Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has criticised the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) and other Scottish development agencies for “holding back the Scottish economy.”
In a speech in Edinburgh, Brown noted that the multitude of regional development agencies that now operate in Scotland, as well financial institutions such as Scottish Enterprise and the SNIB, are replicating structures that already exist at a UK level. The lack of cooperation between Edinburgh and London could be costing the country up to £4 billion, he claimed.
“It’s no wonder that businesses are confused – if you look at what needs to be done, we need coordination and cooperation, we need it at the regional as well as the national level,” Brown added.
The network of different agencies which all have similar aims “is holding back the Scottish economy, because we don’t have people sitting around the table looking at these same issues in a way that uses funds to best effect.”
Brown’s intervention comes at a time when the SNIB is coming under increased scrutiny in Holyrood over its handling of conflicts of interest and its lack of a legally mandated advisory board.
Author: Harry Clynch
