Sarwar: It will be difficult to reverse ministerial pay hike
Anas Sarwar has said it will be “difficult” to reverse a recent pay hike for Scottish Government ministers if he becomes first minister.
The Scottish Labour leader insisted he will aim to reduce the cost of government if he ousts the SNP from power in next May’s Holyrood election, but he refused to commit to reversing the recently-awarded pay rise First Minister John Swinney gave his Government team.
Mr Swinney himself will not accept the £19,126 increase he gave ministers, but the move – which comes after a 16-year pay freeze – means junior ministers will be paid £100,575 a year while Cabinet secretaries will earn £116,125.
I think there is a lot of ministers sitting around, taking the ministerial salary but not doing very much with it
Asked if he would reverse the pay hike if he becomes first minister, Mr Sarwar said: “It is difficult to talk about reversing decisions.”
He stressed his desire to slim down the size of the Scottish Government, saying: “A more obvious cut to make would be on the size of government, that means the number of ministers, the number of special advisers, the number of spin doctors.”
Mr Swinney has 10 Cabinet Secretaries in his Government and 14 other ministers, with Mr Sarwar claiming: “Government has grown exponentially under the SNP, so we do want to bring down the cost of government, I can give that commitment to people.”
Speaking as he campaigned ahead of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, he added: “I think there is a lot of ministers sitting around, taking the ministerial salary but not doing very much with it.
“I think you can see that in department after department where these ministers think their job is to have the title and not do the work.
“It is going to be difficult to do pay cuts, but in terms of reducing the cost of government, the size of government, the payroll, of course we are going to bring it down.”
The voluntary pay freeze for ministers was introduced in 2009 when Alex Salmond was first minister.
Mr Swinney has previously said the decision to raise ministerial salaries was made out of “fairness”, but he stressed he would not personally benefit.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministerial and MSP salaries are set and paid by the Scottish Parliament.
“The MSP element of pay for ministers for 2025-26 will be identical to that of other MSPs.
“The ministerial element of pay has been frozen for 16 years at 2008-09 levels and this will remain in place for 2025-26.”