SNP spends millions on public sector ‘ghost jobs’

The SNP is wasting millions a year on “ghost jobs” because of stringent restrictions on sacking public sector workers. About 800 employees in the NHS, quangos and the Scottish Government are reportedly on the taxpayer-funded payroll despite no longer having a fixed role. In most organisations, the workers would have been made redundant, but the SNP’s hands were tied by a ban on compulsory redundancies in the public sector that was introduced in 2007. An investigation by the Sunday Times found 255 Scottish public-sector workers had not worked a fixed job for more than a year, and at least 49 who had been on a full salary for five years or more after the role they were hired for became obsolete. One NHS Highland worker, the newspaper claimed, had been receiving their full salary and benefits for 17 years despite not having a specific job any more. The health board refused to say what the worker had been doing in that time or what they had been paid. “Ghost workers” are staff whose roles have been cut but who remain on the public payroll. Instead of being made redundant, the workers are placed in a redeployment pool while they wait for another role to become available in their organisation, typically with the same pay and benefits. Staff on redeployment are usually asked to carry out less senior roles or ad-hoc duties while they await a new permanent position, rather than relaxing at home. The system works as intended for junior staff who are easier to redeploy, but becomes harder for older workers who are on higher salaries and have more specialised roles. John Swinney is under pressure to change the policy amid Scotland’s £5bn deficit . Opposition leaders say the First Minister’s plans to streamline Scotland’s NHS boards will be impossible if the redundancy ban stays in place. The Scottish Tories have demanded that the Auditor General for Scotland – the public spending watchdog – launch an investigation into the findings. ‘A system completely out of control’ Craig Hoy, the party’s finance and local government spokesman, said: “Scotland’s public sector has become a gravy train for insiders. “Some have been left languishing in zombie jobs for 17 years, a jaw-dropping indictment of a system completely out of control.” The Scottish NHS spends £1.4m a month employing workers with no permanent jobs, based on figures provided for 315 workers. Information was not disclosed for another 185. NHS Scotland said it was committed to retaining employees when they were “displaced”, or unable to continue in the jobs they had been hired to carry out. Its policy says they should be given “meaningful duties” while waiting for a new post. In cases where a job is lost because of “organisational change”, workers will receive their previous salary even if they are redeployed to a more junior post. The figures were obtained under freedom of information laws. At least 70 public bodies in Scotland responded to the newspaper’s questions on staff awaiting redeployment, revealing that they were spending £2.3m a month between them on salaries and other employment costs. The figure does not include spending by the Scottish Government, which also refuses to make staff redundant when their job no longer exists. Its salary costs for retaining surplus civil servants were reportedly between £2m and £2.4m a year. A Scottish Government spokesman said: “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.” NHS Highland said it followed national policies and was “committed to supporting colleagues through periods of change”.