Mick Hartley

Alex Massie in the Times, on the political paralysis in Scotland, and a bloated civil service:

You might think it obvious that when the Supreme Court clarifies what the law is and, indeed, what it has always been that the government and its myriad public agencies would pay some attention to this and promptly reconsider, and in fact rewrite, the unlawful policies and guidance it has mistakenly insisted upon for years.

You might think that obvious but you are not, of course, a government minister or senior civil servant. Yet here we are: nearly three months on from the verdict in For Women Scotland vs Scottish ministers and the government continues to delay, prevaricate, and obfuscate the urgent need to get its own house in order. The fierce necessity, that is, of obeying the law.

The Supreme Court’s verdict was really quite clear. Where single sex spaces are permissible or necessary they must be precisely that: single sex. For sex, in terms of the Equality Act, is to be understood as biological sex, not whatever or however a person may choose to identify themselves as. This is not complicated.

Yet the government continues to do very little. Ostensibly, this is because in common with other administrations in these islands, it awaits guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission even though, importantly, the EHRC says there is no need for this delay. Because, again, the law is now straightforward.

Hark however, at how Joe Griffin, newly appointed permanent secretary to the Scottish government, explained the situation at a Holyrood committee hearing this week. He was quizzed by Michelle Thomson, the SNP MSP for Falkirk East who put the matter plainly: “I’m flabbergasted why ten weeks after the Supreme Court judgment you’re not implementing the law. Why is that?”

I apologise to readers for quoting the permanent secretary’s response at length but it is useful, I believe, to let Scotland’s most senior servant speak for himself. Here is what he said: “So first of all, the government’s really clear: we accept the ruling and will take the action necessary to implement that.

“There’s a range of action that we have been taking already and in request from the cabinet secretary for social justice I’ve convened a short-life working group for all areas to be represented to take stock of the actions we need to take to ensure there’s a common understanding of where we are and to share any insight we may be gleaning from other approaches, for example the UK government or the Welsh government and these are the actions that we are taking while we wait for the end of the EHRC process to review their statutory guidance. That consultation ends next Monday, they’ll move to finalise that and once that’s finalised we’ll be able to take a further series of actions.”

Undaunted by this flannel, Thomson pressed on. “What actions,” she asked, “have you taken beyond talking about taking action?”

To which, and again I am afraid I am compelled to quote at length, Griffin replied: “Well, so I think, so specific actions I can’t give you that right now but the work that’s involved in the group and the work that the teams that are represented on the group is to prepare the ground so that when we have an understanding of what the consultation results will be by way of the new guidance we are ready.”

It is, after all, very important not to act too hastily when there is instead the opportunity to talk about talks about taking action. In the fullness of time, of course.

At this point everyone quietly agreed it was time to give up. The point of Yes, Minister is that it is a satire, not a manual….

The Scottish civil service has expanded by 70% since 2013, while the police and fire service workforces are being reduced.