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`Reform doesn´t mean cuts´ says minister, despite £4bn funding gap
PA Media
There has been speculation over what new Secretary for Public Service Reform Ivan McKee´s job entails.
Received: 11:24:19 on 2nd June 2026
The newly appointed Public Service Reform Secretary has said “reform doesn’t mean cuts”, despite a £4.7 billion funding gap.
Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform Ivan McKee was appointed in his new role after the Holyrood election in May.
There has been speculation as to what his job will entail, with concerns it could lead to job cuts across the public service sector.
However, Mr McKee has confirmed that “reform doesn’t mean cuts”.
Speaking to the Press Association on Tuesday, Mr McKee said: “Reform doesn’t mean cuts. What reform means is that we do things differently.
“And we talk about efficiency that’s about doing the same or better, building better public services with the money we’ve got available, doing it in a way that gets the money to the right points in the system.
“Making sure that we’re joining up different services across different agencies in different parts of government so that the service user, the citizen, when they engage with the public sector, are getting the best service delivered to them.
“And the people that work in that service have got full, fulfilling, impactful roles as a consequence of better organisation of how we go about delivering those services.”
His appointment comes as Scotland’s auditor general previously said ministers lacked a clear plan to deal with a £4.7 billion funding gap by 2029-30.
Mr McKee has said that he will focus on “reorganisation of delivery bodies and joining up the circles”.
He continued: “It’s about making the money work best, so it’s about getting the money to the right place. We’ve made no secret of the fact that money needs to move to frontline service delivery.
“Those roles would be increasing over the coming period and it’s about making sure we’re using other mechanisms, be that digitisation and automation, be it reorganisation of delivery bodies and joining up the circles.
“Because if you talk to any member of the public, or indeed anybody that works in public sector, they will tell you from a daily experience things that don’t work properly.”