Consultation on proposal to allow proxy voting by councillors

Concerns have been raised with the Scottish Government around the absence of proxy voting provision for councillors.  The absence of explicit provisions allowing for proxy voting within local authorities could impact councillors on parental leave, or those who are unable to attend for other reasons, for example, because of an accident or serious illness. Proxy voting in these circumstances would allow a councillor to nominate another specified councillor to vote on their behalf during Council decisions.

The Scottish Government proposes to amend the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to enable a councillor in Scotland to arrange for their vote to be cast by a proxy.  A further amendment would also be made which would require local authorities to agree and publish a scheme setting out how proxy voting would work in practice, where they choose to introduce proxy voting.

The operational details, including the criteria of the scheme would not be set out in legislation. It would be for local authorities to determine how a scheme could work in practice and under which circumstances proxy voting could be available, should they wish to allow for it. Joint guidance would be produced by COSLA and the Scottish Government to assist the drafting of the operational scheme.