Councillors' remuneration and expenses: recommendations

Appendix 4: Key Legislative Changes impacting Local Government from 2013

This document aims to provide an overview of legislation and events impacting the work of local government and by extension councillors since 2013.

2013

• Police Scotland and Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS) came into being on 1^st April under the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012.
• Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 – new duties for local authorities. Implementation of SDS has involved wide ranging changes to local service planning and delivery.

2014

• Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 introduced a statutory duty for NHS boards and councils to integrate the planning and delivery of health and social care services. It required the creation of Integration Authorities (Health and Social Care Partnerships / Lead Agency model in the Highlands) and abolished Community Health Partnerships. Described by the Audit Commission as “the most significant change in public services in Scotland in recent years”.
• Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 – corporate parenting is defined within the children and young people (Scotland) Act 2014 and places several duties on public sector organisations to uphold the rights and safeguard the wellbeing of looked after children, young people and care leavers.
• The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 - The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 introduced changes to the way social housing is allocated in Scotland. It emphasises the importance of a single housing register and common housing allocation policies. Local authorities are required to maintain a single list of applicants for social housing in their area, commonly known as a "common housing register" or "single housing register”.
• Glasgow city region deal 2014 – the City Region Deals are packages of funding agreed between Scottish Government, the UK Government and local partners. There are currently six City Region Deals in Scotland; Glasgow City Region, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Inverness and Highland, Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland, Stirling and Clackmannanshire, Tay Cities. The Glasgow deal totalled £1.2 Billion, and focuses on infrastructure, skills and employment, business growth and innovation.
• The Scottish Independence Referendum 2014 – a referendum on Scottish Independence was held on the 18^th of September 2014, in which Scotland voted to remain part of the UK. This later resulted in the Scotland Act 2016.

2015

• Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 – Aimed to get councils working more closely with public bodies and communities to design, develop and deliver better-quality services, for example through Participatory Budgeting. This Act also gave local authorities statutory oversight of community councils and requires LAs to consult community councils about planning applications and licensing matters. This legislation also introduced a duty on each Community Planning Partnership (CPP) to develop a local outcomes improvement plan (LOIP).

2016

• All health and social care integration arrangements set out in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, including the creation of 31 new Integration Authorities, had to be in place by 1 April 2016.
• Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. This Act requires all local authorities to develop a Community Justice Outcomes Improvement Plan with community justice partners (e.g. Health Board, Skills Development Scotland). This Act also abolished the 8 Community Justice Authorities (CJAs).
• The Scottish Elections (Dates) Act 2016 amended earlier legislation to move the planned local elections in 2021 to 2022 to avoid a clash with Scottish Parliament elections.
• The Scottish Household Recycling Charter was agreed between Scottish Government and COSLA as a commitment to substantially overhaul kerbside waste and recycling collections systems, which typically creates strong responses in local communities. The full roll out of this charter is ongoing.
• UK EU membership referendum – following a referendum on the 23rd of June 2016 the withdrawal of the UK from the EU officially took place on the 31st of January 2020. The terms of departure from the EU continues to influence the work of councils across a multitude of areas. The demands of constituents therefore increasingly require elected members to engage with complex, fast moving and international policy areas such as exports.
• Scotland Act 2016 - The Scotland Act 2016 delivers the cross-party Smith Commission Agreement which was established following the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. The act sets out a range of financial powers and measures.
• Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire city deal 2016 - the City Region Deals are packages of funding agreed between Scottish Government, the UK Government and local partners. There are currently six City Region Deals in Scotland; Glasgow City Region, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Inverness and Highland, Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland, Stirling and Clackmannanshire, Tay Cities. The Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire city deal focuses on a range of measures that impact Local Government service provision, including, technology investment, hospitality, transport, broadband and local housing programmes.

2017

• Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 – Duty on local authorities and health boards to produce an annual report on what they are doing to contribute to reducing child poverty.
• Inverness and Highlands city deal 2017- the City Region Deals are packages of funding agreed between Scottish Government, the UK Government and local partners. There are currently six City Region Deals in Scotland; Glasgow City Region, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Inverness and Highland, Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland, Stirling and Clackmannanshire, Tay Cities. The Inverness and Highland city deal seeks to boost key sectors such as tourism and life science, creating jobs and helping to retain young people in the region.

2018

• The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 came into effect April 2018. This Act brought in rights for adult and young carers, including entitlement to an Adult Carer Support Plan or Young Carer Statement. Additional duties for councils.
• Launch of Local Governance Review (NB: work on this was paused from 2020-22 due to Covid and the Ukraine resettlement scheme)
• Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 – placed duties on 6 councils (Shetland, Orkney, Eilean Siar, Highland, North Ayrshire, Argyll & Bute), along with other named authorities, to undertake island communities impact assessments and report on compliance with the duties under this Act.
• Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland city deal 2018 - the City Region Deals are packages of funding agreed between Scottish Government, the UK Government and local partners. There are currently six City Region Deals in Scotland; Glasgow City Region, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Inverness and Highland, Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland, Stirling and Clackmannanshire, Tay Cities. The Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland deal will deliver, innovation, housing, critical infrastructure and a new skills programme.

