Scotland's local councils will be run by Cabinets headed by directly elected provosts and including unelected officials, if Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar has his way, it was made clear last night.

Mr Dewar, who is determined to revolutionise local government to make it more efficient and answerable to council taxpayers, will make his views plain today when he addresses a seminar in Edinburgh.

In a keynote speech he will tell the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that the days of elderly men coming out of retirement to run local government are over.

He will demand more efficiency in the delivery of services through tighter controls and - if he has his way - a voting system using proportional representation.

This is the first indication that Mr Dewar favours the inclusion of unelected officials in councils run by Cabinets of senior councillors.

He will tell his audience that the Cabinets must be small but powerful and that other councillors should work as back benchers. He will call for provosts to be elected and given real power so that the days of anonymous political group leaders pulling the levers of power will be gone.

Those officials most likely to be included in Cabinets - where they would have strong influence and probably a vote - are chief executives and senior staff such as directors of education.

Mr Dewar wants to begin a discussion on this immediately. He will spell out to Cosla his demand for three planned radical reforms - Cabinet-style local government, directly-elected civic heads, and a new voting system involving proportional representation.

Big changes are not expected before the next local elections on May 6, when polling takes place on the same day as the Scottish General Election. But the entire package of reforms should have been put in place by the new Scottish Parliament for the local elections after that.

Mr Dewar will present his ideas as a ''challenge'' to Cosla to seize the opportunities offered by Home Rule or lose the support of the people. ''Only by modernising can councils lead their communities effectively and provide efficient local services.''

He will tell them: ''The Scottish Parliament offers a future full of opportunity. Councils must not let themselves be left behind.''

Calling for councils to ''renew their democratic mandate and legitimacy,'' he will tell his audience: ''People need to know who is responsible for running local services. Councils need to be accountable to the public and the voters.''

Mindful of recent financial scandals in some local councils, he will remind Cosla: ''Voters need to know whom to praise - and re-elect - when things go well, and whom to hold to account when things go wrong. The present working arrangements of local councils do not deliver this.''

He will argue that Cabinet-style local government would mean clearer lines of command and communication. Directly-elected civic heads would offer more effective leadership. A new voting system would make local councils more representative and more accountable.

Calling for a local democracy which would attract new people, Mr Dewar will argue: ''No matter how they are organised councils can be no stronger than their members. It is very striking that councillors are now overwhelmingly male, elderly and economically inactive. Of course, there are exceptions to that - but not enough of them.''