Support Civil Service Union Call for Relocation Moratorium

That the Parliament expresses serious concern at the contents of the Audit Scotland report into the Scottish Executive’s relocation policy; notes the report’s findings, including that the Executive has developed the policy in a completely ad hoc and inconsistent way and that there have been limited attempts to evaluate the policy and programme; agrees with the PCS which has always contended that there is no link between criteria set for relocation reviews and clear and transparent policy objectives of ministers and that Scottish ministers have looked too narrowly at the relocation of Scottish civil service jobs without fully taking into account the existing location of many thousands of public sector jobs already spread throughout Scotland, in UK civil service departments and agencies and other public sector bodies, including local government and the health service, and supports the call by the PCS for an immediate moratorium on further relocations and believes there should be a rigorous examination of the merits, efficacy and implications of the current relocation policy.