2019

• Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019²& Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. All Councils have a duty to reduce and report on their carbon emissions. With increased public awareness, emphasis on this area of work has significantly stepped up in the last few years. Councils have declared net zero targets, many well in advance of the national 2045 net zero target. This has been further emphasised by the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee report published in 2023 on the role of local government and its cross-sectoral partners in financing and delivering a net-zero Scotland, which highlighted councils as having a crucial role to play in delivering net zero as a result of their local economic status, breadth of responsibilities, and democratic mandate.
• A review of councillor numbers and wards for Shetland, Orkney, Eilean Siar, Highland, North Ayrshire, and Argyll & Bute was undertaken as required by the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018. Proposed changes for Shetland, Orkney, Eilean Siar, and North Ayrshire were approved by Scottish Parliament for use in the 2022 local elections.
• In 2019, the Audit Commission reported that “Councillors now sit on more boards than before. In our May 2018 report, Councils’ use of arm’s-length external organisations (ALEOs) we noted that this can make it difficult for small councils to manage potential conflicts of interest.”³

2020

• Covid-19 - immediate and ongoing impact on health and social care services and councils in general. The way in which services were planned and delivered had to change rapidly. Local authorities played key role in protecting communities. All those working within LG, including councillors, had to adapt their ways of working.
• UK officially exited the EU
• The Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020 increased the term for Local Government (and the Scottish Parliament) from four years to five years in line with the UK Parliament and other devolved legislatures.
• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill – The Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on the 1^st of September 2020 and was passed unanimously on the 16^th of March 2021. On the 6^th of October 2021 the UK Supreme Court rules the bill was outside the devolved legislative competency of the Scottish Parliament. Scottish Government will now seek to amend the bill with proposals including, that the UNCRC would only apply to public duties resulting from acts passed by the Scottish Parliament (not UK government acts in devolved areas such as the Education Scotland Act). SG will set a timeline for the Bill to be reconsidered by parliament.
• Stirling and Clackmannanshire city deal and Tay Cities Region Deal - the City Region Deals are packages of funding agreed between Scottish Government, the UK Government and local partners. There are currently six City Region Deals in Scotland; Glasgow City Region, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Inverness and Highland, Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland, Stirling and Clackmannanshire, Tay Cities. The Stirling and Clackmannanshire city deal aims to create higher value jobs, invest in the creation of green innovations, digital entrepreneurship and cultural opportunities to deliver a more diverse regional economy. The Tay Cities deal focuses on inclusion, innovation, internationalisation, connectivity and empowerment, and supports projects which aim to promote inclusive economic growth across the region.
• The promise – the Independent Care Review was commissioned in 2016 to consider why the ‘care system’ is not working. When its findings were published in 2020, the First Minister pledged that the country would #KeepThePromise. The promise exists so that children and young people in Scotland can grow up loved, safe and respected. The outputs of the Independent Care Review have created a series of detailed reports and an evidence framework to allow the promise to be kept.

2021

• Independent Review of Adult Social Care (IRASC) published February 2021 set out a series of recommendations for the improvement of Adult Social Care in Scotland. In response, COSLA and SG set out a Joint Statement of Intent with improvements Scottish Government and COSLA are committed to. This includes: Fair Work, shared ethical commissioning principles, support for unpaid carers to have a life alongside caring.
• August 2021 marked the introduction of the statutory duty on local authorities to secure 1,140 annualised hours of ELC for all 3 and 4 year-olds and eligible 2 year olds.
• The Scottish Attainment Challenge and Pupil Equity Fund provides ‘additional’ funding from SG to close the poverty related attainment gap for young people. This funding is directly controlled by headteachers and was originally only provided to 9 ‘challenge authorities. In 2021 it was agreed for the funding to be shared across all 32 on the basis of poverty.

2022

• National Care Service Bill introduced with concerns raised from COSLA/Councillors about expensive and disruptive structural reform and the provision within the Bill allowing for the mass transfer of staff, functions and assets to a NCS. Councillors gave evidence to various Parliamentary Committees. Work on this is ongoing, on the 30th of June 2023 an agreement was reached that a national framework centred on shared accountability for a National Care Service between Scottish Ministers, local authorities and the NHS should be developed. A National Care Service Board will be established to offer a basis for further negotiations.
• Ukraine Super Sponsorship Scheme launched by Scottish Government, which placed (and continues to place) high demands on local authorities especially around housing and homelessness.
• Local Governance Review – The SG/COSLA joint comprehensive review of how local decisions are made and how local democracy is working and how it might work better. A key element of work on LGR is Democracy Matters 2 which seeks to develop further our understanding of the type of local democratic systems and institutions required to place power and resources in local people’s hands. Work is currently underway to enable the review all the proposals originally made in 2019 prior to Covid-19.
• Best Start, Bright Futures: tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022 to 2026. This is the second tackling child poverty delivery plan under the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017. This second Plan builds on the foundations of Every Child, Every Chance.
• Asylum Dispersal – from the 13^th of April 2022, the asylum dispersal scheme became mandatory for local authorities; all local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales are now considered dispersal areas. Previously in Scotland Glasgow was the only dispersal area. The system of emergency Initial Accommodation Asylum hotels across Scotland are managed by Mears.

2023

• Signing of the Verity House Agreement – New Deal with local government, which outlines 3 shared priorities: tackling poverty, just transition to net zero and sustainable public services. The Verity House agreement will also work to incorporate into Scots Law the European Charter of Local Self-Government (1988) as soon as possible. In keeping with the Charter both parties agree the maxim “local by default national by agreement”.
• Illegal Migration Act 2023 – The Illegal Migration Act 2023 obtained “Royal Assent” on the 20^th of July 2023. The Act brings changes to; Removal, Protection claims, Leave to Remain + British Citizenship, Destination, Detention, Children, Human Trafficking, and Age Assessment. Only some of its provisions are “in force”, most are not. Whether the key parts of the Act come into force depends on the Rwanda UKSC case (heard on the 9-11 Oct; judgement expected November / December 2023. If fully enforced the Act would bring significant changes for local authorities who’s role in the Migration system has altered significantly in recent years via the move to full dispersal and response to the Ukraine war in 2022.