By David Scott in Edinburgh
05 June 2009
The Scottish Government’s flagship plans to replace the Private Finance Initiative have suffered a setback following a decision by council leaders to look at ways of bypassing the scheme.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities – the cross-party body that represents all 32 councils – criticised the Scottish National Party’s Scottish Futures Trust as ‘unfocused’ and lacking in substance.
In a leaked report, the organisation said it had been disappointed for some time and was concerned at the ‘lack of solid information’ coming from the SFT. The council leaders have decided to look for ‘workable solutions’, including other funding methods.
The report stated: ‘Given the time that has elapsed and the lack of progress, there is now a pressing need to refocus attention on this funding issue. Local government needs to take control and come up with its own ideas.’
The decision is the latest blow to the SFT, which has been criticised for failing to provide much-needed public sector projects because of uncertainty over its role and funding methods.
The Scottish Labour leader, Iain Gray, said: ‘This is the final nail in the coffin for the futures trust. Even the SNP’s own councillors have turned against it.’
A spokesman for Finance Secretary John Swinney said the report had been overtaken by events. He added: ‘The SFT, which is now backed by CBI Scotland, is already supporting investment as part of the Scottish Government’s massive £35bn infrastructure programme for schools, hospitals, roads and other projects over the next decade.’
The latest row over the SFT comes amid claims that the local government concordat – an agreement signed by Cosla leaders and Swinney – has resulted in a cut to the financing of frontline services.
Figures collated for Scottish Labour by Professor Arthur Midwinter, a leading commentator on public finance, show that more than 500 teaching jobs could be lost this year because of a £61m squeeze on education budgets.
Midwinter told Public Finance: ‘This is a direct result of the underfunding of the concordat, and we still don’t know how much the Scottish Government thinks it would cost to implement its class-size reduction policy.’
