Merry-go-round of 'mediocrity'

• Scottish Executive damned for lack of talent

• Labour peer Lord Sewel criticises constant rotation of same ministers

• Outside appointments suggested as solution to "re-treads"

Key quote

"Over the past five years the Executive has had a somewhat rapid rate of ministerial turnover, with some now appearing as re-treads. That is not always to be regretted, but it is not a sound common practice." - Lord Sewel

Story in full JACK McConnell’s administration is so devoid of talent that outside experts should be brought in to improve the way Scotland is run, one of the architects of devolution has warned.

In a devastating attack, Labour peer Lord Sewel said the Scottish Executive always seemed to be populated by the same few ministers who were constantly being rotated like "re-treads" because of a dearth of talent on the back-benches.

Lord Sewel, who was one of Donald Dewar’s closest aides during the drawing up of the devolution settlement, called for the Scotland Act to be changed to allow ministers to be appointed from outside the Scottish Parliament.

When asked why professionals should be brought in to replace current ministers, he replied: "That would widen the pool of talent and invite people in with particular experience to do specific jobs." He added: "The alternative is the constant circulation of the same people and there will not be much turnover and little opportunity to bring in new people."

Lord Sewel first revealed his increasing unease over the dearth of talent in the Scottish Executive during a recent speech in the House of Lords.

In the Lords, Lord Sewel asked the government: "Just in case there should be an opportunity to amend the Scotland Act, will the government consider giving the First Minister in Scotland powers to appoint ministers who are not members of the parliament?

"That is a common provision among small legislatures and the Scottish Parliament is a relatively small legislature. Over the past five years the Executive has had a somewhat rapid rate of ministerial turnover, with some now appearing as re-treads. That is not always to be regretted, but it is not a sound common practice."

The Labour peer added yesterday that he believed Scotland could follow the Scandinavian route and bring in outside professionals to become junior ministers, improving the Executive’s performance.

Lord Sewel’s comments represent a major embarrassment for Mr McConnell who has consistently praised the quality of his ministerial team - despite opposition claims that some of the ministers lack the ability to do their jobs properly.

The First Minister will be angered that a Scottish Labour peer and a former Scottish Office minister has chosen to attack the Scottish Executive so publicly.

His comments also expose a growing feeling in Westminster that the Scottish Executive is solid but mediocre and needs fresh talent to enliven it.

Lord Sewel is not the only senior figure in Westminster to have misgivings about the quality of the Scottish Executive. Another Labour politician, who did not want to be named, said: "The gap between the two parliaments is immense. I mean, who would you want running your economy, Gordon Brown or Tom McCabe?

"It would be a good idea to bring in outside experts. It would be a way of introducing some talent into what is a mediocre Executive."

A spokesman for Mr McConnell said the First Minister did not believe that there was any need to change the current system.

He said: "One of the reasons we are making so much progress in the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish government now and tackling so many policy issues is that we have a stable team of ministers working together for two or three years now. They have been working as a team with shared objectives. So while Lord Sewel’s comments are interesting I don’t think they would find much support from the First Minister at the moment."

Lord Sewel seems concerned, both about the number of ministers who have been rotated in and out of Executive jobs and the lack of talent on the back-benches to replace them.

Frank McAveety, for example, has twice been a minister and twice been sacked. He is currently on the back-benches.

Other ministers have been rotated through different jobs. Malcolm Chisholm, currently the Communities Minister, has previously been the Health Minister while Tom McCabe, the Finance Minister, has been in three different Executive posts. Margaret Curran, the chief whip, has been in two departments and Patricia Ferguson, the arts minister, has also been in two.

Mr McConnell also refuses to rehabilitate some of the talented MSPs who served under his predecessor, Henry McLeish, such as Jackie Baillie and Susan Deacon.

This has meant that Mr McConnell has chosen to fill his Executive with the same loyal people he trusts and he moves them around when he wants change, rather than bringing in anybody new.

David McLetchie, the Tory leader, described Lord Sewel’s remarks as "devastating".

He said: "These comments reflect the failures of the Labour-Liberal Democrat Executive over the last five and a half years.

"The idea of appointing un-elected Labour cronies would only make things worse. The solution is to get a government that concentrates on the priorities of the people of Scotland, not the irrelevancies which have featured far too much so far."

And Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP deputy leader, said: "It is little wonder that Lord Sewel thinks that there is not much talent in the Scottish government when they insist that Westminster should preside over new legislation rather than take the difficult decisions themselves."