Summary
The Scottish Conservatives accuse the SNP of hypocrisy over a £42m rise in civil service wages, while the SNP defends workforce reductions and cost-cutting measures ahead of a budget debate.
The Scottish Conservatives have sharply criticized the Scottish National Party (SNP) for what they describe as “breathtaking hypocrisy” regarding the increasing costs of civil service wages.
Data obtained by the Tories reveals that the civil service wage bill has risen by £42 million in the last two and a half years, marking a 10% increase.
This figure does not account for wage inflation during the period, meaning the true rise could be even higher.
Shadow Finance Secretary Craig Hoy has taken aim at the government for expanding the civil service while simultaneously claiming to make savings in other areas.
The data shows that the number of civil servants in the highest pay bands has risen significantly, from 2,200 in March 2022 to more than 2,700 by September 2024.
This increase in high-paid civil servants comes despite ongoing austerity measures across other public sectors and rising tax burdens for Scottish households and businesses.
The Scottish Conservatives have also criticized the SNP for failing to implement any voluntary or compulsory redundancies in the core civil service since 2021.
Despite this, the total workforce of the Scottish Government has decreased over the last two financial years.
With the median annual earnings for full-time employees in England being £39,038 and Scotland’s being £38,315.
While there are people employed at a high pay, the average salary is representative of the jobs necessity.
Hoy claims that the SNP’s failure to reform the workforce or reduce waste has exacerbated the problem of rising costs.
“Far from tackling these spiraling costs, the SNP has presided over a huge expansion in the number of middle and senior civil servants,” Hoy added.
In response to Hoy’s claims, Finance Secretary Shona Robison pointed out that the overall workforce for the Scottish Government has decreased by 0.4% in 2022-23 and 3% in 2023-24.
Robison emphasised that the government has prioritised reducing the number of contingent workers, including more expensive contractors, which has dropped by 40%.
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