Press Release

SMITH SAYS “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”

4/5/06

Margaret Smith, Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh West, has said that when it comes to relocating civil service posts from Edinburgh, “enough is enough”.

Speaking after a meeting with the Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business to discuss the location of Sportscotland, Ms Smith commented:

“Over recent months I have made clear that I am unhappy at the prospect of Edinburgh losing further civil service posts. I am especially concerned by the on-going threat to move Sportscotland from its current headquarters at South Gyle in my constituency, to the new National Indoor Stadium in Glasgow.

“Whilst people may have sympathy with a policy of locating public sector jobs in parts of the country that currently have very few, this is not the case with Glasgow. Over the past 7 years, 2602 jobs have been reviewed, with 1381 allocated to Glasgow and only around 400 to Edinburgh.

“In the case of Sportscotland, I do not accept that there is a need to relocate these management and technical jobs to Glasgow.

“For Sportscotland employees relocation to Glasgow would mean either uprooting themselves and their families to move to Glasgow, or commuting from Edinburgh with all the negative impact that this would have on the environment and their quality of life. The only alternative to these would be losing their jobs altogether.

“The Executive’s Partnership commitment is to job dispersal that benefits all of Scotland – and that must surely include Edinburgh too.”