SNP words fail to match the rhetoric, says Auditor General

Commenting in response to a blog published by Audit Scotland, where the Auditor General Stephen Boyle reports a “mismatch” in SNP policy delivery, explaining that “audit work consistently shows a major implementation gap between policy ambitions and delivery on the ground”, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole- Hamilton MSP, pictured left,  said:  “Stephen Boyle’s scathing assessment just about sums up the SNP’s fourteen years in power: over a decade of overpromising and under-delivering.

“On a day where another Programme for Government floats further ideals about clearing CAMHS waiting lists and completing the long overdue R100 programme for broadband, sceptics could be forgiven for their instincts.

“The reality is the words don’t match the rhetoric, and people are let down as a result. With the Greens now giving up any premise of opposition, Scottish Liberal Democrats will work hard to keep the government’s feet to the fire. People deserve better.”

Meanwhile,  commenting in advance of the ministerial takeover of social care being included in the Programme for Government, with COSLA questioning why it looks set to seize powers in other areas too, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:  “With the Greens on a leash and signed up to serve the SNP’s every need, this Programme for Government will be little more than an SNP power grab.

“The plans for centralised social care are brazen even for them. Ministers want to sweep up everything from alcohol and drug partnerships to social work, and take decision making powers away from people on the ground.

“Liberal Democrats will fight to stop this attack on localism, which would leave local authorities as a shell of their former selves.”