Cut the Quangos

Cut the Quangos

A Scottish Labour government will “tear apart” bureaucracy and red tape, Anas Sarwar has pledged. Ahead of Scottish Labour conference, Anas Sarwar has said his party will  cut the number of quangos and government bodies by a third over the course of the parliament.

There are currently a staggering 133 devolved public bodies in Scotland, costing taxpayers upwards of £6.6 billion a year.

Scottish Labour said this “wasteful and ineffective labyrinth” doesn’t serve the public and instead shields SNP Ministers from scrutiny.  

Anas Sarwar has today set out plans to address this by decluttering Scotland’s economic and environmental agencies so they are more effective, doing a sweep of Scotland’s many working groups and strategies to ensure they serve a purpose, establishing a team for government efficiency and implementing longstanding plans to cut the number of health boards.

Scottish Labour is committed to:

  • Reducing the number of health boards from 14 to three and streamlining special health boards down to no more than five – pushing savings to the frontline of healthcare.
  • Decluttering the economic agency landscape, combining all investment arms into SNIB and requiring all remaining agencies to meet key economic objectives that are internationally benchmarked.
  • Reforming the commissioner landscape so it is more strategic and impactful – exploring opportunities to combine ethics commissioners and strengthening the work of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, potentially granting it power to establish special rapporteurs.
  • Carry out a review of the roles and remits of nature and environment agencies to reduce duplication and unnecessarily complex bureaucracy so Scotland’s natural resources are protected and used for the benefit of all.
  • Conduct annual reviews of government working groups and strategies, scrapping inactive and ineffective taskforces which meet without delivering change.
  • Establishing a team for government efficiency, working within a new Scottish Treasury to make sure public services are fit for purpose and ending wasteful spending across government.

Commenting, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said “Scotland’s public services are at breaking point, but one industry that is thriving under the SNP is publicly-funded quangos.

“While local services are cut to the bone and our NHS fights for survival, the SNP spares no expense on its own bloated bureaucracy.

“These bodies don’t provide good value for taxpayers – but they do provide a good shield for SNP Ministers.

“It’s time to tear apart this wasteful and ineffective labyrinth of public bodies and focus on delivering for the people of Scotland.

“A Scottish Labour government led by me will cut the number of quangos by a third and put that money back in frontline services and taxpayers’ pockets where it belongs.

“I will end the waste, the deflection and the ‘jobs for boys’ culture of the SNP’s system and put your priorities first.

“I will restore political accountability so Ministers are responsible for delivery – not some distant arms-length body.

“In May Scotland faces a choice between an SNP government that will waste your money or a Scottish Labour government that will focus on getting the basics right.

“Only Scottish Labour can replace the SNP, fix their mess and change our country for the better.”