Thursday September 24th 2026
Scottish Borders Council headquarters
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
Impassioned pleas were delivered today against proposals which could lead to the abolition of both Scottish Borders Council and NHS Borders.
If adopted the Scottish Government’s local reform plans would result in the current 32 local councils being replaced by between six and ten regional bodies and 120-160 local authorities.
Additionally, there would be an impact on NHS Borders with the proposed replacement of the current 14 territorial Health Boards with two Strategic Health Boards.
A 1,800-word paper was published this week to “aid discussion” around the final plans.
Under the Government’s proposals, councillors would continue to be elected under the current ward system and would sit on both the local and regional authorities, though the paper suggests the increased time commitment may require a boost in councillor pay.
Former SBC leader and current Independent councillor David Parker, for Leaderdale & Melrose, delivered a scathing response in opposition to the plans at a meeting of full council today, Thursday, September 24.
He said: “The Scottish Borders stands at a very important crossroads. There is no doubt that there is an attack on local government and health services in Scotland from this government.
“It is critically important that all of us in this council do what we can to protect the Scottish Borders, both the council and the health board and those services because believe me centralisation does not improve delivery.
“It never has done, you only have to look at Police Scotland and the changes that have been made there to realise that organisation is a shadow of its former self.
“Nothing will improve if we see a dramatic change to local government or health services.
“I don’t see this as a benign consultation. I see this as a fight that will define the next term of Scottish Borders Council and as its longest-serving elected member, the only member who has been here in the 31 years of its existence, with every fibre of my being I will be urging you to fight for the Borders, to fight for our health services and tell the SNP government they have clearly run out of time, they have run out of ideas, and these proposals should be rejected and we should fight to retain the Borders.”
Conservative Councillor Leagh Douglas, SBC’s Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, expressed the fear that the Scottish Borders could “lose its voice” if the changes are implemented.
She said: “I am deeply concerned that the Borders could lose its voice within a much larger regional authority.
“If decisions are ultimately driven by population size for majority voting, Edinburgh and larger urban authorities could determine priorities while the Borders is routinely out-voted.
“Our rural communities could be seen primarily as places for housing, energy or infrastructure, without receiving a fair share of investment or benefits. There must be safeguards to ensure the Borders can not be over-ridden on decisions affecting our communities, our assets or our services.”
Hawick & Denholm Independent councillor Stuart Marshall said the proposals, if implemented, would result in the “destruction of local democracy”.
He added: “This is an incredibly daft and downright dangerous proposal from the First Minister.
“It is clear from the actions of the Scottish Government that they show a very keen willingness to strip away local democracy from the Scottish Borders.
“Members I plead with you, whatever your political beliefs are, we cannot sit back and allow this to happen.”
Councillor Euan Robson, leader of the Lib Dems on the council, was dismissive of the proposals.
He said: “The Scottish Government has a track record of not addressing the problem but changing the organisation.
“In the proposals there is nothing about funding, nothing about Council Tax. Instead it says we’re going to split up education, nonsense.
“Waste is going to be taken by the regional authority, so if I have a problem with my bins where do I ‘phone?
“This has to be taken away and thought again. This is not good enough.”
The SNP’s Councillor Marshall Douglas urged patience over the First Minister’s “very early” proposals.
He said: “I can certainly understand that there are concerns over these early proposals for local government reform, particularly amongst staff.
“I would emphasise at this stage that these proposals are only preliminary proposals. There is no actual meat on the bone as yet.
“There is a consultation period, which initially will be three months, but I imagine will go on after that with more consultation ongoing.
“There is a need for reform local government, not necessarily in the Scottish Borders but certainly on the Scottish scale.
“We need to engage in the process, make the arguments for the Borders, if people feel the Borders are strategically able to go forward as a single authority then that argument can and should be made.”
Conservative council leader Euan Jardine ended the debate, saying he was “up for the fight”, adding: “Councillor Parker mentioned that this was a fight and in the words of Michael Buffer: ‘Let’s get ready to rumble’.
“It’s the SNP government that has started this fight, not with a left hook or a right hook, not with an undercut but with a low blow to local government.
“The Scottish Government did not consult local government, talk to local government. We found out the exact same time as all the press did, the media did. That to me is a low blow.
“They don’t understand us. They understand the centre of Scotland and they understand centralisation even more.
“We are not Dundee, we are not Falkirk, we are not even Midlothian – we are the Scottish Borders.
“We fight for the Borders, for the people and what we call home.”
Councillors agreed to the establishment of a cross-party working group to consider the proposals.
Stressing that the position paper was a “starting point” for discussion, Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth said this week: “Reforming Scotland’s public sector is about delivering the best public services for people across Scotland.
“We need to ensure investment is focused on front-line delivery, with the right staff in the right roles to empower communities and deliver real improvements in public services.
“Some decision-making is best delivered at national level and regional level while others better sit closer to communities and we must get that balance right.”
Tweet Share on FacebookNews
