Latest news with #ScottishTories
The Independent
a day ago
- Business
- The Independent
Dundee University report must be ‘watershed moment', Tories say
A damning report into the financial crisis at Dundee University must be a 'watershed moment', the Scottish Tories have said. Professor Pamela Gillies released the findings of her investigation into the causes of the £35 million black hole at the institution on Thursday, criticising senior leaders. Within minutes of the report, interim principal Professor Shane O'Neill – who was part of a 'triumvirate' including the former principal and the former chief operating officer which was heavily criticised – announced he and two other senior officials would be standing down. The report accused former principal Professor Iain Gillespie of 'hubris' and refusing to take criticism, as well as hitting out at internal monitoring of the university's finances. Responding to the publication of the report, Scottish Tory education spokesman Miles Briggs said: 'This is a devastating report into the gross mismanagement that has existed for far too long at the University of Dundee. 'In light of the damning findings it is welcome they have done the right thing and resigned from their roles instantly. 'Senior figures were told what they had to do to get Dundee University into a sustainable position but they repeatedly failed to act, and covered up the true state of its financial position.' He added: 'The report is scathing about the inexcusable failures by those in leadership roles. 'It is now essential that this is a watershed moment to ensure no Scottish university will ever face such a situation in future.' Local Labour MSP Michael Marra accused former leaders of 'financial vandalism'. 'The report shows that the institution was failed catastrophically by a small group of executive leaders entirely out of their depth and cowed by a hubristic principal who brooked no dissent,' he said. 'Details of Iain Gillespie's leadership style are deeply troubling – sidelining, speaking over or publicly criticising women in the university who dared to speak up. 'There were also clear failures of governance, with inaccurate reports which masked the true financial picture and public statements by the principal that were purposefully misleading.' Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said the crisis had been 'devastating' and urged there to be a new leadership team in place 'without delay'. 'It is not an exaggeration to say that the staff and students have been betrayed,' he said. 'The oppressive behaviour from the top together with inadequate reporting and governance from the court has led to this failure. 'It is right that the whole leadership team has now gone.' In the wake of the crisis, the university announced it would have to make redundancies, with the initial estimate of 700 jobs to be cut eventually dropping to around 300. The University and College Union successfully balloted its members for strike action as a result of the plans. The union's Scotland official Mary Senior said the report laid bare 'abject failings' of management. 'Given the clear failings of management, it should not be staff and students that are left to pay the price in cuts to their jobs and cuts to education,' she said. 'We are clear that the university should now commit to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies.' When the university announced it would be reducing the number of redundancies, bosses said cuts would be made through a voluntary redundancy scheme.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
SNP plans to cut £1bn from Scotland's huge public sector
The SNP has unveiled pans to cut £1 billion from Scotland's huge public sector after admitting there was 'unnecessary duplication' in the system. Ivan McKee, the public finance minister, said state spending on 'corporate functions' would be cut by 20 per cent over the next five years. In a statement at Holyrood, he admitted that 'public satisfaction with services has fallen' in Scotland despite record funding from Westminster and higher taxes. Mr McKee unveiled a 49-page 'reform strategy' that said there was 'unnecessary and unhelpful duplication in the system, including multiple providers of similar services'. It pledged to 'remove, amalgamate or change the number of public bodies where doing so will increase efficiency, remove duplication and improve service delivery'. However, the blueprint did not state which Scottish government agencies or quangos would face cuts, or the number of civil service jobs that would go. The Scottish Tories said he had produced a 'wish list of word soup that fails to mention waste once' and attacked the 'astonishing lack of detail'. Craig Hoy, their shadow finance secretary, said: '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.' Around 600,000 people are employed in Scotland's public sector, making up 22 per cent of the total workforce, compared to about 18 per cent in the UK as a whole. They are also paid £1,500 on average per year more north of the Border. The public sector pay bill has also swollen to £25 billion, more than half the SNP Government's money for day-to-day spending on public services. Earlier this year, Scotland's Information Commissioner said he was 'astonished' at the 'sheer number of public bodies' in Scotland. David Hamilton said there were thousands 'and I keep finding new ones'. He also disclosed that he played 'public authority bingo' with the auditor general, where they ask: 'Have you heard of this one? Have you heard of that one?' about quangos. Mr McKee told MSPs that the £1 billion cost cuts by 2029-30 'will require every part of the public sector to reduce the cost of doing business to prioritise the front line'. He said: '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.' Pressed by Mr Hoy to specify what cuts would be made, he said: 'Just swinging a big axe isn't going to deliver services. We've seen that across the Atlantic, where Elon Musk, who's no longer with the Trump administration precisely because he went in with a big axe and started cutting stuff and it immediately backfired because he didn't know what he was doing.' Mr Hoy said: '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.' The strategy promised to save 'hundreds of millions' of pounds with 'efficiencies' over the next five years and to cut duplication by 'better joining up services.' It also committed to a greater focus on 'prevention' to 'avoid spending billions trying to address economic and social problems caused by issues like poor health'. But Roz Foyer, general secretary of the STUC, said: 'Whenever government ministers speak of public sector 'efficiencies', workers anxiously hold their breath. 'These cuts, pre-packed as reforms, miss the mark entirely. Simply put: you can't fix public services by cutting the very people who keep them running.'
