McCabe to speed up pace of change

30 Mar 06
Finance Minister Tom McCabe has underlined his determination to speed up the pace of public sector reform in Scotland.

31 March 2006

Finance Minister Tom McCabe has underlined his determination to speed up the pace of public sector reform in Scotland.

His pledge comes as local authorities are drawing up plans for 'voluntary reform', to avoid structural reform being imposed.

Council leaders representing Scotland's unitary authorities have agreed to produce plans for the collective sharing of services such as IT, payroll and council tax collection. They estimate these could save around £500m a year.

Speaking at the Transforming Public Services conference in Edinburgh this week, McCabe said the Executive would step up the pace of reform. He said: 'Devolution has allowed us to develop public services that are specific to Scottish needs.'

The minister said the consultation process would involve events across Scotland and would bring together public services in a constructive and productive environment. 'I expect the process to generate real, radical and practical ideas for reform,' he added.

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