Overview report – podcast transcript 
I here with Douglas Sinclair, chair of the Accounts Commission for Scotland to talk about the annual Local Government Overview report.
Douglas, can you tell me what this report is about…
Yes. It’s a review of how councils in Scotland have been doing over the last year. And sometimes we don’t realise just how much councils do - schools, roads and other vital services, really from the cradle to the grave. Just to give you an idea - last year Scotland’s 32 councils spent nearly £21 billion, employed well over 200,000 staff and used buildings and other assets with a value of around £38 billion. That is a lot of money in anyone’s terms. 
So what are the main findings?
As you know, councils have to date made savings in recent years and this has been largely through reductions in staff. But that’s not a long term sustainable solution. You can’t keep cutting staff numbers.  What we are saying is that they now need to look more openly at other options to reduce costs in the longer term.
That means councillors need to have an open and fresh mind on how they organise the services they provide. That means looking afresh at what people need, how it can be best provided and what can deliver best value. It is really asking the question what works best.
Councils face increasingly difficult choices as budgets continue to tighten. So they need look at all the options available and engage openly with the public so that they make these best decisions.
Surely, that’s not as easy as it sounds.
Absolutely.  It’s an enormous challenge.  Councils face budget reductions, increasing demands for services, particularly from the elderly, as the population gets older alongside increasing public expectations and over and above that they have to manage major reforms in welfare and health and social care. All that underlines the need for strong governance and leadership and decision-making based on good cost and performance information. And that is what we see in well-run councils – focussing on making the best of the resources they have available.  What I call maximising the public pound.
The report talks about increased political tensions hampering the work of some councils. What do you mean by this?
Well, there will always be different views and approaches across political parties. That is in the DNA of local government. Robust debate is at the heart of local government. But if that goes too far and becomes extreme, councils can no longer do their job effectively and this can damage trust and confidence in them. And that’s simply not acceptable to the public.
What do you want to see happen next?
There is a lot in the report which will be useful to councillors and councils.  It does give a broader picture of councils across Scotland. So we hope they can use it as resource to help them. That’s the point of it.

Douglas, thank you.