By MICHAEL BLACKLEY SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
Russell Findlay has vowed to cut back Scotland's public sector 'professional class' as he promised to wield the axe on a number of quangos.
The Scottish Conservative leader named a series of bodies he wants to scrap, including the Scottish Land Commission, Community Justice Scotland, ferries body Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) and Architecture and Design Scotland.
It followed the Tory manifesto pledge to cut the number of Scottish Government quangos by 'at least a quarter'.
The party's proposal to slash income tax rates was also yesterday backed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which said it was 'fully costed on paper' - although it warned that the additional 'substantial cutbacks' to services may still be required.
Mr Findlay yesterday told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast that his tax cuts would be partly funded by reductions in 'middle-management' roles and corporate functions in the public sector.
He said: 'We've identified there's around 130 public bodies in Scotland. Many of these aren't necessary, many of these are doing the same work as one another.'
Asked to name the bodies he would cull, he said: 'The Scottish Land Commission, Community Justice Scotland, CMAL, who were responsible for the corrupt CalMac ferry debacle, there's two organisations that deal with architecture, two public bodies that deal with architecture in Scotland.'
'Much of this work isn't necessary, it doesn't add value to the taxpayer. When people are going out working hard to pay their taxes, they want to see improved public services, they want to see the bins emptied, they want to see potholes filled, they want to see police officers on their streets.'
'They don't want to pay for vast reams of a professional class that serve no purpose and add no value. So that is one area in which we would save money for taxpayers, the other area is the out of control State benefit system.'
'Right now, the SNP Government is spending £1 out of every seven on benefits, there is a huge amount of waste.'
The Scottish Tory manifesto said that the cost of running the Scottish Government and its quangos would be cut by £1.5 billion a year, with the money redirected to the frontline.
The number of quangos would also be cut by 'at least a quarter to end the culture of important policy decisions being delegated to anonymous bureaucrats'.
Income tax would be cut by abolishing the 20p basic rate and 21p intermediate rate, meaning that taxpayers would pay a 19p rate above the tax-free personal allowance until the higher rate threshold, which is currently £43,663.
It also included a pledge to raise the point at which people begin paying income tax by at least inflation in every year of the next parliament.
Although the tax-free personal allowance is reserved, Mr Findlay said this would be done by creating a new 0 per cent band to effectively increase the personal allowance.
In its analysis of the manifesto, the IFS said that 'it is welcome that these costs are set out clearly in a costed document' but warned that cuts to disability benefits to pay for one-third of the £6 billion package may be lower than expected and there is 'no evidence' that there is scope for efficiencies of the scale set out in the document.
David Phillips, head of devolved and local government finance at the IFS, said: 'Taking the entire package of measures together, this may be a costed plan on paper but whether it would survive contact with reality is far from clear.'
'Scotland can have lower taxes and higher spending on some services - but giveaways on the scale proposed by the Scottish Conservatives cannot credibly be funded largely through back-office and administrative savings.'
'In addition to the cuts to benefits set out in the manifesto, there would likely need to be substantial cutbacks to either the range or quality of some services used by households and businesses too.'
Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: 'We welcome the scrutiny from the IFS about our manifesto, which is the most comprehensive the Scottish Conservatives have produced for a Holyrood election.'
'It is pleasing they are supportive of our plans to simplify Scotland's income tax and business rate systems, and that they appreciate us proactively publishing a costings document alongside our manifesto.'
He added: 'We disagree with the IFS' assessment that savings cannot be made to the huge amount of bureaucracy that has spiralled out of control under the SNP, which even they have admitted is too large.'