Civil Service Must Be Cut Back, Says Charities Boss

The head of the umbrella group for Scotland’s 50,000 charities and voluntary bodies yesterday called for a leaner, more responsive civil service and a complete overhaul in the relationship between government and voters. Speaking to the What Government For Scotland conference yesterday in Edinburgh, Martin Sime, the chief executive of the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), called for a reduction in the number of quangos and local authorities in Scotland.

He argued the government was too big for a country with a population of five million, with regulation, red tape and bureaucracy forming huge obstacles to communities achieving the positive change required. His comments follow growing concerns about the sustainability of the voluntary sector.

Last week, The Herald revealed charities were subsidising the public sector by up to £130m a year, according to an official report.

More than 70% of voluntary organisations which provide services such as social work, nursing or care services are not recouping the full cost from local authorities.

Cornerstone, a charity providing support services for 1400 children and adults with learning disabilities across Scotland, is one of a number of voluntary organisations which face cutting services and staff because they have been unable to recover full costs.

Mr Sime told the conference there was a question mark over the future of Communities Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, and other quangos, as well as the need for 32 local authorities in Scotland. He said bureaucracy should be cut to allow for positive changes.

Scotland’s voluntary organisations have 120,000 paid staff and more than one million volunteers. The sector has an economic value of £2.6bn.

Mr Sime said Scottish Executive statistics showed public-sector employment had increased by 49,300 (9.3%) since devolution. Last year, it accounted for 23.1% of employment in Scotland.

Executive employment and associated agencies employed 15,500 full-time permanent staff in 2006, an increase of 13.6% since 1999.

He said: “I start from the premise governments don’t change things, people do. From the abolition of slavery to the establishment of the welfare state, it was non-state actors that got the ball rolling, not civil servants or politicians.

“One cannot ban childhood obesity, or outlaw global warming. The pensions crisis cannot be dealt with by a committee report, and child poverty or chronic worklessness will not be ended by the stroke of a ministerial pen.

“The solutions to these problems lie with people and communities. Providing the environment so that individuals can have a real say in government, empowering communities to steer their own destiny and take responsibility for decisions is the key to effective democracy.”

At the meeting, MSPs John Swinney (SNP), Patrick Harvie (Greens), Derek Brownlee (Conservatives), Donald Gorrie (Liberal Democrats) and Councillor Donald Anderson (Labour), outlined their own visions of the future for government in Scotland.