£500,000 EVERY DAY

That’s cost of bloated Scottish Government, with ever-rising staff earning up to £165,000

THE size and cost of the Scottish Government has rocketed to record levels since the SNP took power.

An investigation by The Scottish Mail on Sunday has revealed every aspect of government has grown since 2007 – from the number of civil servants and Cabinet Secretaries to the cost of spin doctors.

This comes despite a promise by the SNP when it first came to power that it would create ‘a leaner government’.

Critics say the costly expansion can only be funded by raising taxes or cutting services. The investigation revealed:

The Scottish Government’s ‘core’ wage bill has rocketed by 29 per cent, from £149 million in 2007-08 to £193 million in 2014-15 – more than half-amillion pounds a day.

The Strategic Board of senior civil servants has expanded by a third.

Nicola Sturgeon has expanded her team of Cabinet Secretaries and ministers – costing £2.3 million a year in salaries – so that it is 65 per cent bigger than Alex Salmond’s first top team after the 2007 election.

Scottish Tory finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘It hardly looks as if they’re making every effort to keep costs down. With key services such as our police force facing budget cuts, surely the government should be looking to make savings in their own budgets.’

Initially, Mr Salmond delivered on the ‘leaner government’ pledge by unveiling a team of five Cabinet Secretaries and ten junior ministers, costing £1.37 million in salaries.

Since then, however, the size of the team has gradually expanded. Last Wednesday, Miss Sturgeon announced that former Education Secretary Michael Russell was returning in the newly-created role of Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland’s Place in Europe. It means her enlarged team now consists of nine Cabinet Secretaries and 13 ministers – at a cost of £2.3 million a year.

The team of senior ministers is assisted by 11 special advisers, compared to eight in 2007. It is understood this will soon be expanded by a further three.

The Strategic Board – the executives responsible for the day-to-day running of Government functions – is now made up of the Permanent Secretary and seven directors-general, compared to five in 2007.

It is led by Leslie Evans, who receives a salary of up to £165,000. The other directorsgeneral are paid £115,000£150,000 a year.

Across the Scottish Government, the total wage bill is £193 million a year, up 29 per cent on £149 million in 2007-08. When salaries paid to quango staff and health workers are included, the total cost is £6.6 billion, compared to £5.4 billion in 2007-08.

Taxpayer-Scotland director Eben Wilson said: ‘What is very worrying is the expectation that this growth will continue is becoming embedded.

‘That makes investors turn away and look elsewhere, because all they see is higher taxes to pay for the increasing scale of government.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The size of the current ministerial team is broadly comparable to that of pre-2007. Staffing costs of the Scottish Government Senior Civil Service at March 31, 2015 have reduced by 16.5 per cent since 2010-11. The overall staffing budget includes health bodies, which account for 91 per cent of costs.

‘We expect all parts of the public sector to ensure they deliver maximum value for money.’

‘Should be looking to make savings’

WE are filled with admiration for those who work within the NHS, devoting themselves to caring for others.

But we are also deeply troubled by news that the cost to the health service of paying compensation for medical blunders has increased by more than four times in the past decade. NHS chiefs have paid out nearly £300 million to 1,800 patients whose medical treatment has gone wrong.

Clearly this situation is not sustainable, either financially or in terms of medical care. The failures that lead to these cases should concern us all.