U-Turn On Health Jobs Will Save Up To £20m

Opposition MSPs last night condemned the executive’s decision to halt the relocation of hundreds of public sector jobs, claiming the U-turn was contrary to the new administration’s pledges on employment.

The reversal means that more than 300 jobs will stay at three special health bodies in Edinburgh, instead of being moved to Glasgow.

This represents a U-turn on a decision made by the previous Labour-LibDem administration in July 2005.

The move will also save more than £20m, which can be invested in NHS services in Scotland, Health Minister Shona Robison said. The Glasgow-based staff of a fourth board, NHS National Services Scotland, would remain in the city, as would employees of the three boards who already work there, she added.

The former Labour administration announced its intention to move the headquarter operations of NHS Health Scotland, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland from Edinburgh to Glasgow.

Glasgow MSPs were split along party lines yesterday, with SNP members supporting the minister’s announcement and their Labour counterparts voicing their anger.

Sandra White, an SNP list MSP for the city, said: “I realise that finances are tight and if £20m can be used for frontline services then that’s a good thing. I would be urging the minister to make sure that the bulk of the money comes to Glasgow, where it is desperately needed.”

Ms White’s Nationalist colleague, Bob Doris, described the announcement as a “win win situation”.

He said: “We’re giving hundreds of workers job security and saving £20m, which seems like good news for everyone.” Unions welcomed the reversal. Unison, the public service union, was so angered by the original proposals that it withdrew from a steering group with NHS management on the issue.

Aileen Stewart, the union’s Scottish healthcare branch secretary, said: “We are pleased that our campaign has been successful.

“In these specific cases relocation of already widely dispersed NHS services made little sense and threatened disruption to the service and expense, increased travel times and potential job losses for staff.”

But Labour MSP Andy Kerr, the former health minister who made the decision to move the jobs, said Glasgow had lost out. “The three health boards all have a direct part to play in tackling the problems of Scotland’s most in-need areas and we felt they would be more relevant and effective if they were based in Glasgow.

“Today’s announcement deprives the city of much-needed jobs and important HQ functions and undermines the efforts to relocate public service jobs throughout the country.”

Paul Martin, the Labour MSP for Glasgow Springburn, said he was “appalled” by the executive’s decision. “The executive talks a good game about tackling unemployment and regeneration, but this decision shows they don’t actually care about it in reality.”

Steven Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council, said the decision ran contrary to recent SNP pledges on employment and urged the executive to channel the rump of the savings into healthcare in Glasgow. He said: “The Health Secretary’s decision undermines what both (the Health Secretary) Nicola Sturgeon and (Finance Secretary) John Swinney have said in recent weeks about getting more people in the city into work.”