Scotland should have its own version of Elon Musk’s DOGE, says Russell Findlay

Russell Findlay pledged to end the ‘big-state circus’

Scotland should have its own version of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives has said, as he pledged to end the “big-state circus”.

Russell Findlay suggested the new agency could be time-limited and led by an outside business figure such as Sir Tom Hunter, Lord Willie Haughey or the entrepreneur Marie Macklin.

Elon Musk | AFP via Getty Images

He said Holyrood had become more disconnected from the real world despite more being spent on public sector staff, government working groups, and backroom functions away from the frontline.

Mr Findlay accused the SNP of creating a “steroid state”, adding: “What do I mean by this? Well, it has become much, much bigger. But this is an illusion — because it has not got any stronger.

“The SNP state has expanded rapidly and declined in delivery. It sucks up record sums of cash without doing any better for families, workers and businesses.”

Delivering a speech in Edinburgh, he said there are around 550,000 devolved public sector workers in Scotland, the most since devolution began, while the SNP had published 764 strategies and plans since 2015.

He said Scotland’s public bodies spend around £1.3 billion every year on backroom corporate functions, and the Scottish Government alone spends £75 million on policy officers and managers.

Mr Findlay said government working groups should be reduced by at least a third.

“We would introduce our own version of the Department of Government Efficiency,” he told activists. “A Scottish Agency of Value and Efficiency would be tasked with cutting waste, identifying savings and delivering better value for taxpayers. SAVE for Scotland.”

He said frontline delivery would be his party’s primary focus. “Useless jobs with silly titles should be scrapped and replaced by roles that have a demonstrable benefit to the public,” he said.

“At a time of dire NHS waiting times and sinking school performances, spending more on government spin doctors is a scandal. To shift the balance, the Scottish Conservatives would introduce a new public spending rule – a frontline first guarantee.

“This would ensure that the Scottish Government’s default requirement is to spend on the frontline of our NHS, police and schools rather than on bureaucrats in Edinburgh.”

He added: “Only the Scottish Conservatives are putting forward a bold new vision. We are the only party prepared to do things differently.

“We don’t buy the SNP and Labour left-wing view that a big state is always best. We know people just want some common sense for a change.”

SNP MSP Jackie Dunbar said: "Scotland's public services have suffered horrendously under 14 years of Tory austerity, and are now bearing the brunt of the legacy of Liz Truss - who Russell Findlay supported - as inflation once again soars.

"While our public services are in the process of recovering, they are still having to grapple with a rising cost of living and downward economic projections as Labour carry on the Tory tradition of woeful mismanagement of the UK economy.

"That's why, within very limited powers and a fixed budget, the SNP Scottish Government is providing record funding for core public services like our NHS, with a focus on ensuring they are sustainable while growing the economy.

"While the Tories copy the likes of Elon Musk, the SNP is getting on with delivering better public services for the people of Scotland."