The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. The more I learn, the more I realise how much I don’t know. Like a mantra, I repeat these famous lines (Socrates, Einstein) in my head every time I need to Google, “What does the Scottish Government actually do?”.

I find myself again in this position as I followed last week’s coverage of the 25th anniversary celebrations at Holyrood. Free prescriptions at the point of use for all residents in 2011? Amazing. Free university tuition in 2007, after the SNP came to power? I was lucky to benefit from this, but the latest Herald investigation series revealed that the Scottish Government’s current funding model is unsustainable. Referendum on independence and continued push for it? I knew that, at least.

The Scottish Parliament was introduced in 1999 to devolve powers from Westminster and give greater autonomy to Scots. But these days it seems like every attempt at meaningful public sector conversation is turned into a Three Spiderman Pointing meme starring a council, the Scottish Government and the UK Government. More often than not, Holyrood is just another dealer to pass the buckshot to in the high stakes game of UK politics. And a lot of the time their decisions hamstring local councils by placing demands on them without the cash to back it up.

A new report published by Audit Scotland revealed that the 32 local councils are facing a budget gap of at least £585 million, expected to rise to £780 million by 2026/27. Urgent transformation is needed to prevent local services across the country from crumbling. But Scottish Government demands are one of the significant barriers to reform. Ring-fenced funding for national priorities like children’s services, education and adult social care is good in theory but in practice prevents councils from allocating funds based on local need. A lack of co-ordinated decision making also has a huge impact when it comes to policies set by central government but delivered by local councils.

Take teacher numbers, for example. Something that is controlled by councils but has become a thorn in the side of the central government. The Scottish Government warned Glasgow City Council and other local authorities that they would lose out on their share of a £145.5 million pot of cash earmarked for protecting teacher numbers if they made cuts. But what does that even mean? Each region has different needs. As The Herald’s education correspondent James McEnaney suggested to me, it could translate to something as varied as subsidising housing in the Highlands to get more teachers in the north. Local government body Cosla said the funding did not enable a “holistic focus to improving outcomes”. Unless central government wants to take responsibility for employing teachers, they probably shouldn’t dangle cash in front of a council’s face while they are cutting a hole in the bottom of its purse.

After all, their track record on nationalising services is not great. Look at Police Scotland. The loss of local police forces in favour of a cost saving centralisation has resulted in a breakdown of officers’ relationships to their communities. Fewer officers are on the streets, local police stations have closed. Most recently, the head of the Scottish Police Federation has said officers are being “treated with contempt” by the Scottish Government over the absence of a pay deal.

The National Care Service Bill is the latest flop. Council leaders withdrew support for the flagship legislation that would see social care responsibilities transferred from councils to a centralised service. Cosla says proposed changes to the bill made by ministers would erode local decision-making and the role of local government within social services. What happened to the Verity House Agreement? I thought we were on our way to overhauling the relationship between Cosla and the Scottish Government? Lagging way too far behind.

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Power, like the drawstring of a hooded sweatshirt, is impossible to squish back into a grommet once it’s snaked its way out. But in light of this council emergency, it’s time to talk about the makeup of our local democracy. After all, there has been no reorganisation of the councils since 1995. Scale down the Scottish Government and bring back regional councils, I say.

Strathclyde Regional Council at its prime was the most powerful public body in the country after the UK Government. The irony that it was dismantled by the Tories to simplify governance and was then replaced with the bureaucratic behemoth in Holyrood is not lost on me. Glasgow was disproportionately crippled by the fracturing of the local councils. Now, the city is barely keeping it together under the weight of people from leafy commuter towns who do not pay council tax into the upkeep of the place. Our roads, pockmarked under the weight of so many vehicles moving through the city. The Clyde Tunnel, a constant drain on a dwindling budget. Public transport is so terrible, disjointed and expensive that people from outlying towns can barely be bothered coming to the city centre for leisure trips anymore, either.

Scotland has undeniably been better off than England because of the Scottish Parliament, but that doesn’t mean the country has been thriving. The reintroduction of regional strategies would allow for better long term planning and reinvigorate self-determination among communities. A larger budget in the Glasgow city region could help expedite the much needed Clyde Metro which will in turn boost growth. Health and social care services could redirect funding to where they need it most. So could the education department.

While it might be expensive in the short term to shake things up, we could find savings within senior civil service. For example, we could cut down on the six figure salaries paid to Scottish Government employees to oversee departments that are technically run by councils, like education. Bold and creative thinking, the kind that allows areas to leap ahead with progress and transformation, could be considered less risky when the decisions are being made on a regional level by people who understand what their community needs.

It doesn’t take Einstein to see that the Scottish Government in its current form is not working for Scotland’s communities.

Marissa MacWhirter is the editor of The Glasgow Wrap. Each morning, Marissa curates the top local news stories from around the city, delivering them to your inbox at 7am daily so you can stay up to date on the best reporting without ads, clickbait or annoying digital clutter. Oh, and it’s free. She can be found on X @marissaamayy1