thirty two local councils (Aberdeen and Dumfries & Galloway) have pulled out of COSLA - the umbrella body and self-styled voice of Scottish local government.
Now this trickle my not turn into a full scale flood, but then again maybe people are finally waking up to what I said about COSLA some time ago.
If you ask me, the Convention (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) has been weak and useless for many years and has been irrelevant on most of the big issues of the day - Equal Pay is an example that springs quickly to mind.
So, I'm not in the least surprised that councils like Aberdeen and Dumfries &Galloway are beginning to vote with their feet.
Aberdeen City Council to break away from COSLA
Now this trickle my not turn into a full scale flood, but then again maybe people are finally waking up to what I said about COSLA some time ago.
If you ask me, the Convention (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) has been weak and useless for many years and has been irrelevant on most of the big issues of the day - Equal Pay is an example that springs quickly to mind.
So, I'm not in the least surprised that councils like Aberdeen and Dumfries &Galloway are beginning to vote with their feet.
Aberdeen City Council to break away from COSLA
Aberdeen City Council are the first in Scotland to vote to break away from Cosla. Picture: Complimentary
By FRANK URQUHART
ABERDEEN City Council has become the first city authority in Scotland to vote to breakaway from the umbrella organisation the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.
The Labour-led coalition administration voted to split from the Convention late last night at a meeting of the full council where concerns were again raised about the financial settlement the authority receives from the Scottish Government.
The members of the council’s rainbow coalition of Labour, Independent and Tory councillors were joined by the Liberal Democrats in voting for the breakaway move.
Councillor Barney Crockett, the leader of the council, said: “Aberdeen certainly does feel that it is too often Scotland’s forgotten city and in the financial settlement we are regularly at the bottom of the league.”
He explained: “We are under huge pressure from local businesses who feel that we need the infrastructure to support the mushrooming business environment in the city. Last year we got 79 per cent of the Scottish average and, given the kind of pressure that comes on a city, it was completely unacceptable to us.”
Mr Crockett claimed that concerns about the council’s continued membership of COSLA had also been raised because of proposed changes in COSLA’s operations which would “even further diminish our voice there.”
He continued: “We have to give a year’s notice if we do intend leaving so we are putting in our year’s notice. We will see how the changes go in COSLA as to whether we effect the departure. But certainly we feel we need a stronger voice than we seem to be getting at the moment in COSLA.”
He claimed that Aberdeen was also the victim of an “enormous asset stripping operation” by the Scottish Government with the closure of Craiginches Prison and the planned closures of both the fire and police service control centres in the city.
Last month Dumfries and Galloway Council gave notice that it intends to terminate its £110,000-a-year membership of the Convention.
By FRANK URQUHART
ABERDEEN City Council has become the first city authority in Scotland to vote to breakaway from the umbrella organisation the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.
The Labour-led coalition administration voted to split from the Convention late last night at a meeting of the full council where concerns were again raised about the financial settlement the authority receives from the Scottish Government.
The members of the council’s rainbow coalition of Labour, Independent and Tory councillors were joined by the Liberal Democrats in voting for the breakaway move.
Councillor Barney Crockett, the leader of the council, said: “Aberdeen certainly does feel that it is too often Scotland’s forgotten city and in the financial settlement we are regularly at the bottom of the league.”
He explained: “We are under huge pressure from local businesses who feel that we need the infrastructure to support the mushrooming business environment in the city. Last year we got 79 per cent of the Scottish average and, given the kind of pressure that comes on a city, it was completely unacceptable to us.”
Mr Crockett claimed that concerns about the council’s continued membership of COSLA had also been raised because of proposed changes in COSLA’s operations which would “even further diminish our voice there.”
He continued: “We have to give a year’s notice if we do intend leaving so we are putting in our year’s notice. We will see how the changes go in COSLA as to whether we effect the departure. But certainly we feel we need a stronger voice than we seem to be getting at the moment in COSLA.”
He claimed that Aberdeen was also the victim of an “enormous asset stripping operation” by the Scottish Government with the closure of Craiginches Prison and the planned closures of both the fire and police service control centres in the city.
Last month Dumfries and Galloway Council gave notice that it intends to terminate its £110,000-a-year membership of the Convention.
