Jenny Gilruth unable to say how many jobs will be cut in councils shake-up as saving a 'long-term' goal
The SNP government’s finance secretary suggested any savings made in the shake-up of local councils are a “long-term” ambition.
Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth has suggested any savings made in her controversial reforms to Scottish councils will be in the “long-term” despite admitting change is needed urgently.
Ms Gilruth, who is also the SNP government’s finance secretary, also refused repeatedly to put any number of jobs or savings that could be achieved, warning that the upcoming UK government budget will shape how SNP ministers approach the issue.
Last week, the Scottish government published draft plans to merge local councils into between six and 10 regional bodies, alongside up to 160 community councils across mainland Scotland.
Alongside an ambition to improve service, the Scottish government is being forced to reform large parts of the public sector over a funding gap expected to reach almost £5 billion by 2030.
But Ms Gilruth said it was not yet known how much money would be saved by the shake-up or how many jobs would need to be cut as a result of the plans.
“This is the starting point of a consultative period between ourselves and Cosla on the future of local government in Scotland and it's really important we get this right”, she told the BBC.
Asked whether the reorganisation work would take beyond next May’s local elections, Ms Gilruth said: “No. We've quite deliberately actually set quite a tight time period of three months, which will take us roughly to the beginning of December and we've done that quite deliberately.
“I think there's an urgency required around local government reform.
“From a sustainability point, there are real challenges in local government finance at the current time, so we cannot stand still on these issues. We have to move.”
But asked whether the plans had been “thought through” and whether the proposals will “actually save you money”, Ms Gilruth appeared to suggest it was a long-term ambition.
She said: “I think in the longer term, there will be an opportunity for us to save money, of course, through efficiencies, that will be delivered naturally in a change to the approach that's being directed at the current time.
“We see massive duplication across the piece of the current time. So there will be opportunities to drive that efficiency that will naturally occur through the model that we arrive at, but we have to, but the approach we've taken actually, is an approach that we work in conjunction with local government.”
The Deputy First Minister warned that the strategy will be shaped by how much funding her government received in the UK government’s Budget next month.
She said: “A lot of what I'm able to do will be informed by the UK government's budget in a number of weeks time.
“That would be to move forward at pace, or it will frame the way in which we engage. So the decisions that are taken elsewhere also have a bearing on decisions that are taken.”
Scottish Conservative local government reform spokesperson, Alexander Burnett, said: “Jenny Gilruth’s latest car crash interview exposed that neither she, nor the SNP, have a clue about the consequences of these half-baked measures.
“It’s astounding that the Scottish government can’t say if these proposals will actually improve the delivery of local services.
“It’s clear no work has been done on the detail of these proposals and that the SNP are clearly making these reforms up as they go along, rather than being honest with Scots about what they are planning.”
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