Eleventh-hour plea to Lang over council reform

plea to Scottish Secretary Ian Lang not to opt for a single unitary

authority for the area.

The protests by district councils follow reports in The Herald this

week that Scottish Office Ministers are likely to back the option of

creating one authority to cover the whole of the present area of

Highland Regional Council as part of the planned reorganisation of local

government.

Highland region refused to speculate on the outcome of the local

government review, but added that if the Scottish Secretary did support

its case for a unitary Highland council, it would be because he had been

convinced its proposals were the best suited for this unique area.

Ministers are currently in the process of taking final decisions over

difficult areas like the Highlands, with a view to publishing a White

Paper on reorganisation within the next two or three weeks.

The Highland districts, which include Inverness, Ross and Cromarty,

Sutherland and Caithness, argue that if smaller areas such as Greater

Eastwood or Stirling are to have individual authorities, the imposition

of a single local authority on one third of Scotland cannot be defended.

In a statement yesterday, Provost William Fraser of Inverness, who

chairs the association of the eight Highland District Councils, said:

''We feel that at least three units should be created to meet the needs

of communities, and that the history of local government in the

Highlands shows the willingness and ability of smaller units to

co-operate when necessary to provide even large-scale services.''

Councillor Fraser said Mr Lang himself had identified the need for

greater accountability by members of councils. This objective could not

be achieved by creating a single authority covering an area bigger than

Wales, and containing so many distinct communities of interest.

Highland region vice convener Peter Peacock said that from some of the

comments he had seen, the district councils did not seem to have read or

understood the region's case.

The region wanted to continue strong efficient local government and

maintain local identity by taking further its existing model of devolved

political decision-making and administration.

''The whole basis of our response to the Secretary of State is to

build on the strong Highland identity that exists, while recognising,

maintaining and developing the diversity of the Highlands within a unit

of local government capable of delivering modern professional local

services,'' he said.

The districts, however, claim that the decentralisation of management

and services under a single Highland authority cannot be a substitute

for direct democratic accountability.

They argue it is essential that elected local councils are genuinely

in charge of local situations, and that local communities can hold

decision makers to account.

Also yesterday, representatives of the Save Caithness Campaign, which

is seeking the creation of an all-purpose authority to cover the

Caithness area, handed in a petition of 6000 signatures to the Scottish

Office.

Its chairman, Mr George Bruce, said that an independent survey carried

out by the Association of Highland District Councils had shown that

82.8% of respondents in Caithness believed that their own district as a

unitary authority would provide more efficient and effective services

than a unitary authority for the whole of the Highlands, as the

Government appeared to be supporting.