Fergus Ewing suggests 'purge' of Scottish Government tsars to save public money

Scottish Government commissioners are like the last tsars of Russia and should be purged, Fergus Ewing has said.

The backbench SNP rebel – who is challenging his party suspension for voting against the government – compared the appointed officials to the Romanov dynasty, which was removed in a mass assassination in the October Revolution of 1917.

Ewing, who has called the Scottish Greens "wine bar revolutionaries", questioned the value of the commissioners after figures revealed an increase in costs.

The current seven commissioners cover issues including ethical standards and children, costing a combined £16.6m. Another seven are proposed, with Holyrood last week voting to create a patient safety commissioner at a cost of £645,000 per year.

Ewing said the "plethora" of commissioners would cost £80m over a five year period.

He told Scottish Government business minister George Adam a "purge" of the tsars would save £160m over a decade – more than the estimated cost of dualling the A9 from Tomatin to Moy.

Ewing said: "Given we really do need to look at making savings do we get value for money from our tsars? Are they really relevant to our citizens – any more relevant than the Romanovs were to the Russians in their daily life, and would it not be worthwhile considering a purge of the tsars? And if so, doesn't history tell us that October is not a bad month in which to carry it out?"

Adam said this is "a conversation we should have" but the budget for the commissioners is a matter for the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body and parliament.

He went on: "For every single one of these commissioners, there will be stakeholders who value the work that they do, and how important the work that they do is, but there is a question and a debate to be had by us all as to maybe how we go about it."

Adam said in New Zealand an office of commissioners exists "so effectively you no longer have each individual organisation operating on its own". He went on: "That's not something that government's looking at, it's just something I'm aware of; different ways of working."

Ewing responded: "We spend a lot of time in parliament deciding how to spend ever, ever more quantities of taxpayers' money; we spend very little time in reviewing how much value for money we get from the billions that we spend every year and I do think that with the pressures facing us now, it's perhaps an idea whose time has come."

Suggesting sunset clauses could be use to limit the duration in which a commissioner is in place, Ewing said: "I'm not in favour necessarily of a mass purge and assassination."