Inverness Councillor Dr Michael Gregson has blasted the Scottish Government’s ‘Quango Boom’, endorsing Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar’s New Year message.
“The SNP have created a bloated bureaucracy – mostly to shield Ministers and deflect criticism.
“We don’t need 131 unelected bodies, costing £6.6bn.
“And we certainly don’t want a culture, where Quangos are the ‘hidden hands of Government, acting with little or no local accountability’, as Brian Wilson points out.
“There are horrendous examples: Caledonian MacBrayne board members who have never been to a CalMac port; Highlands & Islands Airports board members who don’t live anywhere in the Highlands & Islands.
“This is a disgrace and an abuse of people’s trust.
“Of course there are bodies which do good work – in our area, NatureScot, HIE, NHS Highland and others.
“But these, compared to their remit across a huge region, are woefully underfunded, while others are just a gravy train for those deemed ‘appointable’ and what Anas Sarwar calls “an expanding army of administrators.”
“We need proper democratic control through local authorities, and certainly pushing power and resources out to communities.
“For the tired SNP Government, as it runs out of steam, it’s easier to create a quango – or a working group, or a committee, or have a review – than it is to actually address the many challenges in Scotland’s society and economy.
“Quangos are all about centralisation and control.
“And all the while, 1 in 6 Scots are on NHS waiting lists, housing is in crisis, police services are underfunded, 1 in 3 school pupils are regularly absent, teacher numbers are down by 2000, and local authorities are strapped for cash and unable to provide the services we need day to day.
“Businesses need qualified staff across several sectors, like Construction, Social Care and Hospitality.
“And key infrastructure, like Transport and Digital connectivity, is nowhere near where it needs to be.”
