'Bonfire of the quangos' described as a 'damp squib'

ALEX Salmond's long-awaited "bonfire of the quangos" was unveiled yesterday and immediately condemned as a "damp squib" that would make no real difference to the size or the cost of the public sector in Scotland.

The First Minister announced the abolition of 17 public bodies yesterday, claiming he had cut the size of the quango state by a quarter.

Among the changes is the amalgamation of the Deer Commission and Scottish Natural Heritage and the abolition of a swathe of advisory boards.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland will also become a self-regulating body along the lines of the General Medical Council.

However, opposition politicians claimed most of the bodies scrapped by Mr Salmond were advisory committees that cost very little to run and employed few staff.

And they demanded to know how much money would be saved by the cuts and how many jobs would go as a result of the quango cull.

Mr Salmond said it was impossible to provide that sort of detail at this stage. And he defended his actions, claiming he was making good on his promise to "declutter" the government of Scotland, a change that would benefit both the private and public sectors

The First Minister announced last year that he would cut Scotland's 199 public bodies by a quarter. Yesterday, he published a list of 17 that are to be scrapped over the next three years, plus 35 that have already been abolished by the Scottish Government.

Mr Salmond claimed that total of 52 met his pledge of cutting the quango state by a quarter, but said another 40 bodies would be reviewed over the next three years and some of them might also be abolished.

He told MSPs that the plans "represent the most ambitious drive to reduce government bureaucracy since devolution".

Of the 35 public bodies scrapped in the past eight months by the Scottish Government, 32 were children's panels, which have been merged into one body, and five of the 17 changes announced yesterday involve advisory committees.

Political opponents claimed Mr Salmond was merely cutting the number of quangos for show and failing to address the cost of the public bodies to the taxpayer.

And they argued that Mr Salmond had failed to mention any of the new bodies he created since taking office, including the Broadcasting Commission.

Wendy Alexander, the Scottish Labour leader, said the bonfire of the quangos had turned into a "damp squib".

She added: "Alex Salmond forgot to mention 23 of the 24 new organisations his government has created since he entered office. It is right to ensure value for money for the public purse, but there is an absence of detail on how these efficiencies will be made.

"If this is nothing more than a rebadging exercise, then the savings promised will not be forthcoming."

Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Conservative leader, said the move was "52 cards being reshuffled, redealt and remaining at 52 cards".

She added: "The question every taxpayer wants answered is how many fewer people will be employed and how much money will be saved to the public purse. After today's statement, we are none the wiser."

Meanwhile, Nicol Stephen, for the Lib Dems, said: "Seventy-six new bodies being created by this government and rising, all supported by a total of 50 reviews and 91 new consultations.

"Why doesn't the First Minister admit he is adding to the clutter and the truth is that, for everything he has dropped, he has brought in something new?"

Why efficiency drive fails to make the cut

WHEN is a quango not a quango? When it hasn't been abolished by the Scottish Government.

Yesterday's assault on quangos by the First Minister promised a great deal and, at first glance, it appeared to deliver.

A swathe of public bodies were being axed, Alex Salmond announced.

He claimed to have abolished 35 in the past eight months and another 17 with his statement to parliament yesterday.

That's it. We now have slimmer, leaner government with less bureaucracy and savings for front-line services.

Well, not quite. The first problem is that no-one really seems to know what is a quango and what isn't, so it is impossible to say with any certainty how many actual quangos have been abolished. When the Scottish Government was asked for a list of the 199 quangos it claimed existed in Scotland, it produced a list of about 70. Some of the quangos which Mr Salmond claimed were abolished or merged or under review as a result of yesterday's statement weren't even on that list.

Also, Mr Salmond was unable to say how much money would be saved from his changes and how many jobs would go, because he doesn't know.

What he has done is get rid of a long list of advisory committees; these are the boards of experts and professionals put together to deal with something in their area of expertise. They are often unpaid and the committees usually do a reasonably worthwhile job.

Now many are gone. Perhaps that is a good thing, but it won't save much money. The real money in Scotland's quango state is in the executive bodies – these are the big ones with premises and staff and public money to spend. These are the real quangos.

These tend to look after areas such as housing, water, enterprise and prisons. Some of these have been merged or brought into the government, and while they will disappear as organisations, their function and staff will remain because they are necessary.

Mr Salmond claimed his quango cull would at least cut back on advertising spend, because the board vacancies would not have to be advertised in newspapers, as they are now. And he claimed that private-sector productivity might improve by 1 per cent, because of the lack of bureaucracy.

Both those are possible, but it is impossible to avoid the impression that this was little more than an exercise in smoke and mirrors, and the real savings, which Mr Salmond promised, will not materialise unless he is more ruthless and more determined to reduce the scope and power of the state.