A £1bn bonfire of SNP quangos and bloated public sector? Don't hold your breath!
Quangos will be merged and jobs axed under SNP proposals to strip £1 billion a year of costs from Scotland's 'bloated' public sector.
In a blueprint described as 'word soup' by unions and opposition politicians, measures considered will include cutting spending by a fifth on the 'corporate functions' or backroom costs of the Scottish Government and other public bodies over the next 10 years.
Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said it included proposals to 'remove, amalgamate or change' the number of public bodies, as well as sharing backroom services between different organisations.
New guidance on redeployment and severance policies for public sector bodies will also be introduced, while there will be a greater shift towards digital services and communications.
Opponents dismissed the proposals as a 'wish list' and condemned the lack of details about where the savings would be made and which quangos will be asked.
Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: 'After much hype, the SNP government has produced a 49-page wish-list of word soup that fails to mention waste once.
'It begs the question as to why the SNP have not thought to make these savings at any point over their 18 years in power while they have been wasting taxpayers' money on a colossal scale.
'There is still an astonishing lack of detail as to where these savings will be made, or what quangos will be axed. The public simply will not trust the SNP to suddenly tackle the enormous waste they have presided over.'
McKee said: 'Through the tools at our disposal, the efficiency workstreams in our strategy will reduce identified costs on Scottish Government and public body spend on corporate functions by 20 per cent over the next five years, and that equates to an annualised £1 billion cost reduction by 2029-30.
'This will require every part of the public sector to reduce the cost of doing business to prioritise the front line. All public bodies are already required to deliver best value, but this is about going further and faster. It is about taking all available opportunities to introduce and embed efficiency through automation, digitisation, estate rationalisation, and changing the delivery landscape.
'This is about delivering significant change - including structural reform in government and for public bodies, where that is needed.'
He said there needs to be 'better joined-up services' and the public sector needs to be 'ready to reshape our workforce', and added: 'Everyone recognises that things must change, but that creates challenges, as well as opportunities, for employees.
'So we will work with partners, staff and trade unions to ensure we have the right number of people in the right roles to deliver real and meaningful change, and that staff very importantly are empowered to make services better.'
During his speech, he also admitted that 'despite increased investment, public satisfaction with services has fallen'.
The document published yesterday set out 18 different 'workstreams' where reforms can be introduced, as well as some specific proposals.
Most of the measures still lack full details or costings and will continue to be worked on by officials.
One proposal is to 'remove, amalgamate or change the number of public bodies where doing so will increase efficiency, remove duplication and improve service delivery', as well as to 'identify duplication across public bodies and work with those bodies to share processes/services'.
Other plans propose to share services between different bodies, while the document also promises to consider new 'ways of working' for staff.
It proposes 'a collective approach to recruitment, promotion and performance management' across public bodies, and a review of reporting and scrutiny requirements.
It also promises a shift towards digital services, with 25 per cent of all Scottish Government, agency and quango correspondence by digital means by 2030, which it said would save £100 million a year.
A pilot of a Scottish Government app as 'a gateway to personalised public services' is also proposed for this financial year, with the first use expected to be for 'proof of age'.
Data on corporate function costs will be collected and published on all public bodies to 'drive efficiencies' and remove duplication, while new financial targets will be set for operating and staff costs.
The plan also talks about 'promote best practice guidance for workforce change', including the approach to redeployment and severance policy.
The Scottish Government will also 'further develop our shared services thinking and propositions across a range of services'.
Trade union leaders hit out at 'illogical' cuts to staffing at a time of growing pressure on services.
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: 'Whenever government ministers speak of public sector 'efficiencies', workers anxiously hold their breath.
'These cuts, prepacked as reforms, miss the mark entirely. Simply put: you can't fix public services by cutting the very people who keep them running.
'Talk of reducing headcount while NHS waiting times spiral, A&E departments are overwhelmed and social care is in crisis is as reckless as it is illogical.'
As Mr McKee unveiled the proposals, fiscal experts demanded a full roadmap to public sector reform.
At an event hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: 'The Fiscal Commission and others are pointing out that we have a significant gap in the way we spend public money compared to the money that we're receiving, so there are difficult choices coming our way as a country.'
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