Scottish Government does need to be more efficient, but must shun Elon Musk's chainsaw

Producing savings through greater government efficiency that can be spent on improving frontline services will help persuade people that democracy is working

Donald Trump, the chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk and their ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ appear to have given satire a boost in the US, with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller attacking the long-running show Saturday Night Live as “the place where comedy goes to die”. Satirists know they’re hitting a nerve when their targets are unable to take a joke.

However, by recklessly firing large numbers of staff, the new US administration has been giving the idea of “government efficiency” a bad name. In the UK, Liz Truss’s attacks on “the blob” – her insulting term for civil servants she thought were obstructing her – have also made constructive suggestions about reducing public sector bureaucracy vulnerable to accusations that they are part of a politically motivated plot to undermine good government.

But finding ways to make savings is crucial to the defence of liberal democracy. The combination of historically high taxes and crumbling public services makes government look weak and ineffective, and feeds into rising levels of support for authoritarianism, particularly among the young.

Elon Musk wields a chainsaw while give a 'Doge update' at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference last month (Picture: Saul Loeb) | AFP via Getty Images

‘A tiny drop in the ocean’

The solution is to improve services by making the associated bureaucracy as lean as possible and search diligently for other ways to make savings that can be transferred to the frontline.

The Scottish Government says it’s made savings in Scottish public sector estate of more than £40 million since 2023 by “making the best use of buildings including space-sharing of public services and closing surplus buildings”. More closures are planned.

The Scottish Conservatives argued this was “a tiny drop in the ocean compared with the amount of taxpayers’ money being squandered”, adding the SNP are “doing nothing like enough to tackle wasteful government spending”.

However, at least they’re trying. When they find savings, they should be praised for doing so, but there’s no contradiction in demanding they do more. Labour’s recent decision to abolish NHS England is a bold example that John Swinney and co should learn from.

Democracies that fail to deliver for their people are ripe for takeover by populists and other more sinister forces. Careful use of a government scalpel, not a chainsaw, is required.