13-06-2025
Tory version of Trump's DOGE 'will save £650m in red tape and waste'
Scotland's 'bloated' public sector will be cut back to save taxpayers £650million under plans to be unveiled by the leader of the Scottish Tories.
In his keynote address to his party's conference in Edinburgh today Russell Findlay will promise to cull quangos, bring in business leaders to find cutbacks and slash red tape in the NHS and other public bodies.
The proposals are part of a new 'taxpayer savings act' which would cut costs by £650million.
The savings would be used to pay for cutting income tax rates for hard-pressed Scots.
In his first Scottish Tory conference speech as leader, Mr Findlay will say: 'Putting a stop to wasteful spending is top of our agenda.
'We need to urgently streamline bloated government.
'Improving services means treating people's money with respect. Today I can announce that our party would introduce a Taxpayer Savings Act to get the books in order and deliver better value. This proposal would save £650million by cutting red tape, getting a grip on spending, and harnessing business expertise.
'We would then use that money to bring down people's taxes. By doing that, we would start to restore trust.
'We would shut down quangos that don't deliver value. We'd tackle the SNP's culture of cronyism through strict new rules on public appointments. No more jobs for the boys, and we would reduce the number of ministers and advisers.'
He will promise a 'Scottish agency of value and efficiency' would be set up to find cutbacks, which is similar to Donald Trump's DOGE, and would be run by 'people in the real world who know how to get things done'.
Mr Findlay will say: 'They would be tasked with wielding a claymore on waste.
'We would introduce an Accountability and Transparency Index. This would shine a light on every organisation that receives public money, and would begin to dismantle the SNP's toxic era of secrecy.'
Earlier this week, Mr Findlay unveiled proposals to cut income tax rates to provide a saving of up to £444 a year to workers.
The Scottish Conservatives would abolish the current 20 per cent and 21 per cent rates of income tax and instead ensure that a 19 per cent rate applies on all taxable earnings up to the higher rate threshold of £43,663.
The plan is likely to cost around £500million a year in lost tax revenue, but could also make it easier to attract skilled workers to boost revenues from tax.
As of March 2025 there were 550,000 people employed in Scotland's public sector, which had grown slightly compared to the same month last year.
More than 47 per cent worked in local government, while just over a third worked for the NHS.
Official figures show that the devolved civil service saw employees rise by more than 2 per cent – with an extra 650 positions taking the number of people working for the Scottish Government to 28,800.
But Scotland's public corporations – such as CalMac and Scottish Water – have seen numbers rise the most.
The Scottish Government figures, which were released this month, revealed there were 9,000 working in that part of the public sector, up more than 6 per cent in 12 months.
Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said: 'The Scottish Government is making real progress in reforming the public sector: the number of Scottish public bodies under government control has shrunk from 199 in 2007 to 131.
'However, we know there is more to do, which is why I will soon unveil our Public Service Reform strategy.
'Unfortunately, this work has been made more difficult by the UK Government's decision to pursue Brexit, which in 2023 alone led to an estimated cut in public revenues of about £2.3billion.'
