FOI FINDINGS IDENTIFY 800 SCOTTISH WORKERS WITHOUT FIXED POSTS

The Scottish Government said its policy of no compulsory redundancies remains in place after Freedom of Information findings identified around 800 public sector workers without fixed roles. The findings put their combined pay cost at at least £27 million a year. They cover staff in the NHS, central government, councils and quangos who remain on public payrolls after their original posts ceased to exist. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our policy for no compulsory redundancies remains.”

The findings indicate that about 255 workers have lacked a fixed post for more than a year. At least 49 have continued to receive full salaries for five years or longer after their original jobs became obsolete. The findings also identify one NHS Highland worker who has received full salary and benefits for 17 years without a specific job. Workers whose posts are cut enter redeployment pools while they wait for another role within their organisation.

The Scottish Conservatives have called for the Auditor General for Scotland to investigate the findings. Craig Hoy, the party’s finance and local government spokesman, said workers without fixed posts cost taxpayers millions of pounds each month. He called the arrangement a “ghost workforce” and said some staff had remained without their original jobs for years. Hoy said the Auditor General should establish how public money had been spent on the system.