By putting his name to the Scottish Borders single outcome agreement (SOA), council leader David Parker said he was convinced it would also herald better public services, more tailored to the needs of Borderers.

And he believed it would "reduce the bureaucracy that has held councils like ours back for too long".

Also signing up at a ceremony at SBC's Newtown headquarters were Scottish Government ministers Adam Ingram (children and early years) and Margaret Watt (schools and skills).

Mrs Watt told TheSouthern: "Communities want local services geared to suit them and SOAs will allow us to deliver this, promoting a more effective working relationship between local authorities and the Scottish Government. Today's agreement gives SBC greater freedom to target services to local needs, reduce unnecessary burdens and allow better delivery of services to people in the Borders."

In essence, the Borders agreement is a combination of SBC's corporate plan of broad objectives for the region and its community plan, drawn up with NHS Borders, the local enterprise company and the voluntary sector, to achieve these goals through closer partnership working.

"Historically, we have been frustrated by central government, which provides 80 per cent of our annual revenue funding, demanding that we meet its targets – often more than 50 in any given year – and ring-fencing our financial settlements for these purposes, giving us little discretion to deal with the issues we, as councillors, know are important to Borderers," said Mr Parker. "In the past, we could, for example, have been given a finite cash allocation to provide free swimming for all under fives, whereas we as a council could have spent the money better on a range of ways of keeping children fit and active.

"This SOA should mark the end of that local disempowerment while, at the same time, respecting national priorities, such as reducing crime and producing healthier Scots.

"The funding distribution from Holyrood will be much less proscriptive and allow us to concentrate on local priorities.

"While many other councils have already signed their SOAs, the Borders agreement is unique because it includes the priorities for health and business as well as council functions such as education and social work."