democracy and local government
Local Government
Local government has been systematically weakened and has had its powers stripped away over the decades. The Scottish Government’s centralisation of power was embodied in the recent Council Tax Freeze, in which the central government removed even tax-raising powers from local authorities. This resulted in a “shortfall in local revenue raising of between £229m and £417m” according to COSLA, and brought about substantial spending cuts. This unacceptable example of government overreach is indicative of the contempt that local government and democracy are held in by the centralising Scottish Government.
As such, local government must be treated with the respect it deserves, and the ability for the central government to impose council tax freezes and similar undemocratic power grabs on councils must be removed. Councils must be free to set their taxes and spending.
Similarly, the Scottish Government must immediately take steps to reverse years of underfunding of our councils, with an immediate cash injection needed to keep our essential services running.
Freedom of Information
Accountability and open government are other essential components of democracy, and freedom of information is a key element of this paradigm. Therefore, freedom of information coverage should be extended to all bodies delivering public services, services of a public nature and publicly funded services. In addition, the publication of information from public bodies should be promoted more generally, to ensure that the public can hold bodies which use taxpayer money and deliver services accountable.