Michael Marra has warned that the SNP government’s public-service reforms risk creating a “decade of distraction” unless ministers set out a clear purpose and delivery plan.
The Scottish Labour leader raised the issue at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday as he pressed John Swinney over Scotland’s housing emergency and the likelihood that the government will miss its legally binding child-poverty target.
Marra said the proposed reforms could simultaneously affect the NHS, social work, schools and local government. He argued that councils and public bodies needed to concentrate on improving outcomes rather than spend years reorganising structures without clear objectives.
“Far from pulling everyone together, the First Minister is planning to spend years and untold amounts of money pulling things apart, with no clarity of reason and no plan as to how,” he told MSPs.
Marra added: “Scotland risks a decade of distraction unless the First Minister sets out a purpose and a plan.”
Speaking after the session, he said no one knew how the reforms would improve services or how staff, service users and other organisations could meaningfully contribute to the process.
“The reality is that Scotland faces inertia, confusion, and delay – all while outcomes for people in Scotland continue to decline,” Marra said.
Swinney rejected the criticism and accused Labour of inconsistency. He noted that Scottish Labour’s election manifesto proposed reducing the number of territorial health boards to three, while the SNP government intends to reduce them to two.
The First Minister said the public would be “utterly bewildered” to hear Labour criticise health-board rationalisation after campaigning for a similar structural change. He nevertheless invited Marra to work constructively with the government on its programme and forthcoming budget.
Marra’s challenge was broader than opposition to reducing the number of health boards. He argued that ministers had not explained how the full package of changes across several public services would be managed or how it would support urgent priorities such as reducing homelessness and child poverty.
The exchange leaves the SNP facing pressure to demonstrate that restructuring will produce better services, rather than consume money and attention while outcomes continue to deteriorate.
