Brownlee welcomes next stage in transparency revolution

A Statutory Instrument detailing tough new rules on public spending for PR, entertaining and travel - set to come into force as Conservative amendments take effect - has been laid before the Scottish Parliament today.

From 1st October most public bodies in Scotland will be covered by new legislation requiring them to publish details of how much they spend on overseas travel, entertaining, public relations and consultancy services. There will be no minimum level, so all spending will have to be disclosed. The provisions were inserted by the Scottish Conservatives at Stage 2 of the Public Service Reform Bill proceedings, and subsequently accepted by the Scottish Government. These measures are in addition to the requirement - accepted by the SNP Government as part of the terms for Scottish Conservative support of the Budget earlier this year - for all central Government spending over £25,000 to be published monthly.

Commenting on the new rules, Derek Brownlee MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, said:

"In the past, it has taken speculative requests under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain this information, and very often it has had to be dragged out of public bodies. Now quangos and Government will have no hiding place - they will have to publish all their spending on entertaining, PR, consultancy and overseas travel. That should make those who run these organisations think twice before spending taxpayers' money. If it hadn't been for the Scottish Conservatives, these new rules would not be entering into force. We are determined to keep pushing for better value for money for taxpayers."

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