Graham Grant: Swinney’s public sector reform plans look like a jobs merry-go-round with fat cat bosses set for another bumper payday
The article argues that John Swinney’s plans to reorganise Scotland’s NHS and local government have been developed without adequate consultation and could fail to make public services smaller or more efficient. It warns that restructuring may simply move senior managers into new organisations, leaving taxpayers to fund the same bureaucracy under different names.
The proposals described include reducing Scotland’s 14 health boards to two and replacing councils with six to ten regional authorities and 120 to 160 community authorities. The article says compulsory redundancies are not planned, and questions whether the changes will improve frontline services. It cites the creation of Qualifications Scotland from the SQA as a costly rebranding, and Police Scotland’s troubled history as a caution against treating large-scale consolidation as a model.
- Swinney’s reforms may rearrange management rather than reduce it.
- Health boards could fall from 14 to two.
- The article questions whether services will improve.