Holyrood has “become Scotland's biggest council” with power increasingly centralised in Edinburgh, according to former local authority chief executives.

The Mercat Group argues that over the last 25 years, power has flowed to the Scottish Parliament rather than outwards to local communities, undermining the original vision of the architects of devolution.

The informal network of ex-bosses has joined forces with Reform Scotland, a non-partisan think tank, to call for a “Scottish Civic Convention to take forward the public conversation” on how public services in Scotland are “organised, delivered and financed.”

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In a new blog post, Bill Howat, former Chief Executive of Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar, points to the proliferation of public service agencies with overlapping responsibilities, creating what a former COSLA CEO termed a "spaghetti of boundaries".

Many services and activities that used to be managed and held democratically accountable at the local level now reside with some of these quangos, while others are in the hands of government ministers.

Mr Howat argues that this complex system leads to duplication, lack of focus, and difficulty coordinating policy.

He pointed to the plans for the National Care Service, which faced opposition from NHS trade unions, COSLA and opposition MSPs, as further proof of the government’s centralising tendencies.

Nearly two decades ago, Mr Howat was commissioned by the Labour administration in Edinburgh to lead an independent group looking at the then Scottish Executive’s finances.

His report was controversially suppressed by Labour and LibDem ministers in the months before the 2007 election, but was the published by the new SNP administration.

At the time, John Swinney, who was the finance and sustainable growth secretary, promised a simpler, smaller government would help "declutter this landscape".

Mr Howat said that while some changes were made by the SNP, other reforms and new bodies extended the “organisational spaghetti” and made the “task of co-ordinating policy much more complex.”

He added: "In fact, all changes post-[the2007 Howat report] have centralised power, functions and resources. We are still waiting for evidence of ‘declutter'."

(Image: Newsquest)

Mr Howat said that after 25 years, there was now “a growing body of evidence on which to judge the progress of ‘The Devolution Project’.”

He said: “Any reasonable, rational review of that evidence could only conclude that it has not been a success in terms of devolving power beyond Edinburgh. In fact, all the evidence points to growing centralisation of power in Holyrood. That is not good for local democracy, nor does it seem like good governance.

“There is now a need to revisit and reset the way all public services in Scotland are organised, delivered and financed.

"We should create a Scottish Civic Convention to take forward the public conversation necessary to conduct such a review.

"There may be other options but the central aim should be to develop a transition plan to ensure decisions on the delivery of all public services are taken at the lowest local level consistent with democratic and financial accountability.

“Scottish local government is in danger of becoming the delivery arm of the Scottish Government; indeed some would argue we have already reached that position. We might fairly ask: has Holyrood become Scotland’s biggest council?”

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Chris Deerin, Director of Reform Scotland, said: “At a quarter-century old, now is the time to re-examine those areas of devolution which have not delivered as we all hoped they would. Local government is one of these.

“Other countries enjoy the benefits of properly empowered local government, fulfilling most of the day-to-day operational roles upon which people depend, with central government adopting a more strategic outlook.

“In Scotland, we are failing to realise the potential of local freedom and diversity. Decentralisation is long overdue, and we are delighted to be teaming up with the Mercat Group to generate the ideas needed to make it happen."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The Scottish Government is making real progress in reforming Scotland’s public sector but we know there is more to do.

"We agree that there needs to be more joined up actions and less duplication. That is why we have a Minister leading on this work to deliver real change, working with a wide range of partners, including public bodies and local government