Local government is being abused. In a domestic setting this would be called out for what it is: coercive control – with Scottish and UK governments as perpetrators and local councils as their victims. Councillor Maureen ChildCondemning even as she is obliged to support, Councillor Maureen Child makes a passionate speech in Edinburgh City Chambers during the Budget Debate … [Read more...] about ‘Turbo-charged austerity’ devolved from centre to local councils
Scottish Budget
Local government blame game
Concern that devolution would suck up power and resources from local government was a major theme of devolution debates in the 1970s.In the 1980/90s, home rulers promised a new era in central local relations as local authorities played a full part in the Constitutional Convention.A Commission on relations between the Parliament and local government was set up in … [Read more...] about Local government blame game
Hard to read the Scottish Budget
This analysis of the information provided by the Scottish Government to the Holyrood Parliament about its spending plans is prompted by having looked in detail so far at just four lines of the draft Scottish Budget, and finding something wrong with the way the numbers are presented in each case. That seems a high hit rate, given this should be one of the exercises over which … [Read more...] about Hard to read the Scottish Budget