Local government faces many uncertainties, both north and south of the border. Perhaps there is nothing new in this situation, since councils over the last three decades have gone through a number of upheavals, including major reorganisations and changes to the finance system. In Scotland, both the future and past will be in the minds of councillors and officers attending this week's annual conference of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) – which is being held at St Andrews on 7-9 March. The theme of the event, Celebrating the past… facing the future, is appropriate. The conference is being held just two months before the next local government elections on 3 May, the same day as elections for the Scottish Parliament. For the first time, councillors will be elected by proportional representation (PR), so these will be historic elections, which will end generations of polls held under the traditional first-past-the-post system. The results could dramatically change the political make-up of many councils, particularly those which are Labour controlled. In future, more councils will have no one party in overall control, and may be run by coalition groups, bringing new challenges for both councillors and officers. There will also be many new faces around the council chambers. More than one-third of councillors have opted to take early retirement. At officer level, three chief executives are planning to bow out, while several senior officers are also retiring. The changes and loss of experience come at a time when Scottish local government already faces an uncertain future over issues such as the number of councils, public sector reform and decisions to be made about local taxation. n
