SNP splurges eye-watering £8M a year on ‘gravy train’ jobs after vowing ‘bonfire’ of roles

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SNP ministers have overseen a 29 percent increase in the number of directors employed to sit on the boards of Scottish government agencies and health bodies. The staggering rise in the number of senior positions created has taken place since Nicola Sturgeon’s party first took power in 2007.

An additional 223 executive positions have been created under the watch of the SNP since they came to power in 2007, raking the total number of senior roles to 774.

The excessive number of positions now costs almost £8million a year.

It flies in the face of the promise made when the SNP first came to power in 2007, vowing a “bonfire of the quangos”, scaling back on the number of directors employed to sit on the boards.

The Scottish Labour party, which uncovered the drastic increase, said many of the additional roles were non-executive directors.

Often part-time roles, non-executive directors have little involvement in the day-to-day running of agencies.

Daniel Johnson MSP, the Scottish Labour spokesman for economy and finance said: “This is another textbook example of taxpayers’ money being spent on the Scottish government’s gravy train.

“At a time of a cost-of-living crisis, it is absolutely galling that so many high paid executives are raking in public money hand over fist.

“It is important to have experienced and specialist advice, but non-executive directorship is not a real profession and the public should not be footing the bill for talking shops.”

Scottish households are set to be £1,000 worse off this year as a result of inflation and soaring energy bills.

Research by the Resolution Foundation warned households could see a four percent drop in real terms income.

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While the public grapples with the struggles of the hit to their finances, 13 executives on the Scottish Police Authority are costing taxpayers nearly £400,000 per year.

The Scottish Law Commission’s five executives are costing nearly £370,000, while the Scottish National Investment Bank’s nice cost taxpayers £211,500.

National parks are among public bodies with the highest number of directors.

Cairngorm national park has a staggering 19 on its books, while the Loch Lomond and Trossachs national park has 17.

A Scottish government spokesman rejected the criticism saying the increased number of roles helped improve public services.

He said: “Public bodies play an essential role in delivery of crucial public services everyone relies on.

“The public sector benefits from the skills, knowledge, expertise, experience, perspectives and commitment of board members.

“The Scottish government and its agencies are operating a wider range of responsibilities than ever before in a changing political landscape whilst delivering value for money for the people of Scotland and protecting public services.”

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