Eddie Barnes: Scotland's public sector is about to get an Alex Salmond-style electric shock to the system

IN AN interview during the election campaign, Alex Salmond claimed that on the first day he got into Bute House in 2007, he asked civil servants to show him the "leccy bill" – the total sum spent by the public sector to keep the lights on.

A few days later, after recovering from their surprise, they reported back with around 70 separate bills – some for individual hospitals. Mr Salmond said he insisted they bundle them up into a single bill. He claims 10 million was saved as a result.

Today, Mr Salmond will be elected First Minister at the Scottish Parliament for his second term of office. And while his plans for independence have taken all the attention since his landslide victory two weeks ago, the immediate issue facing him looks likely be the same as that which faced him four years ago – but with bells on. The cash crunch is biting. Officials have calculated that by 2016, there will be a 2.5 billion gap between the money councils have to spend and the cost of the services they must deliver.

A costly election campaign now means the new SNP government must also pay for a five-year council tax freeze, and a wallet-full of "free" services. Oh, and the teachers are already planning to strike.

A few key dates are stacking up. At the end of June, a government-commissioned study led by former union chief Campbell Christie will report back on how to reform public services. A few weeks later, once English universities have finalised how much they plan to charge their students, Mr Salmond will know how much his government will have to spend to ensure any funding gap between them and their Scottish counterparts is filled – another election promise. With those figures in, come September, the Scottish Government will put forward its detailed spending plans for the next three years – proposals which will be as far-reaching for Scotland as George Osborne's spending review was for the UK as a whole this time last year.

Mr Salmond is not short of critics who think he will have no choice but to go back on at least some of the guarantees he made during the election campaign.

But, with four years' experience behind them, the new government is confident it can square the circle. SNP ministers said during the campaign that they consider the public sector massively overcomplicated with far too much duplication of effort – something caused directly by the sheer weight of cash pumped in during the booming noughties. The public sector has still not altered much despite the fact that devolved ministers now run the country, the SNP notes. That will now change, with ministers promising a thorough un-tangling of the country's organisational spaghetti.

The risks and rewards for the SNP are enormous. Going back on election promises to meet straitened times is to risk political death, as Nick Clegg now knows. On the other hand, handle the cuts competently, and Mr Salmond will approach his referendum in fine fettle.