Is Scotland’s growing army of commissioners really value for money?

THE cost of Scotland’s army of commissioners is set to soar and may not be value for money, MSPs have been told.

Seven independent commissioners are already in place to cover issues including human rights, children’s rights, public standards, freedom of information, biometrics and public services, at a cost this year of £18.3million.

This is ten per cent up on last year – but could rise under plans to double the number of commissioners to 14 by 2026.

Holyrood’s finance committee has been warned about the threat to public funds ahead of its first evidence session of an inquiry into Scotland’s Commissioner Landscape. In a written submission, Gina Wilson, head of strategy at the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, raised the alarm about ‘unnecessary overlap and duplication in functions’ if the increase goes ahead.

She said: ‘There are concerns that the proliferation of commissioners’ offices will be a costly exercise and may not provide good value for money for taxpayers, especially if there are multiple bodies tasked with intervening on similar or identical matters.’

Her written evidence said there is ‘little evidence’ of coherence to the approach of selecting new commissioners, or of consideration of how they would work together.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has raised a ‘significant concern’ that the proliferation in the number of commissioners and related costs ‘is undermining the ability of parliament to hold Government to account’.

Research Scotland also said people are struggling to understand the difference between existing commissioners.

Finance committee convener Kenneth Gibson said: ‘Given the number of commissioners in Scotland could potentially rise to 14 by the end of this parliamentary session, with all the expense that entails, our inquiry is both timely and necessary.’