By Councillor Shona Morrison, COSLA President

Across Scotland’s 32 Councils, there are 1226 councillors who have committed themselves for a period of their lives to serving their communities. Local democracy is at its strongest when the people making the decisions reflect they communities they serve, however we know that Scotland’s councils and elected members do not currently represent the full diversity of our communities. Women, young people, people with disabilities, people from black and minority ethic groups, those with caring responsibilities and people from a range of socio-economic backgrounds remain under-represented in local government.

COSLA’s Vice President spoke in his blog about the importance of local democracy, and strengthening local democracy and reducing barriers to elected office are inextricably linked. Diversity is not and should not be a tick box exercise or about meeting targets and is not simply about representation, it is about better policy and decisions making. Who is around the table when decisions are made matters and when people with different lived experience, perspectives and backgrounds are represented discussions are richer, challenge and scrutiny stronger and the decisions made are more likely to meet the needs of the communities we serve. If we want local democracy to thrive, we must ensure that becoming a councillor is accessible to everyone.

For several years now, COSLA has prioritised this agenda through our Barriers to Elected Office Special Interest Group, which I am privileged to co-chair alongside COSLA’s Vice President. With representation that spans the political spectrum, it’s a place to help identify the obstacles and barriers preventing people from standing for election and develop and implement practical solutions.

One of the groups most significant achievement in recent years has been helping to secure the reconvening of the Scottish Local Authorities Renumeration Committee (SLARC). The committees report in 2024 highlighted many of the challenges faced by current and prospective councillors including renumeration, caring responsibilities and personal safety – all against the backdrop of increasing demands of the role.

The subsequent uplift in councillor renumeration implemented in April 2025 represented an important step forward, but while pay was and continues to be a significant barrier, it’s not the only one. Remote and hybrid meeting arrangements have helped support elected members with disabilities, caring responsibilities and health conditions. Through the BEO SIG, in the last 6 months we have:

• Adopted a COSLA Civility Charter to guide how debate takes place in our meetings and to lead by example;
• Developed healthy debate resources with our sister LGAs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland;
• Contributed to important research done by organisations such as the Jo Cox Foundation and Engender Scotland;
• Gathered information on the experiences of elected members via the Debate Not Hate Survey which will be published in August;
• Supported existing women councillors with online gatherings
• With our partners at the Improvement Service, developed a pre induction training for potential candidates;
• Started to develop a Civility Action Plan working with numerous public and voluntary sector partners to address incivility which so often puts people off standing for elected office.

Looking ahead to next year’s local government elections, we are also holding webinars with key voluntary sector partners across August to try to reach people that may not have ever considered standing as a councillor before. We are also actively exploring national policies around member’s expenses, national data gathering on councillor demographics and the structural barriers to democratic participation.

We can’t discuss barriers to elected office without acknowledging the difficult context in which local government is operating. Sustained financial pressure paired with a growing demand for services has meant that councillors are faced with making increasingly challenging decisions about where to direct resources. We can often bear the brunt of the public’s frustration and too often this manifests as abuse, on or offline.

Robust political debate and scrutiny is, of course, healthy and essential, however the abuse, harassment and intimidation of elected members is never acceptable. The growth of online abuse and increasingly hostile behaviour can be a real deterrent to people considering stepping forward for public service, particularly for those that are already underrepresented. The Barriers to Elected Office Special Interest Group’s civility in public life workstream is working with partners to help address these issues and foster a more respectful environment in which democratic participation exists however Scotland is not immune from national and international trends and influences which seeks to undermine civility.

There is still much to do, and we are not blind to the challenges faced in this area, but I remain optimistic. Across local government, there is work going on every day to modernise and becoming more accessible and there is a shared commitment to creating a system that is more inclusive and representative. By removing barriers, improving support and championing respectful public discourse, we can help encourage more people to feel able to stand as councillors, and Scotland will be the richer for it.

3rd August 2026