The SNP leader was accused of having set out to reorganise the country’s councils and NHS boards “without a clear purpose, or a plan or a process”.
John Swinney is planning a major revamp of Scotland’s public sector (Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
John Swinney’s plan to slash the number of health boards and force the merger of local authorities risks causing a “decade of distraction”, Michael Marra has warned.
The Scottish Labour leader accused the First Minister today of having set out to reorganise the country’s councils and NHS boards “without a clear purpose, or a plan or a process”.
He claimed the government proposals – which would see the number of territorial health boards cut from 14 to two health boards with a new structure planned for local government – would “upend the whole of our NHS, our social work system, all of our schools and the entirety of local government, all at the same time”.
Raising the issue at FMQs, Marra told his SNP rival that as a result, “Scotland risks a decade of distraction”.
The Scottish Labour leader insisted that, despite ministers having produced a housing emergency action plan, it was “clear things are getting worse”.
Adding that Scotland was also on track to miss its legally binding target to cut child poverty to under 10% by 2030, Mr Marra said cross-party talks were needed to “get back on track”.
But the SNP leader stressed the “absolute priority the government attaches to eradicating child poverty”.
He added that some issues which can “exacerbate” the problems with housing and poverty are “outwith the hands of this government” – citing “challenges about energy costs” as one of these.
But he said that there were “a range of measures we can take within this Parliament to address these issues”, with the First Minister saying he was “absolutely committed to doing so”.
The First Minister also told MSPs there were “a range of interventions being made by the government” on homelessness, including work to build more homes and to bring empty homes back into use, as well as efforts to try to prevent homelessness in the first place.
However, recognising the “scale of the challenge”, he said the Scottish Government had “committed in its budget record sums of investment in housing to address this issue”.
