Sturgeon's promise to consult town halls over lockdowns not to be trusted, council leaders warn

Nicola Sturgeon’s refusal to hand town halls a formal role in setting lockdown restrictions will lead to the imposition of rules set in secret with the potential to cripple local economies, the leaders of Scotland's third-largest city have warned.

The First Minister is set to unveil a new blueprint for imposing coronavirus restrictions across Scotland later this week, which she has will be broadly modelled on the “tiered” alert system in place in England.

However, unlike south of the border where councils and local mayors such as Andy Burnham have fought UK ministers over the severity of rules and for extra funding, in Scotland restrictions will continue to be imposed by the First Minister from Edinburgh.

The joint leaders of the council in Aberdeen said that they had faced a wall of secrecy from Ms Sturgeon and her officials when their city was placed into a local lockdown in August, and fear that the decision to sideline town halls under the new system will see a similar approach over winter.

They warned that the economic impact of the summer's restrictions, which lasted for three weeks despite opposition from the council, is still being felt in the city.

It emerged on Monday that the new tier system in Scotland could include provisions for the closure of schools, as Wales announced plans for a severe two-week national lockdown from Friday, with a so-called circuit breaker already in force in Northern Ireland.

While Ms Sturgeon has promised to consult with town halls over measures applied under the new system, Jenny Laing and Douglas Lumsden, the co-leaders of Aberdeen Council, warned their counterparts at other councils not to take  the pledge seriously.

“We didn’t get to see much of the scientific data, we had to argue to have it sent to us,” Mr Lumsden, a Tory councillor, said. “Health professionals in Aberdeen were saying the restrictions should be lifted, but Sturgeon with her two generals, [National Clinical Advisor] Jason Leitch and [Chief Medical Officer] Gregor Smith, wanted it to continue and we couldn’t work out why that was.

“With the secrecy and complete lack of transparency, it was almost like living in some sort of Soviet state.

“We would welcome more influence on lockdown within the city, but I can’t see that happening from a Scottish Government that seems to be obsessed with controlling as much power as it can."

He added: “We know this area much better than the First Minister does. So we’re best placed to make those decisions.”

Ms Sturgeon said the new system, which will be discussed with opposition party leaders on Tuesdayand be put to a Holyrood vote, could lead to national as well as local restrictions being rolled out.

She has said the restrictions imposed in the hardest-hit areas will be more severe than the top alert level in England.

South of the border, the top, “red” status will mean a ban on households meeting, which is already in force in domestic homes across Scotland, and pubs and bars closed unless they serve “substantial meals”.

Asked about the possibility of handing councils formal powers last week, Ms Sturgeon said she would “listen” to councils, although that ultimately, the “buck would stop” with her and the Scottish Government.

However, Ms Laing, an Aberdeen Labour councillor, warned that the approach would lead to poorer decision making. She also said she feared that SNP-run town halls would roll over and accept diktats from Edinburgh due to a “slavish devotion” to their party.

Cosla, the body representing most of Scotland’s local authorities, declined to comment last night when asked whether councils would welcome more decision making powers over local lockdowns.

A spokeswoman for  Edinburgh Council, did not respond to requests for comment from its SNP leader, Adam McVey, while in a statement Susan Aitken, the SNP leader of Glasgow Council, backed the Scottish Government’s approach.

“Although the Scottsh Government talk about empowering communities, the record is the exact opposite, they’re sucking back powers,” Ms Laing said.

“We get absolutely no say over the restrictions that are imposed. The reality is they impose their will on the Scottish people and we just have to put up with it.

“What we’ve seen from SNP elected members, whether they’re running local authorities in Glasgow, Edinburgh or Dundee, they have a slavish devotion to the party that overrides everything else.

“We know what is going on on the ground, and how to make sure restrictions are adhered to and residents looked after. Therefore we should be in the middle of that decision making process. If we are excluded it can only be detrimental to the people we represent.”

Ms Sturgeon has said that her new framework will be put to a Holyrood vote when MSPs return from recess next week.

Speaking at her daily briefing on Monday, she said: “The framework will set out the different tiers or levels of intervention or restrictions that may be applied in future either locally or nationally across Scotland, depending on how the virus is spreading.

“Publication is an important step as we look ahead to winter… we hope the framework can command broad support, both politically in parliament and access wider society.”