The National
4 days ago
- Business
- The National
Swinney: Independence the 'defining choice for this generation'
Addressing a mixed audience of public, private and third sector, academia and politicians, the First Minister is expected to lay out his vision for what Scotland could achieve as an independent country. In a proposed keynote speech, Swinney said: 'It is only by taking charge of our own destiny, with our own hand on the tiller, that we are better able to ride the waves of change, that we are better able to shape our own future. READ MORE: UK must 'constrain Israel' after attacks on Iran, John Swinney says 'I have long believed that Scotland is an afterthought to successive UK governments. Scotland is not on Westminster's radar in the same way, say, as London, the Midlands or the Southeast. 'It holds us back in ways big and small, leaving us waiting and praying, hoping that decisions taken at Westminster are not too damaging." The First Minister further describes the Union as a "broken system" and highlights the current economic model as one which solely benefits those at the very top. He continues: 'Independence is the defining choice for this generation, have no doubt. Because the UK status quo has proved itself incapable of delivering on the hopes and ambitions of the people of Scotland. 'That is why, like a clear majority of Scots, I believe that our nation should have the right to choose. READ MORE: SNP take control of Dumfries and Galloway council from Scottish Tories 'A Scotland that is modern, dynamic and forward-looking, living in anticipation of what more can be done, what else can be achieved. Moving forward as one, moving forward with hope and self-belief. 'Such a Scotland is within reach, I have no doubt. But if we want it, we have to work for it, we have to vote for it, we have to actively, purposefully, and I hope also joyfully, make it happen.'
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
SNP to dump 100 truckloads of waste a day in England
The SNP is set to dump up to 100 truckloads of rubbish into England each day after a landfill ban. The Scottish Government has banned black bag waste from being buried in landfill north of the Scottish Border after Dec 31 this year. But Scotland does not have enough incinerators to manage the waste, which experts have said could amount to 600,000 tonnes in the ban's first year. Councils and commercial waste companies have approached rubbish-handling operators in England to negotiate 'bridging contracts' However, most incinerators have limited spare capacity, meaning that much of Scotland's excess waste is expected to be sent to landfills in England instead. The move has provoked fury, with the Scottish Tories questioning 'what the point is in introducing this ban if it is still going to result in so much waste just being shipped south of the Border'. David Balmer, a waste expert from ERS Remediation, told BBC Scotland's Disclosure programme: 'You're looking at the equivalent of between 80 and 100 trucks minimum running seven days a week to take this material to a facility in England or abroad.' The fleet of lorries transporting the rubbish to sites in England, which could include Cumbria, Northumberland or Manchester, would also cause a rise in greenhouse gas emissions. 'Temporary situation' Gillian Martin, the SNP's climate action and energy secretary, said: 'The reason for the incineration gap is due to outside factors, particularly inflation and the cost of initially building them. 'We've got plans for more incinerators, with energy from waste schemes, to come on in the next year and over the next three years – so it is a temporary situation.' She said 'the positive environmental impact of stopping landfill far outweighs any impact of any temporary measures to export' the rubbish over the Border. Ms Martin explained that 'landfill produces methane, which is a particularly potent gas' and said this was 'vastly responsible in the short and medium term for warming up the planet'. Methane is around 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. However, it was pointed out that these emissions would still be created, only in England rather than Scotland. 'Some of them will be going to incineration in England. We're not the only country that has waste-to-energy plants,' Ms Martin said. 'The north of England has many as well. There's a very short-term measure until more of our incinerators and waste-to-energy plants come on stream.' The Scottish Government had previously planned to impose a ban on sending biodegradable waste to landfill from Jan 2021, but the deadline was delayed five years after industry leaders warned that the country was not ready. The lack of waste treatment capacity prompted warnings at the time that a million tonnes of rubbish would have to be disposed of outside Scotland, with the majority of it simply shifted across the Border. This caused a rush to build more incinerators but SNP ministers decided to curtail the number of developments because of overcapacity concerns. There are currently eight operating in Scotland. Capacity gap widens Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS), an SNP quango, has estimated that the capacity gap is now 600,000 tonnes, but ministers have ruled out a further delay to implementing the ban. Among the rubbish barred from landfill in Scotland will be non-recyclable black bag municipal waste, wood, textiles, paper and food. Some inert material, such as ash from incinerators and building rubble, will still be allowed at landfill sites. Douglas Lumsden, Scotland's shadow net zero and energy secretary, said: 'There should be red faces all round among SNP ministers at this news. 