Anas Sarwar vows to 'tear apart' bureaucracy as Labour reveals plan to cut health boards and strengthen bodies
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has revealed his plans to overhaul the public sector if he becomes first minister after May’s election
Anas Sarwar has vowed to cut Scotland’s health boards to three and embed Holyrood’s economic bodies into a strengthened national investment bank if he becomes first minister.
The key pledges come ahead of Scottish Labour’s conference in Paisley on Friday - with the party setting out plans to claw back support ahead of May’s election.
Mr Sarwar is still confident his party can form the next Scottish government, despite consistent polling showing this ambition is fading rapidly.
The Scottish Labour leader has vowed to “tear apart” bureaucracy and red tape, blamed for wasting public money - with an aim of cutting the number of government quangos, private bodies that spend public money, by a third, over the course of the next parliamentary session.
The party has pointed to 133 devolved public bodies in Scotland, costing around £6.6 billion a year.
Mr Sarwar has argued this “wasteful and ineffective labyrinth” does not serve the public and has claimed it shields SNP ministers from scrutiny.
The Labour leader’s pitch to voters includes reducing the number of Scotland’s health boards from 14 to three and streamlining special health boards down to no more than five. Labour first floated the idea of three regional health boards in January 2024.
The blueprint also includes combining all investment arms into the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) and requiring all remaining agencies to meet key economic objectives the party said would be internationally benchmarked.
Labour would also reform Scotland’s commissioners by giving them a more strategic role, potentially handing the Scottish Human Rights Commission the power to establish special rapporteurs and combining ethics commissioners.
The party has also vowed to carry out annual reviews of government working groups and strategies and scrap taskforces that are seen to meet without delivering change.
READ MORE: Revealed: How Scottish Labour hopes it can turn tables on SNP and snatch power in Holyrood election
The party would set up a government efficiency team, working within a new Scottish treasury, previously announced, to make sure public services are fit for purpose and ending wasteful spending.
The Scottish government has set a target of £1.5bn in efficiency savings from reforming public services.
Mr Sarwar said: “Scotland’s public services are at breaking point, but one industry that is thriving under the SNP is publicly-funded quangos.
“While local services are cut to the bone and our NHS fights for survival, the SNP spares no expense on its own bloated bureaucracy.
“These bodies don’t provide good value for taxpayers – but they do provide a good shield for SNP Ministers.
“It’s time to tear apart this wasteful and ineffective labyrinth of public bodies and focus on delivering for the people of Scotland.
“A Scottish Labour government led by me will cut the number of quangos by a third and put that money back in frontline services and taxpayers’ pockets where it belongs.
“I will end the waste, the deflection and the ‘jobs for boys’ culture of the SNP’s system and put your priorities first.
“I will restore political accountability so Ministers are responsible for delivery – not some distant arms-length body.
“In May Scotland faces a choice between an SNP government that will waste your money or a Scottish Labour government that will focus on getting the basics right.
“Only Scottish Labour can replace the SNP, fix their mess and change our country for the better.”
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