Taking your jobs is good for you

The First Minister said the policy of relocating civil service and quango posts away from the Capital was

"pro-Edinburgh" because it gave more opportunity for the private sector to grow.

And he rejected calls for Edinburgh to be allowed to keep more of the business rates collected here.

City leader Ewan Aitken immediately hit back at the comments, saying he could not see any benefit in moving jobs for the "sake of it", while business leaders accused Mr McConnell of talking "nonsense".

Margaret Smith, Lib Dem Edinburgh West MSP, said: "I don't think the policy is good for Edinburgh.

"But even if I did, I would still have an uneasy feeling because this affects individuals with families, whose lives are being fundamentally changed.

"And one of the fundamental problems with the way the policy has evolved, is that most of the jobs have gone to Glasgow. There is now a higher proportion of public sector jobs in Glasgow than Edinburgh.

"Does Mr McConnell therefore think this is a negative policy for Glasgow?"

Mr McConnell's comments came ahead of a breakfast with the Capital's business leaders today, where he also insisted a decision on a possible new Forth Road Bridge would not be rushed.

Mr McConnell also praised the Edinburgh Festivals saying the city was the best place in the world to be in August, but he added: "We will continue to provide the resources required for the Festivals, but it is important that they are not just a big bucket for public subsidy. I do not believe we should turn the Festivals into a heavily subsidised public event."

SNP Lothians MSP Kenny MacAskill said: "To suggest that this policy benefits Edinburgh beggars belief.

"There may be an argument for civil servant dispersal, but it's not an approach that favours Edinburgh.

"It removes jobs and it removes prestige. A balance has to be struck about maintaining a critical mass for a capital city."

'I am proud of taking away jobs'

SITTING in his office at St Andrew's House, Jack McConnell looks relaxed ahead of the Scottish Parliament's return to business next week.

He happily reels off forthcoming engagements when he hopes to set out his vision for Scotland's future in the run-up to next year's elections.

But the First Minister instantly takes a bullish approach when asked about the relentless exodus of civil service and quango jobs from Edinburgh under the Scottish Executive's relocation policy.

It was a "pro-Edinburgh policy", he insisted, because reducing the number of public sector jobs gave more scope for the private sector to grow.

In an interview with the Evening News, Mr McConnell also rejected calls for Edinburgh to be allowed to keep more of the business rates collected here.

And he said he was "extremely proud" of the controversial decision to move Scottish Natural Heritage headquarters to Inverness.

He claimed the relocation policy, which has already seen 3000 posts transferred out of Edinburgh, was "essential" for the Capital.

He said: "I think there has been a direct benefit in Edinburgh to the relocation of public sector jobs. It has been good for private sector growth in Edinburgh that that has happened.

"Businesses in Edinburgh talk about the constraints because the public sector takes up too many workers and the private sector can't grow and therefore if we can take some of those public sector jobs out of Edinburgh and allow the private sector to grow more, we are doing a good thing for the Edinburgh economy, not a bad thing."

He said the economic boost from the advent of the Scottish Parliament and the economic and social needs of other parts of the country meant there had to be a policy of relocation.

"It was essential for other parts of Scotland to enjoy some of the benefit of public sector jobs and the stability they provide," said Mr McConnell

"But it was also, in my view, essential for Edinburgh. It is a pro-Edinburgh as well as a pro-other-parts-of-Scotland policy, because the private sector in Edinburgh have pressure on wages, pressure on expansion because of the shortage in certain areas of employment in and around the city."

He defended the decision to transfer Sportscotland headquarters from South Gyle to the east end of Glasgow, despite recommendations from the consultants that it should stay in Edinburgh.

"Consultants are not elected," he said. "Ultimately politicians have to make decisions and explain them."

The First Minister said the decision to move SNH headquarters from Edinburgh to Inverness was right, despite the vast expense, lost jobs and massive disruption to the organisation. "The idea Scotland's natural heritage agency should be based in Edinburgh rather than the Highlands was always ludicrous," he said.

"I am extremely proud of that decision. It located the agency in the right place and corrected a historical wrong. The organisation will be far stronger as a result. It will make better decisions being based right in the heart of the Scottish countryside."

Challenged on whether there was a point when the relocation of jobs would stop, he said: "I think we have reached a stage where the initial objectives of the policy have at least partly been delivered."

Mr McConnell - who was today addressing business leaders in Edinburgh - also defended the system which means Edinburgh loses around 111 million every year in business rates channelled to other parts of Scotland.

Council leaders are pressing to be allowed to keep more of the money to invest in the city. But Mr McConnell said: "If theoretically that money was returned to the city's coffers directly, then the first thing the rest of Scotland would say is 'Can we get a share of the hundreds of millions of pounds that are going to be spent on transport infrastructure in and around Edinburgh over the next few years?'

"The cities are the places that make the biggest differences to the economy. They are contributing more, but they are also getting more back too."

He added: "It is absolutely not true that we take money away from Edinburgh and we go and spend it somewhere else.

"The reality is that the amount we will spend on the transport infrastructure in Edinburgh, through things like the cities growth fund and the universities in Edinburgh is a contribution to the growth in the city that results in the money coming in from the business rates."

But he insisted: "I will not allow the city of Edinburgh or Lothian region, given its absolutely critical importance to the economy of Scotland, to be shortchanged by Scottish government as long as I'm First Minister."

As soon as he was elected council leader, Councillor Aitken made clear he planned to take on the Executive over relocation and business rates. Mr McConnell said the city's new leader was just doing his job. "In the same way that I stand up for Scotland and Tony Blair stands up for Britain, I would expect the leader of Edinburgh City Council to stand up for Edinburgh," he said.

Cllr Aitken was among the first to hit back at Mr McConnell's claims today. He said: "There has been absolutely no clarity over the reasons why these public sector jobs have been relocated out of the city at all.

"With the recent example of Sportscotland, we have not been told what is rational about the decision to relocate those jobs away from Edinburgh or what the benefit to the city will be.

"It seems that they are just taking jobs away for the sake of it."

Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ron Hewitt added: "The First Minister's claim that Edinburgh is actually getting back more when it is paying more in business rates is nonsense."

And what Jack had to say on..

Relocation

"I think there has been a direct benefit in Edinburgh to the relocation of public sector jobs. It has been good for private sector growth in Edinburgh."

SNH

"The idea Scotland's natural heritage agency should be based in Edinburgh rather than the Highlands was ludicrous. I am extremely proud of that decision."

Business rates

"The cities are the places that make the biggest differences to the economy. They are contributing more, but they are also getting more back too."

Ewan Aitken

"In the same way I stand up for Scotland and Tony Blair stands up for Britain, I would expect the leader of Edinburgh City Council to stand up for Edinburgh."

Festivals need quality, not subsidy

THE success of Edinburgh's world-famous festivals is based on quality, atmosphere and drive, not public subsidy, the First Minister said.

A report earlier this year warned of the growing threat from rival festivals in other cities, such as Manchester.

And Fringe director Paul Gudgin warned this week the city council and Scottish Executive had to act now if the Capital was to remain the world's best festival city. But Mr McConnell said: "We need to be careful we don't turn every bit of the festivals into a heavily publicly subsidised form of entertainment. We will continue to look at the right level of subsidy, but the success of the festivals is not based on government subsidy, it is based on the quality and the drive and energy and the atmosphere in the city every August."

He said the Executive had increased the arts and culture budget by ten per cent last year, adding: "In the time that I've been First Minister, we have not been scared of coming forward with extra resources. We rescued the Film Festival from a position where it was really having problems and we continue to make serious investment in the main International Festival and in the others."