'Their landfill ban has already been pushed back several years yet in typical nationalist fashion they have still failed to get their ducks in a row. 'The public will frankly be asking what the point is in introducing this ban if it is still going to result in so much waste just being shipped south of the Border.' Earlier this year, the UK Government published a consultation on the 'near elimination of biodegradable waste disposal in landfill from 2028'. However, there is no immediate plan for a ban in England. Scotland's recycling rates have increased by fewer than two percentage points over the past decade to 43.5 per cent of waste. They are lower than the figures for England and Wales, and far behind the 64.7 per cent recorded in Wales. The Scottish Government said the 'vast majority' of councils had alternative measures in place before the landfill ban comes into force, but they will 'work closely with local authorities and sector bodies to monitor and review any related issues, which may arise as the date of the ban approaches'.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Findlay hits out at SNP in Korean 'moob' row: 'They don't know where money is going'
Russell Findlay has criticised the Scottish Government for funnelling taxpayers' money to a body appearing to promote male breast reduction surgery. The Scottish Conservative leader made the remark during an interview on the BBC's Sunday Show, as he launched a wide-ranging attack on SNP 'bloat'. READ MORE Can Russell Findlay and the Scottish Tories escape the ghosts of the past? Findlay: Tories can win seats at Holyrood election despite polls pointing to drubbing For Women Scotland threaten SNP with fresh legal action over Supreme Court ruling He said: 'The size of the state under the SNP has grown to an extremely ineffective, bloated state. It costs far too much money. 'The hard-working taxpayers are paying for all that. Just today, I was looking at the list of government agencies and quangos on the Government's official website, and there was a link taking you to an entity that is offering those jobs and male breast reduction surgery. 'You know, I believe the Scottish Government should be focused on cutting waste, reducing waste — not reducing the size of moobs. The Government do not even know where their money is going. It is obscene.' The Scottish Tories later clarified that the quango in question was This is Remarkable Ltd, a body listed on the Scottish Government's directory of public organisations. The company was previously known as Investors in People Scotland, rebranding in 2017. It is currently in liquidation and has not filed accounts since 2022. Its website appears to have been turned into what is known as a content farm, where large volumes of low-quality or SEO-optimised articles — often unrelated or only loosely connected — are published with the goal of driving web traffic. The content is usually cheaply produced or AI-generated, and written to match popular search terms. The site features blog posts on rhinoplasty, vaping regulation and gynecomastia — male breast reduction — clinics in South Korea. Screengrab of This is Remarkable website (Image: NQ) One page provides a handy checklist of 'What Makes a 'Good' Gynecomastia Clinic' and recommends the DA Plastic Surgery's Male Chest Centre in Seoul. 'South Korea leads the world in male breast reduction thanks to volume, technology, and patient-centric service,' the website says. 'Among many high-performers, DA Plastic Surgery's Male Chest Centre shines for its hybrid scar-saving technique, concierge care, and transparent package pricing.' Liquidators were appointed in December 2022. The firm's last set of accounts described a difficult situation, with the company's turnover falling from £2.1 million to £1.4 million. In his interview, Mr Findlay also hit out at the £4 million a year being given to Criminal Justice Scotland, which he criticised for publishing guidance on avoiding the word 'criminal' due to concerns over stigma. 'Some of the things it promotes is policing of language. It tells the public they should not call criminals criminals. This is just ridiculous waste of money,' he said. 'And on top of that, you have 5,500 public sector workers in Scotland earning over £130,000 a year. What are they all doing? What we are saying is we would be laser-focused in ensuring that every one of these jobs actually delivers for the taxpayer, delivers public services. 'And I bet you that if you ask John Swinney this question, he could not put his hand on heart and say that is actually happening just now.' Mr Findlay said a Scottish Tory government would also look at all universal benefits. 'Scotland's social security benefit is going to rise to £9 billion by 2030. This is unaffordable. So whether it is social security spending, whether it is this huge client state the SNP have built, or whether it is the vast salaries of people who do not deliver for taxpayers, all of that is in play quite rightly.' However, when pressed on whether he expected to become First Minister, Mr Findlay said: 'I think you would probably have a chuckle if I suggested that I am likely to become the next First Minister.' Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: 'This cringe-worthy interview from Liz Truss cheerleader Russell Findlay shows how little the Scottish Tories have to offer to the people of Scotland. 'The Tories tanked our economy and inflicted years of misery on our communities — it is no wonder the party is fading into irrelevance. 'At the next election, only one party can turn the page on SNP failure and deliver a new direction for Scotland, and that is Scottish Labour.'
