Lib Dems: Put communities at heart of public service reform
Scottish Liberal Democrats have today used a debate on public service reform to highlight several failed examples of SNP centralisation, as they called on the Scottish Government to ensure future reform puts power “closer to communities, not further away from them.”
Scottish Liberal Democrats successfully tabled an amendment to the debate which calls for future public service reform to be guided by local decision-making.
The amendment also highlights the SNP’s botched centralisation of several public services, including the creation of Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the proposed National Care Service.
Scottish Liberal Democrat public service reform spokesperson David Green, who also tabled the amendment, said:
“Under the SNP, reform has been code for centralisation.
“The centralisation of the police led to the closure of Inverness Control Room and the loss of staff with detailed knowledge of our communities. The one-size-fits-all approach of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has left stations in North West Sutherland, in effect, unavailable for years.
“We urgently need change in the way public services are delivered, and Scottish Liberal Democrats know that the best decisions are made when local people are empowered to take them."
Scottish Liberal Democrat rural affairs spokesperson Andrew Baxter said:
“Real reform should push power closer to communities, not further away from them.
“The SNP has too often confused reform with reorganisation, and reorganisation with centralisation.
“A North of Scotland Health Board based in Dundee will not deliver maternity services in Caithness or improve diabetic care in Portree.
“There are police officers in Skye who view the creation of Police Scotland as the creation of Greater Strathclyde Police Force.
“For ministers, centralisation can look efficient on a spreadsheet. But the true test of public service reform is whether people receive better services in their own communities.”