Taxpayers hand over £350,000 to meet cost of relocated civil servants

Published on Tuesday 27 March 2007 14:42

TAXPAYERS have paid more than £350,000 to subsidise the travel of civil servants who have been relocated out of Edinburgh, it emerged today.

Staff who choose to carry on working for Scottish Executive agencies which have transferred out of Edinburgh qualify to have their fares paid for up to five years.

It means, for example, that employees of transport agency Transport Scotland, can catch the train every day from Edinburgh to Glasgow at taxpayers' expense.

Official figures, released under freedom of information legislation, show that a total of 174,312 was paid in excess fares allowances to employees of relocated quangos in 2005-06, and a further 176,549 in the first eight months of 2006-07.

Transport Scotland alone paid a total of 24,307 to 19 staff in 2005-06 and another 68,950 to 61 staff this year.

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency, now based in Galashiels, paid 54,723 to 26 staff in 2005-06 and a further 43,160 to 20 employees this year.

HM Inspectorate of Education, which saw posts relocated to Livingston, Clydebank and Ayrshire, paid out 38,261 to 28 staff in 2005-06 and another 24,599 to 25 staff this year.

Tory MSP Brian Monteith, convener of the Scottish Parliament's audit committee, said the figures simply reinforced the criticisms of the relocation policy made in the committee's report earlier this month.

The committee highlighted the fact that more than half the 2432 jobs to leave the Capital so far had simply been moved to Glasgow.

Mr Monteith said: "There is nothing to be gained from moving jobs from Edinburgh city centre to Glasgow city centre, when the same employees simply commute at taxpayers' expense.

"The real benefit to job dispersal comes when new jobs are created, and that is best done when new departments or agencies are set up.

"The relocation policy has been completely botched and members of all parties openly accept that. It must be a high priority for the next Scottish Executive."

And he said lessons should be learned for the next round of relocation decisions, currently in the pipeline.

"Moving the Scottish Arts Council to Glasgow and calling it Creative Scotland will probably do nothing more than increase transport costs and help property developers out west," he said.

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh Labour MSP Susan Deacon also criticised the costs.

She said: "I have no difficulty with appropriate arrangements for staff who have been relocated, but this is further evidence that the costs of relocation are substantial.

"And I'm sure many people would feel this money could be put to better use.

"It just underlines the concerns that have been expressed by so many of us, including most recently the parliament's audit committee, that the Executive needs to think again about its approach."

An Executive spokesman said the excess fare scheme was good for the operational efficiency of organisations because it allowed people to continue in their posts after relocation.

And he said the fact that staff were commuting to the new location did not undermine the intended benefits of the dispersal policy, because the areas where agencies moved to would still see wider economic gains.