South Lanarkshire Council could rejoin COSLA

South Lanarkshire Council could rejoin local government body COSLA according to council leader Eddie McAvoy.

The local authority left the body in March 2015 to join the breakaway Scottish Local Government Partnership (SLGP) alongside Glasgow and Aberdeen city councils and Renfrewshire Council.

At that time Councillor McAvoy said that the new partnership promised a new era of co-operation among local authorities.

However, following a meeting with COSLA president Councillor David O’Neill at South Lanarkshire’s Hamilton headquarters, Councillor McAvoy indicated, in a joint statement, that there “may be merit” in South Lanarkshire rejoining COSLA.

He said: “I am very pleased that councillor O’Neill took the time to come to Hamilton and outline, in a fair bit of detail to me, how COSLA is changing following its recent review.

“When South Lanarkshire left COSLA we made it clear that we believed changes were necessary.

“Since then we have worked well with our colleagues in the SLGP and we have made significant progress in ensuring that the voice of local government is heard, especially with regard to how government policies impact on our residents.

“However, at the meeting I told councillor O’Neill that if these changes to COSLA are progressed there may be merit in the council reconsidering its membership of COSLA, but that this would be a decision for the council following the election.” South Lanarkshire SNP group spokesman Councillor Sheena Wardhaugh said:“The SNP group on South Lanarkshire Council opposed coming out of COSLA.

“The Scottish Government will only negotiate with COSLA on the funding settlement. We have to be involved in these negotiations, otherwise we are not representing the people of South Lanarkshire effectively.”