Scottish Labour has pledged to “end the era of bloated government” if it wins power in next month’s Holyrood elections.
The commitment comes in the party’s manifesto for May’s vote, where it wants to unseat the ruling Scottish National Party – which has been the dominant force in devolved government since 2007.
Labour, led by Anas Sarwar, said that compared with a decade ago, Scotland has fewer teachers, police officers and fire fighters but more Scottish Government officials than ever before.
“An expensive labyrinth of public bodies, executive agencies and quangos shields the government from the consequences of its failure,” the party’s manifesto said. “Instead of creating more red tape and jobs for bureaucrats, Scottish Labour will cut back the bloated government operation and refocus resources on delivery, starting at the top.”
The manifesto does not set a target for staff cuts. However, the measures it proposes include reducing “external public bodies” and quangos by at least a third, starting with plans to streamline economic agencies and reduce health boards. According to the document, skilled workforces will be redeployed “to improve delivery and value for public money”.
At the centre of Scottish Labour’s plans to improve value for money in government is the creation of a Scottish Treasury within government, tasked with getting a grip on public spending, setting realistic long-term funding plans, supported by three-yearly spending reviews.
The manifesto also proposes the creation of a “team for government efficiency” that would work with the Scottish Treasury to make sure public services are fit for purpose. Its work would include reducing “the bloated costs of government”, wasteful spending and duplication across external agencies.
Other pledges in the manifesto include reducing the number of cabinet secretaries and ministers, with the aim of delivering better cross-directorate working and cutting the Scottish Government paybill, “banning excessive bonuses for public executives”, and establishing an independent ethics advisor with a remit that includes special advisors and senior civil servants.
Independent think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies praised Scottish Labour for the lack of “big, unfunded new commitments” its 2026 manifesto. Nevertheless, it cautioned that the 98-page document targets “some big improvements to existing services” expected to be paid for out of existing budgets.
David Phillips, head of devolved and local government finance at the IFS, said the challenges of improving performance in the NHS, schools and other public services should not be underestimated.
“While Scottish Labour has been relatively restrained in its proposed giveaways, meeting its ambitions for priority services would still probably require some combination of cuts to other services, increases in taxes, or improvements in public sector productivity – above those already baked into existing spending plans,” he said. “These would not need to be on the scale required by the plans of most of Scotland’s other parties, which are planning bigger giveaways. But a Scottish Labour government would still face tough choices on tax and spending after the election.”
Voters in Scottish Parliament elections get to pick both a constituency MSP and a regional MSP. An Ipsos survey published last week showed Scottish Labour polling just 15% in both constituency and regional voting intentions.
Ipsos said the SNP was estimated to get a 39% vote share for constituency candidates and 29% for regional candidates.