Hunderds of Scottish public sector ‘ghost workers’ have been paid for up to 17 years despite their roles being abolished.
asserted
roles → pay → years
At least £27million a year of taxpayers’ money is being used on the salaries of staff in the Scottish Government, NHS, councils and quangos even though they no longer have a fixed role because their previous position is no longer needed.
asserted
position → use → role
The workers might ordinarily have been made redundant but this cannot happen due to the SNP Government’s ban on compulsory redundancies.
uncertain
this → make → redundancies
In the most extreme case, one NHS Highland worker had been receiving their full salary for 17 years despite no longer having a specific job role.
asserted
worker → receive → role
The revelations triggered calls for an investigation into the use of the practice by a public spending watchdog.
asserted
revelations → trigger → watchdog
Scottish Conservative finance and social care spokesman Craig Hoy said: ‘Scotland’s public sector has become a gravy train for insiders, with a ghost workforce of hundreds costing taxpayers millions every month.
asserted
workforce → say → millions
‘Some have been left languishing in zombie jobs for 17 years - a jaw-dropping indictment of a system completely out of control.
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Some → leave → control
John Swinney has been accused of protecting jobs ahead of protecting taxpayers
‘
asserted
Swinney → accuse → taxpayers
John Swinney talks about reform, but his no-compulsory-redundancies pledge puts protecting jobs ahead of protecting taxpayers.
asserted
pledge → talk → taxpayers
‘The Auditor General must investigate this scandal and establish how taxpayers’ money is being squandered on a system that has been allowed to spiral out of control.’
The Sunday Times newspaper revealed details of the 800 cases of Scottish public sector workers who are deemed to have no fixed role, with their salaries costing at least £27million a year.
asserted
salaries → investigate → 27million
The true cost is likely to be higher as several public bodies refused to provide the salaries for those awaiting redeployment.
asserted
bodies → refuse → redeployment
Some 255 workers across the Scottish public sector have not had a fixed job for more than a year, while at least 49 have been in this situation for five years or more.
asserted
49 → have → years
These ‘ghost workers’ are placed in redeployment pools while they wait for another role within their organisation to open up and are typically asked to carry out less senior roles or ad-hoc duties while they await a new position.
asserted
they → place → position
It follows the SNP Government’s decision to ban compulsory redundancies when it came to power in 2007.
asserted
it → follow → 2007
Last week, staff in Scotland’s NHS were told they would not face compulsory redundancy despite John Swinney’s plan to reduce the number of regional health boards from 14 to two, and will instead be retrained, redeployed or invited to apply for voluntary severance deals.
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they → tell → deals
Further reforms are being planned across other parts of the public sector, including councils and quangos, as part of efforts to tackle a looming £5billion financial black hole.
asserted
reforms → plan → hole
At NHS Highland, 88 workers were awaiting redeployment at the end of last month, with 26 of them having been without a permanent role for five years or more.
asserted
26 → await → years
At least four of its workers had been waiting for a new role since at least 2015, with one having been without a fixed position for 16 years and another for 17 years.
asserted
one → wait → years
Their term of employment without a role stretches back to 2009, when Gordon Brown was still prime minister, Barack Obama first became President of the United States, the MPs’ expenses scandal erupted and the singer Michael Jackson died.
asserted
singer → stretch → States
The health board declined to provide details on the longest serving staff member without a specific role but added it was ‘committed to supporting colleagues through periods of change’.
asserted
it → decline → change
Other public sector bodies employing multiple staff without a fixed job for five years or more included Police Scotland, Scottish Water and NHS 24.
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bodies → employ → Water
Valentin Boboc, a senior economist at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: ‘Taxpayers deserve clear evidence that public funds are used to deliver value.’
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funds → say → value
He added: ‘Whilst redeployment makes economic sense to retain skills and avoid the cost of recruitment, a guarantee that no one can be compulsorily made redundant simply puts the cart before the horse.
asserted
one → add → horse
Ministers should be free to give managers the flexibility to retrain, redeploy or reduce the number of staff to ensure taxpayers get the best quality and cost for the services they want.
asserted
they → give → services
The total cost to the Scottish NHS of employing workers with no permanent jobs to go to is £1.4million a month, or £16.8million a year, based on figures provided for 315 workers.
asserted
cost → employ → workers
Information was not disclosed for 185.
asserted
Information → disclose → 185
An Audit Scotland spokesman said: ‘Decisions about the public sector’s approach to redundancy are a matter of policy, which is out with the Auditor General’s statutory remit.’
asserted
which → say → remit
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Our policy for no compulsory redundancies remains.
asserted
policy → say → redundancies
Public bodies are expected to ensure that they deliver value for money and to see that all staff, including those who are redeployed, are engaged in appropriate work for their pay scale.’
asserted
who → expect → scale
He added public bodies have tools such as redeployment, attrition, vacancy management, reskilling and voluntary severance to deliver public service reform.
asserted
bodies → add → reform
The Aporia
