Exclusive:SNP accused of deceitful strategy after 'grotesque' plans to cut 12,000 jobs

Trade unionists have been put “on alert” and have hit out at Finance Secretary Shona Robison effectively ending the Scottish Government’s policy of no compulsory redundancies. This came after she admitted that if not enough jobs were cut over the next five years through other means, workers would be forced into losing their employment.

Ms Robison made the admission as she set out almost £5 billion of savings and cuts needed by 2030. These include £2.6bn for the Government’s day-to-day revenue budget, with the gaping hole emerging due to spending plans significantly outweighing the funding Holyrood is poised to bring in, largely from Westminster.

The strategy includes controversial plans to whittle down the devolved public sector workforce, which stands around 550,000 employees, by 0.5 per cent every year for the next five years - losing around 12,000 roles.

READ MORE: SNP ministers to axe public sector jobs as near £5bn funding black hole emerges

The Finance Secretary has stressed “no compulsory redundancies will be maintained as the default position”. But she added “as a last resort ... compulsory redundancy will be considered”.

Scotland's devolved workforce includes NHS and college workers.

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer told The Scotsman that rolling back the policy on no compulsory redundancies was “a kick in the teeth for public sector workers” and pointed the blame at choices made by John Swinney’s Government.

She said: “To reverse this policy after 14 years, while UK government funding is increasing, will only undermine faith in genuine public sector reform.

“It’s due to the Scottish Government’s own inaction – their own failings - on progressive taxation and redistributing wealth to pay for our public services that we are now in the grotesque situation of up to 12,000 workers paying with their jobs.”

READ MORE: SNP plans to axe more than 12,000 jobs to plug near £5bn gap 'easier said than done'

Ms Foyer rejected a claim in the long-delayed medium-term financial strategy “the wage bill needs to be more sustainable going forward”, alongside a warning it would be “essential to constrain this growth in spending to affordable levels”.

She said: “The idea that Scotland’s public sector is full of largesse is simply not borne out by the facts. In the last 15 years, Scotland’s public sector has fallen from 24 per cent of the workforce to less than 22 per cent.”

The STUC chief has warned Mr Swinney's Government that “to govern is to choose”.

READ MORE: Scottish Government: Staffing concerns in the civil service as internal communications revealed

She said: “We know the public finances are tight. But to simply cut jobs and make our public services weaker, despite their insistence to the contrary, is a duplicity that should make ministers blush.

“Whilst we embrace technological advancements that make the world of work more streamlined, we don’t accept this should mean a reduction in headcount.

“Whether it be reducing NHS waiting times, providing dignified social care, tackling violence in our schools, or restoring faith in local government, our public services need more people, not less. That requires a commitment to increasing tax revenue, something this financial strategy was sorely lacking.

“The Scottish Government should be on notice that unions are on alert and are clear that any reforms must be centred on improving and protecting the quality of our public services and the conditions of our vital public sector workers.”

The Scottish Government’s public sector pay policy states “Scotland’s public sector is larger and better paid when compared to the rest of the UK and has had a commitment to no compulsory redundancies since 2007”.

The document adds: “The larger size of the workforce is both in terms of the share of the economy and the share of total employment. The public sector accounts for 22.2 per cent of employment in Scotland, compared to 17.8 per cent across the UK. “

The Scottish Government’s bill for public sector pay, including local government, is estimated to reach almost £29bn in 2025-26 and is expected to soar to £32bn by 2030 without intervention to cut the size of the workforce.

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A spokesperson for the First Minister told The Scotsman that “over the course of 15 years”, Holyrood had experienced “some very difficult settlements from the UK government”.

The spokesperson added: “We’re disappointed with the most recent settlement as set out by [Chancellor] Rachel Reeves. If our funding had kept up to pace with the average of the UK government departments, I think we’d be about £1bn better off within three years.

“The medium-term financial strategy reflects the position that we find ourselves in within the current economic climate. We’ve set out our position in terms of savings that need to be made until 2029/30.”