All for one and one fits all

by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD

A "bizarre" proposal to merge Scottish Borders Council and Borders Health Board to form a single public services authority for an area twice the size of Luxembourg will be submitted to councillors next week.

The amalgamation of the region's two largest employers is recommended in a report written by Michael Cook, the former deputy leader of the council, one-time vice president of local government body COSLA and now corporate policy officer in SBC chief executive's office.

The concept of a mammoth organisation responsible for all municipal and health services stems from a Scottish Government local governance review. But it remains to be seen whether a one size fits all body will take a trick with the Borders public.

Mr Cook's report explains that the initiative has "the aim of driving a step change in outcomes for the citizens and communities of the Scottish Borders. The proposal advances a vision for a single service delivery vehicle, encompassing the Council and NHS Borders in the first instance. The proposal also examines intermediate practical steps which may be taken to progress this model, and considers how citizens and communities can have ‘more say about how public services in their area are run."

According to the report the idea would be to eliminate boundaries and obstacles between public service providers in delivering improved outcomes and well being for citizens.

"Exploiting the collective power and concentrated focus of a single organisation would enable the Scottish Borders to pursue a ‘step change’ in performance, optimising outcomes across a set of priorities specific to the region, but reflective of and complementary to national outcomes. The proposal also argues that increased integration and the destination of a single public authority must be matched by an enhanced model of community engagement if the review’s stated aim of ‘making sure local communities have more say about how public services in their area are run’ is to be realised.

"There is risk that, in failing to put forward a vision for the future, that other public bodies advance proposals which may not serve the best interests of the Scottish Borders and its people. For example, this could be in the form of a supra-regional approach to the delivery of local government services in which functions such as planning, economic development, transportation, training and employability are drawn together for strategic determination. 

"Such a model need not necessarily be injurious to the interests of the Scottish Borders, but there is concern that the more remote decision-making is from the Scottish Borders, then the more likely it is prioritise issues of more limited relevance here, or to ignore what is most salient. The Borders Railway, BGH, European funding and, more recently, the South of Scotland Enterprise Agency (SoSEA) would be unlikely to have found such determined champion’s outwith the Scottish Borders (and Dumfries and Galloway in respect of the SoSEA). Similarly, it may be unrealistic to expect that extension of the Borders Railway from Tweedbank to Carlisle via Hawick may receive greater push from a South-East of Scotland Authority with a broader range of priorities than it would from an authority with a focus on the Scottish Borders."

The report argues that problems such as obesity, child abuse and social exclusion are currently beyond the capacity of any one organisation to understand and respond to. Too often agencies focus on acute problems and do so unilaterally, rather than coordinating efforts to address those factors which give rise to the problems in the first place. 

"The Council and its partners are working together but coordination and co-production are hindered by the artificial boundaries which exist between multiple organisations. Thus, we need to go much further than has provided possible to date.

"Our current governance architecture is complex. For example, a recently established Older People’s Strategy Programme Board will need to report to the Council’s Corporate Management Team, the Board Executive Team of NHS Borders and the Integrated Joint Board. This is both inefficient and convoluted. A single public authority will eliminate ambiguity and should reduce the diversion of effort typically expended in the competition for resources between different organisations. Closer integration would enable more efficiencies and value for money through more sharing of offices, buildings, transport, support services and integrated staffing deployment. By its nature, it should also lead to a more joined up service for clients and the wider community".

If the merger goes ahead the new authority would have control of around £400 million of annual revenue spending and a work force of 9,000.

A former long-serving member of SBC commented: "This is a truly bizarre idea. For example, would the user of the health services want those services to be under the control of politically motivated board members? A sure fire way of saving millions would be to merge SBC with Dumfries & Galloway Council, then we would have one council covering the same territory as the incoming South of Scotland Enterprise Agency".

For the record a combined Borders and Dumfries & Galloway authority would cover just over 11,000 square kilometres and provide services for 260,000. The territory would be much smaller than thaty served by Highland Council...30,600 square kilometres with 234,000 residents.