Fury as civil service cost soars by over £50m

THE cost of the bloated SNP Government civil service has skyrocketed by more than £50million in a single year.

- BY DAVID WALKER

The bill has risen despite a litany of failures by John Swinney's administration, including a rising financial black hole.

Finance Secretary Shona Robison and Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee have vowed to reform the workforce by cutting the number of bureaucrats. They said it was a "reasonable" target to cut the civil service by 20% as part of savings of £5billion.

But the number of civil servants in Scotland rose again last year.