27 July 2007
Permanent secretary Sir John Elvidge has come under fire from Opposition parties after disclosing that talks are taking place on the creation of a separate Scottish civil service.
In what is seen as a significant change in relationships between Edinburgh and London, Elvidge revealed that the election of the Scottish National Party government has ended the informal contacts between the Executive and Whitehall.
Asked about relations with Whitehall, Elvidge replied: 'They understand they can't expect me to tell them the thoughts of this government and that I don't expect them to tell me the thoughts of the UK government until we are in a process of discussion about a particular thing. It changes the nature of the conversation: it makes it a bit more formal. It is working for a separate government. There isn't much ambiguity about that.'
Elvidge confirmed that he is taking forward the SNP manifesto plans for the creation of a separate Scottish civil service. An Executive spokeswoman said this week that discussions were taking place with the Northern Ireland civil service, which is a separate organisation, though she stressed that it was 'early days'.
Elvidge's comments in The Scotsman provoked criticism from Opposition parties, which voiced concern about 'separation by the back door' and emphasised that Parliament should be informed before any proposals were taken forward.
'Any constitutional discussions should be left to politicians, not to public servants,' said Murdo Fraser, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives. Labour said it would be a matter of concern if the Scottish government could no longer draw on the experience of its Whitehall counterparts.
A source close to First Minister Alex Salmond said: 'It should not be surprising that, as the elected government, we are working to implement our manifesto proposals.'
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