Quangos Scotland: Anger over 'lavish' £120m quango bill on public relations and consultants

A data-led investigation by The Scotsman can reveal for the first time the extensive spending by the likes of executive non-departmental public bodies and public corporations, with some organisations spending as much as £34m a year on public relations, and others incurring nearly £11m in external consultancy costs.

Opposition parties said the public would be “astounded” at the “lavish” level of spending, and called for the Scottish Government to urgently justify the costs at a time when the nation’s public finances were “stretched to breaking point”.

In what represents the first ever comprehensive analysis of quango spending across Scotland, the full extent of the quangos’ expenditure on overseas travel and hospitality can also be disclosed, with organisations spending millions at a time when ministers have sanctioned widespread budget cuts, and unions are calling for better pay deals for workers.

However, the overall bill, which does not include health bodies or the likes of councils and further education colleges, is likely to be significantly higher, given numerous organisations either failed to provide the spending data, or offered only incomplete records, flouting their legal obligations.

The Scotsman can also reveal the Scottish Government itself spent £21,489,000 on external consultants in 2022/23. It spent a further £18,463,000 on public relations, encompassing communications staff costs within the directorate for communications and ministerial support.

The analysis of quangos spanned 95 organisations, ranging from major executive non-departmental public bodies and public corporations such as Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Water, through to a host of executive agencies such as Education Scotland and Scottish Forestry. However, it also included little known entities such as the Drinking Water Quality Regulator.

In total, the quangos spent over £67.3m on public relations in 2022/23, classed as covering all external communications, including the cost of in-house and contracted staff and consultants, spending on marketing, PR campaigns, media relations, marketing research and events.

Visitscotland, which has been widely criticised for its decision to close dozens of tourist information centres, accounted for more than half of that total, spending £34,541,000. The national tourism quango, which pointed out that it is predominantly a PR and marketing organisation, has spent more than £123.7m on PR marketing between 2020/21 and 2022/23.

Scottish Enterprise’s public relations outlay was £6,084,131. It was one of several other organisations to have incurred seven figure PR bills, including David MacBrayne Ltd, the Calmac ferry holding company, which spent £2,085,174, and NatureScot, which ran up a PR spend of £2,057,408. The Scottish Qualifications Authority, whose staff staged industrial action earlier this year over a pay dispute, spent £1,590,000.

On external consultancy spending, the quangos’ outlay totalled more than £56m, spanning the likes of management, financial, construction and IT consultants. Scottish Water accounted for a significant minority of that total, with expenditure of £10,995,794. It spent nearly £22m on external consultants between 2020/21 and 2022/23.

The 2022/23 figures, disclosed under the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, also show Transport Scotland spent £9,424,870 on outside consultants. Other big spenders were the Scottish Police Authority (£4,394,000) and another body associated with Scotland’s beleaguered ferry projects, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (£4,195,315).

Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary Liz Smith said: “Hard-pressed Scots will be astounded at this lavish level of spending by SNP Government agencies on spin doctors and other activities. By shelling out more than £120m, it appears they have escaped the cuts everyone else has had to suffer as a result of Shona Robison’s disastrous tax-and-axe Budget. The SNP must urgently explain how these costs can be justified at a time when Scots are paying more in tax and our public services are completely overwhelmed.”

Michael Marra, Scottish Labour’s finance spokesman, said: “At a time when public finances are stretched to breaking point, every penny of public money must be spent wisely. For years now the SNP has allowed financial mismanagement and waste to run riot across government, damaging public finances and public services alike.

“It is essential that government quangos treat taxpayers’ money with respect and ensure their budgets are used to deliver for the people of Scotland. Scottish Labour is committed to ending SNP waste and protecting the public purse through our fiscal transparency charter.”

The disclosures also show that across Scotland’s quangos, over £2.3m was spent on overseas travel, with several bodies racking up six-figure bills. Scottish Enterprise spent £686,399. The Water Industry Commission for Scotland, the economic regulator of Scottish Water, spent £303,690. That included £77,350 to send its chief operating officer to a training course at Harvard Business School in the US. Stephen Boyle, the auditor general for Scotland, criticised the commission late last year for what he described as “unacceptable behaviour”.

Nearly £1.2m was spent by quangos on hospitality. Several bodies incurred six-figure spends, including the Scottish Police Authority, which had been previously rapped by Audit Scotland for the poor use of public money (£286,623), and Scottish Enterprise (£186,102).

Despite repeated requests, several quangos were unable to provide spending information. The Scotsman’s analysis drew instead on their latest records, the majority of which spanned the period of the pandemic, when expenditure on overseas travel and hospitality was low, if not non-existent.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Public bodies have a vital role in delivering the Government’s objectives and are key in areas such as health services, administering the justice system and supporting sustainable economic growth. Public sector purchasing power generated more than £13 billion in economic activity and contributed £7.5bn to Scotland’s GDP in 2021/22, supporting 130,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

“Effective communication by the Government is essential to help people understand policies, encourage uptake of key public services or prompt behaviour change for the public good – all essential to the Government’s purpose.”