A government that works for you

For too long working Scots have been forced to pay the price for the SNP’s financial mismanagement and wasteful spending. Taxes have been hiked to substitute for economic growth, while public services decline and spending on government projects spirals out of control. Years of emergency budgets have seen brutal in-year cuts and fiscal chaos. Scottish Labour will end the short-termism and deliver value for taxpayers’ money by:

• Creating a Scottish Treasury within government to get a grip of public spending, setting long-term and realistic funding plans with robust value for money tests and three-yearly spending reviews so that government spending delivers results for Scots.

• Establishing a team for government efficiency, working within the Scottish Treasury to make sure public services are fit for purpose, cutting the bloated costs of government, reducing duplication across external agencies, and ending wasteful spending so we can put more money back into people’s pockets.

• Publishing a charter for fiscal transparency, committing the government to deliver consistent presentation of budget figures, respect the role of the Scottish Fiscal Commission, and be open about the costs of government legislation so government spending plans can be properly scrutinised.

• Tightening the rules around government legal action, with new public interest tests in the Ministerial Code so that taxpayers do not pick up the bill for political damage limitation.

• Reforming infrastructure delivery to end spiralling costs and delays to public projects, modernising land procurement and delivering stronger central planning.

• Banning excessive bonuses for public executives, linking any performance payments to achievement of financial objectives and value for public money.

Compared to a decade ago, Scotland has fewer teachers, police officers and fire fighters but more Scottish Government officials than ever before. An expensive labyrinth of public bodies, executive agencies and quangos shields the government from the consequences of its failure. Instead of creating more red tape and jobs for bureaucrats, Scottish Labour will cut back the bloated government operation and refocus resources on delivery, starting at the top. We will:

• Reduce the number of Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers, to deliver better cross-directorate working and reduce the government salary bill.

• Establish an economy focused sub-Cabinet, chaired by the First Minister and holding Ministers to account on how they are delivering economic growth in every region of Scotland.

• Create a Delivery Unit at the heart of the First Minister’s office, driving cross-government action to deliver economic growth, shorter NHS waiting lists, more homes and better public services.

• Conduct annual reviews of government working groups, scrapping inactive and ineffective taskforces that do not deliver change and consolidating overlapping remits.

• Reduce external public bodies and quangos by at least a third, starting with our plans to streamline the economic agencies and reduce health boards, redeploying skilled workforces to improve delivery and value for public money.

Decades of SNP control has cultivated a government obsessed with denial and deflection, preferring concealment over action. The people of Scotland deserve a government that is open, honest and accountable, where effort is spent on improving services, not on protecting those in power from scrutiny.

Scottish Labour will end the culture of cover up and secrecy by:

• Publishing all government files relating to recent scandals, including the Salmond inquiry, Ferguson Marine ferries and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

• Inviting the Information Commissioner to review government freedom of information practice and make clear, independent recommendations for faster decisions and proper compliance.

• Establishing an independent ethics advisor to uphold standards across government, with a remit that includes special advisors and senior civil servants.

• Ensuring that Ministers are fully held to account for breaches of the Ministerial Code.

Holyrood needs to be able to scrutinise government decisions and properly represent the will of the Scottish people.

Scottish Labour will restore faith and trust in the ability of the Scottish Parliament to hold power to account by:

• Tightening the rules on second jobs and lobbying regulations, to ensure that MSPs are not profiting or distracted from their work representing constituents.

• Implementing the right of recall, legislating so the public have the right to replace MSPs who do not uphold public standards in advance of the next election.

• Strengthening the authority of committees to compel witnesses, both to submit evidence and appear under oath in certain circumstances.

• Supporting elections for committee convenors so that convenors have a mandate from the whole Parliament, not just their political party.

• Introducing parliamentary privilege in Holyrood so that MSPs raising issues are given the same protection as MPs.

• Splitting the dual role of the Lord Advocate, so that there is clarity over the purpose of the role and separation between Scotland’s chief prosecutor and the Scottish Government’s legal advisor.