SNP must involve Audit Scotland in efficiency savings analysis

The SNP has to involve Audit Scotland in analysing efficiency savings, just as they demanded when in opposition.

Gavin Brown MSP, Scottish Conservative Economy Spokesperson, said:

"Whilst in opposition the SNP railed against efficiency target performances because they were having to take the word of Ministers. Now they practice exactly what they used to preach against.

"Audit Scotland have previously said they are unable to verify these reported savings. It is time the SNP got Audit Scotland involved in the process, so we can all have confidence in the veracity of the government's figures."

1) In their February 2010 report, 'Improving public sector efficiency', Audit Scotland said: "Taking into account the limited progress made in implementing our 2006 recommendations, significant weaknesses in the information available and inconsistencies, Audit Scotland is not able to provide assurance on reported efficiency savings."

2) Please find below statements from John Swinney MSP when the SNP were in opposition

i) John Swinney speech, Budget Process 2006-07, 21 December 2005

"On the efficient government programme, we all agree that government must become more efficient, but substantial issues must be addressed if we are to make progress. First, the Government must respond in a much more substantial and meaningful way to Audit Scotland's concerns about the ability to track and monitor savings. Every time that the committee raised that point with Mr McCabe, he translated our concern as, "My goodness, you want us to employ more bean counters." With the greatest of respect, I suggest that such a response is not worthy of a minister when he is responding to a significant criticism about the ability to monitor the effectiveness of a programme. As my colleague Jim Mather said during committee proceedings, we are being asked to accept performance on efficiency savings simply because that is what the minister asks us to do. In my view, that is not the substantial authentication that the Parliament should require."

ii) John Swinney speech, Scottish Parliament: Budget Process 2007-08 (21 December 2006)

"I move on to the efficient government process, of which the Scottish National Party is very supportive. However, we have concerns about whether the process not only appears credible but can be proven to be credible. In its report, the committee said—not for the first time—that it was concerned about whether it was possible to verify the effectiveness of the efficient government programme because of the lack of established baselines against which the process and the achievements that the Government was claiming could be judged. The committee made the same comment a year ago. In addition, our views have been endorsed in the Audit Scotland report, which was published just the other day and was discussed at the Audit Committee meeting on Tuesday. The Auditor General makes it clear that the development of 'Robust baselines ... to ... provide a 'line in the sand' against which improvements can be measured' is essential if we are to validate the savings that have been reported. The lack of such baselines is an issue of concern."

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