SCOTTISH Office Ministers are coming under pressure to guarantee that
outstanding complaints by members of the public against the actions of
the present regional and district councils will not simply be wiped out
when the planned new single tier councils take over in May 1996.
West Lothian Labour MP Tam Dalyell has taken up the cause and written
to Scottish Local Government Minister Allan Stewart asking him if the
problem has been addressed.
He intends to raise this matter and many others, he warns the
Government, when a bill to implement the planned reorganisation is
placed before Parliament, probably towards the end of the year.
Concern about this aspect of the reform has also been expressed by the
Local Government Ombudsman, Mr Robert Peggie, who says he is anxious to
protect the interests of the individual citizen.
In his letter to the Minister, Mr Dalyell, who is a strong opponent of
the planned reorganisation, has asked if the slate is to be wiped clean
over unresolved complaints. He also asks: ''Is there not a moral
difficulty in finding an authority guilty of actions not perpetrated by
that authority?''
The present reorganisation, unlike the previous reform based on the
Wheatley proposals, was being attempted in a slapdash way, Mr Dalyell
claimed yesterday. ''At committee stage, a number of us will parade
every anomaly,'' he warned.
Mr Peggie said yesterday that it could be expected that the Obudsman's
office would have a series of complaints files open when the new
councils were scheduled to take over. He hoped some form of transitional
arrangements could be agreed to carry forward the responsibility to deal
with complaints and ensure that people got proper redress.
Meanwhile, a policy of non-cooperation with the Scottish Office on all
aspects of the planned local government reorganisation has been put into
effect by Labour-controlled East Lothian District Council.
It was agreed by one vote at a special full meeting of the council
yesterday, amid accusations that the authority was just following the
''dead hand'' of Cosla, which had urged the council to consider
supporting the policy of non-cooperation and non-communication with the
Government on the issue.
Alf Young -- Scotland's Business
Page 12
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