Top SNP civil servant warns services will 'stop or be consolidated' as John Swinney to set out cuts
The warning comes as John Swinney prepares to set out the “practical steps” to reform Scotland’s public services.
Scotland’s most senior civil servant has issued a stark warning that some parts of government will need to “stop or be consolidated” as John Swinney prepares to wield the axe on the pubic sector.
Scotland's leading trade union body, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), has told John Swinney he "simply cannot chop up to 20,000 of the people who deliver them and expect services to improve" as he delivers his programme for government this afternoon.
It comes as the SNP government is poised to ”embrace very actively” up to £5bn of cuts and savings needed to balance the books by the end of the decade - with Scotland’s most senior civil servant stressing that some services will need to be cut.
The First Minister will set out the “practical steps” needed to make cuts and savings to Scotland’s public sector.
READ MORE: John Swinney vows to bring ‘radical change’ as swingeing cuts loom to Scotland’s public services
Over-budget public sector pay deals and demand-driven social security spending is forecast to contribute to the funding gap, totalling almost £5billion combined for revenue day-to-day spending and pledged capital investment projects.
But despite the gloomy financial backdrop, the STUC has called on Mr Swinney to use today’s programme for government to set out “a serious commitment to raising the revenue needed to properly fund our public services”.
That message comes as the Scottish government braces for deep cuts and reforms to public sector services.
Scotland’s most senior civil servant, permanent secretary Joe Griffin, has warned that some government work will need to be ended altogether as part of the reforms.
Writing in the Scottish government’s five-year plan for the civil service, Mr Griffin said that “becoming a smaller, more focused organisation” will form part of the overhaul.
He added: “I recognise the scale and impact of the challenge, and I want to be direct about what it means. Some areas of work will need to stop or be consolidated.
“We need to bring greater clarity to our priorities, invest more in our skills and technology, and reduce the bureaucracy that can slow things down day-to-day.
“Some roles will not be replaced as people leave, including some leadership roles. We will need to change how we work.”
Mr Griffin said the civil service is “committed to working in partnership with our trade union colleagues “ and will be “open to constructive challenge, and create space for honest conversations”.
READ MORE: SNP's top civil servant insists 'not everything is broken' amid pressure on services to make cuts
He warned that although “kindness and inclusion will shape how we lead this transition”, that “does not mean avoiding difficult decisions”.
But the STUC has criticised the Scottish government’s proposed public service reform agenda, arguing that there is a fundamental contradiction in promising to make improvements while proposals could result in the loss of thousands of jobs over the next five years.
STUC general secretary, Roz Foyer, said: “Communities across Scotland are already feeling the consequences of years of inadequate investment and public services at breaking point.
“The First Minister now has an opportunity to show ambition, not apathy and deliver a programme that restores hope and delivers real change for workers and their communities. That must begin with a serious commitment to raising the revenue needed to properly fund our public services.”
She added: “Ministers must also confront the contradiction at the heart of their public service reform agenda.
“We all want world-class public services, but you simply cannot chop up to 20,000 of the people who deliver them and expect services to improve.
“Scotland needs investment, particularly in social care, alongside a commitment to retain and recruit staff on decent fair work terms and conditions. Workers deserve better than opaque government speak of ‘reform’, which are cuts by any other name.
“This programme for government must set out a vision for a fairer Scotland: fairer taxes, properly funded public services and an industrial strategy that delivers secure, well-paid jobs. That is the ambition working people expect and it is the ambition Scotland now needs.”
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, has called on the First Minister to outline a proper plan to save public funding by stopping public sector waste as part of the party’s programme for government demands.
Mr Findlay said: “John Swinney must finally use this programme for government to ditch his high-tax, high welfare spend approach that is harming Scotland.
“He’s spent the months after the election chasing quick headlines and promoting gimmicks instead of tackling the major issues affecting the country.”
He added: “This SNP programme for government should focus on bringing down people’s bills which are continuing to soar everywhere they look.
“He should start by reining in the nationalists’ ballooning benefits bill which is completely unsustainable and will have to be paid for by higher taxes and more cuts to public services.”
Scottish Labour acting leader, Jackie Baillie, said: “Scots need our government ready to deliver real action on the NHS and on the cost of living, not just more empty words and broken promises.
“We cannot afford to have more of the same in the programme for government today.”
Mr Swinney has stressed that tackling cost-of-living pressures will be his “principle issue” as he publishes his legislative plan for the next 12 months.
The First Minister has insisted his plans “will be focused on the priorities of the people of Scotland”, adding that “the principle issue in that will be tackling the cost of living challenges members of the public face”.
Mr Swinney vowed he would “set out the practical steps we are taking forward in relation to public service reform”.
“It is vital that we have public services that have people right at the centre of those public services and they are able to deliver for the people of our country”, he said.
“That has to be done within the resources that we have available, and in a way that strengthens the delivery of public services.”
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