Cosla’s Spring Conference and the Future of Public Service Workforce

Cosla’s Spring Conference on Friday 27 March marked the first day of the pre-election period, and it’s set to be an interesting election period for Scotland this May, followed by local elections taking place the following year. This conference brought together councillors and leading officers across the Scottish local government sector. This blog summarises our key takeaways from Cosla’s Spring Conference.

What has been achieved?

Elections bring dynamism and a sharpened focus on the actions needed to make change. The morning was filled with a stocktake of what has been achieved over the last year, followed by a strong address from the General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Roz Foyer, about the workforce challenges the public sector is facing in Scotland.

From progressing the Promise and advancing the Scottish Climate Intelligence Service, to strengthening community cohesion, lobbying for £750m for health and social care, reforming council tax, and passing the European Charter of Local Self-Government Bill, there was no shortage of achievements throughout the past year. Across these priorities, there was a strong thread running through highlighting the need for public services to work together and embrace, as Shona Morrison, COSLA President, said, “our collective leadership and ability to lead preventative change”, while continuing to push for fair funding, promote civility, and reduce child poverty.

What are the challenges for councils?

Councils continue to experience pressure with an intensifying financial squeeze as councils operate within tight, often ringfenced budgets while costs – including workforce costs – continue to rise, resulting in difficult trade-offs.

This, coupled with rising and more complex service demand, particularly in high-pressure areas like social care, alongside growing expectations around prevention, regulation and community resilience, provides a difficult context and challenge which councils must rise to meet.

A notable challenge facing Scottish councils is changing population and demographic pressures – and this is affecting areas in different ways, with some areas experiencing depopulation while others are experiencing exponential growth.

Finally, the wider context in which we find ourselves operating, namely climate change and geopolitical instability, is also resulting in very real impacts on the communities councils serve.

Looking ahead to the “Future of Public Services Workforce”

“We know that public services need to change, become more preventative and more joined up. We know that councils need to change and become more agile, more digital, more adaptive. Council workforces play a pivotal role in achieving this,” stated Jonathan Carr-West, LGIU Chief Executive. This specific lens on the Future of Public Service Workforce was drawn out in a conversation hosted by Jonathan Carr-West and a challenging address from Roz Foyer, the General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

COSLA

This session focused on the continued cuts to the public sector workforce (which is pertinent with another 11,000 job cuts announced in the Scottish Government Budget in January) and the impact this has had on increasing poverty, economic stagnation and a growing sense of hopelessness. As Roz Foyer argued “you can’t cut your way to growth, especially when you’re cut to the bone” and “every cut made & promise broken kills off hope, and is poison to democracy”. The solution? Invest in public services.

Another challenge drawn out during the session was the challenges of recruitment, which is experienced everywhere from senior positions right through to entry-level positions. Recruitment gaps are a key issue highlighted in Scotland’s Local Government Workforce Report 2024, where there are acute shortages in Social Care and Planning.

Finally, shifting demographics were also emphasised in the discussion, with an ageing workforce coupled with recruitment gaps driving the need for councils to provide more opportunities and training and look at new ways to recruit young people entering the workforce.

Conclusion

There is immense ambition and a sense of potential in the room to continue to drive forward change, lobby for adequate funding and influence and champion the work of local government, especially as we move into the election period. To quote the Carpenters, “we’ve only just begun”.

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