Inverness’s MSP is leading the charge for a standalone city council – sparking debate on how local government might look for the Highlands in years to come.
SNP MSP for Inverness and Nairn Emma Roddick has written to the Scottish Government minister for public finance Ivan McKee to urge that proposed local government reforms include the creation of a standalone Inverness City Council.
Plans for a major council shake-up were announced by First Minister John Swinney in the new Programme for Government in September, but with little indication of what that could look like.
Mr Swinney did say, however, in his view “some councils are too small to be strategic and some are too big to be local” and with Highland Council the country’s largest local authority by area it is perhaps no surprise that the region’s MSPs and councillors have started talking about what they would – or would not – like to see.
Ms Roddick’s campaign, launched last week, has been the first definite action taken.
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Her call for a new city council, she said, aimed to battle what she called the “persist myth” that Inverness gets everything at the expense of the wider Highland region.
“It is time we had the confidence to back Inverness,” she said.
“Inverness is a growing, ambitious city with massive potential, but for too long every bit of progress has had to come with an apology and a healthy dose of local cringe.”
Of the other significant part of her constituency she said that change would also allow Nairn to set its own priorities.
Highland Council’s city leader, Councillor Ian Brown (Inverness Millburn, SNP), said he “did not agree” with Ms Roddick’s stance and was under the impression the council was “hoping to keep Highland Council together”.
Referencing a council vote in December 2024 that headed off calls to break up the local authority then by agreeing more power be given to area committees instead, he insisted: “We are a very healthy council. Sure we have our issues like everyone else, (but we are) not looking to split anything.”
The leader of Highland Council’s opposition, Councillor Alasdair Christie (Inverness Ness-side, Liberal Democrats), however, feels differently.
He said: “A local council with devolved powers to deal with many council services is welcome and will allow decisions to be made by councillors that live in the city and understand the issues and solutions rather than councillors who live many miles away.”
And he feels change could be even wider: “Public sector reform should not be limited to councils and NHS but should also take into account organisations like Transport Scotland as well as many other government agencies and quangos.
“The goal must be to get decisions made by locally elected folk rather than people remote from our area.”
There was also support for Ms Roddick’s call from Highland Green MSP Ariane Burgess.
“Highland Council covers a huge portion of our country, areas which have a whole host of different challenges,” she said.
“I’m supportive of any ideas that bring power and decisions closer to the people impacted by them, and smaller, more responsive councils are a good way to do this.
“I’m interested in this proposal and hope it’s taken seriously and considered by the Scottish Government as part of their overhaul of how our councils work, to make sure they deliver for the people that they serve.”
Two Inverness Labour councillors – Michael Gregson and Andrew Mackintosh – welcomed the overall discission on decentralisation but have warned that a rushed approach is not the way to do it.
The pair were speaking of the back of Mr Swinney’s original announcement of a council shake-up calling the three month consultation period offered by the Government “inadequate”.
Cllr Gregson said: “There is a real danger of diverting resources and skills to structural matters when there are glaring inadequacies to be addressed right now.
“We cannot afford to let the SNP’s mismanagement of the national economy dictate the future structure of local services.
“Previous independent studies into a Highland-wide authority concluded that breaking the area into smaller, financially fragile units was not economically viable and would fragment our local tax base, leaving communities even more dependent on Edinburgh.
The Scottish Government has committed to exploring local authority reform during this parliamentary session, and Ms Roddick confirmed that she intends to continue discussions with ministers as the proposals take shape, following up on her letter to Ivan McKee.