Probe opens into soaring costs of commissioners in Scotland

MSPS ARE to hold the opening session today of a major inquiry into the number of commissioners in Scotland amid alarm the annual costs of these public organisations will soar to more than £18 million this year.

The Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee has launched an inquiry into the commissioner landscape, looking at whether there is a “coherent and strategic approach”.

There are seven commissioners in Scotland, who together cost £16.6m in 2023/24 and are forecast to cost £18.4m in 2024/25. However, there are plans to double this to 14 by the end of this five-year parliamentary term.

The total annual costs cover the staff and running costs for each office, although the amount for each varies, with the lowest at £300,000 for the year and the largest at £6.7m.

An eighth, the patient safety commissioner, was agreed last year with an anticipated annual cost of £645,000.

Current commissioners raised concerns over plans to expand their number in submissions they have made to the committee’s inquiry.

The office of the Children’s and Young People’s Commissioner cited costs fears.

“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,” it said.

“Currently, a range of proposed new commissioners have been tabled. There is little evidence of coherence to the approach.

“There is also little evidence of consideration about how new commissioners would work together or be resourced.

“There is a further risk of scope creep and competition between commissioners’ deliberate or unintentional ‘power grabs’.

“It will be important to establish boundaries and ways of working, or you risk threatening the ability of the offices that exist to carry out their functions properly.”

In its submission, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman noted: “I have a significant concern that a proliferation of [commissioners] is undermining the ability of Parliament to hold government to account.”

It added: “As part of the complex scrutiny and oversight landscape, there is a significant risk that further commission/ers will add to that complexity.

“I am also very concerned that those most in need of the services will simply fall though the gaps that an increasingly complex environment creates.

“The more boundaries are created, the more likely people and issues are to fall between organisations.”

At its opening session this morning the committee will take evidence from Katy Macmillan, director of Research Scotland, an organisation which provides research and support to public and third sector organisations, which last year interviewed five commissioners.

One unnamed commissioner told its researchers: “The current government is very enthusiastic about commissioners, so it’s becoming very confusing what a commissioner is.

“There are so many different models now that the phrase commissioner is starting to lose its value in terms of what it is.

“People are struggling to understand what’s the difference between different commissioners.

“The more commissions that are set up, the more it muddies the landscape as to what we’re all actually doing.”

A Holyrood briefing to the finance committee said there are seven independent officeholders who are directly responsible to the Scottish Parliament, with their terms and conditions of appointment and annual budgets set by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB).

They are: Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland, Scottish Biometrics Commissioner; Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People; Scottish Human Rights Commission; Scottish Information Commissioner; and Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Standards Commission for Scotland.

Proposals for future posts include a neurodiversity commissioner, a victims’ commissioner, and an older persons’ commissioner.

The more commissions that are set up, the more it muddies the landscape as to what we’re all actually doing