Last Friday, we welcomed visitors from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to Argyll and Bute. COSLA President, Cllr Shona Morrison (Moray Council), Vice President, Cllr Steven Heddle (Orkney Islands Council) and Chief Executive Jane O’Donnell, met our Leader Cllr Jim Lynch, Depute Leaders Cllr Audrey Forrest and Cllr Ross Moreland and me.
For those who may not be familiar, COSLA is the national voice for local government in Scotland. It represents all 32 councils, advocating for our shared interests, influencing national policy, and ensuring that local government has a strong voice in decision-making.
Their visit provided an opportunity to showcase the excellent work happening across our council and discuss key challenges and opportunities facing local government. COSLA supports councils like ours in securing fair funding, shaping national policies, driving collaboration across Scotland and we discussed how it can highlight the particular issues facing remote, rural and island councils like ours.
COSLA also highlighted the very positive contribution that Argyll and Bute officers make to these national discussions. Many officers represent their profession on national groups and this work that they do over and above their day job helps to improve all of local government as well as ensuring that our unique perspective is understood. I’ve said before that we punch above our weight on many issues and this is just another example of that. I’d like to thank all those officers for taking on these additional roles for the contribution that they make.
You may know that the Leader and I attend COSLA meetings every month, where Leaders from across Scotland agree on the position they are going to take in relation to a range of policy issues. Leaders come from a range of political groups come together and more often than not agree on a consensus position, creating a very strong collective voice.
There are also a range of other committees in COSLA, much like the council structure and various special interest groups that dive deeper into important issues such as housing. These committees include representatives from a range of elected members from Argyll and Bute.
This collaborative effort of all councils, working as One Local Government, is so important in ensuring that we have a strong national voice. And it’s made possible by a lots of hard work from officers who do the research, prepare the briefing papers, represent us nationally and deliver excellent services every day. I would like to thank you for all your work.
Have a lovely weekend
Pippa
Pippa Milne
Chief Executive
