ANDY Burnham has been urged to rule out an "anti-devolution power grab" amid reports the head of the UK Government's civil service could be given more powers.
As reported in The Times, the Prime Minister is planning to give cabinet secretary Antonia Romeo legal powers to direct and overrule the officials who run UK Government departments.
The legislation, which is set to be included in the King's Speech next year, would centralise power and enable Burnham to drive through his policies and cross-departmental reforms.
Romeo is head of the civil service, but she does not currently have the power to direct the permanent secretaries who run UK Government departments.
Instead, she can only exert her authority through appointments and performance reviews.
While she can ask officials to take action or pursue a particular policy, they are under no obligation to carry this out.
Permanent secretaries are accountable to their secretaries of state, who are accountable to the Prime Minister.
Burnham has previously criticised the mechanisms in place at Whitehall, saying that "too much time is wasted with departmental silos battling each other and battling the Treasury rather than getting things done".
Concerns have now been raised that the move could lead to an "anti-devolution power grab" from the UK Government over the Scottish Government.
The SNP have warned that if the change applies to Scotland, it "would see devolution put into reverse".
Commenting, SNP MSP Calum Kerr said: “Andy Burnham doesn’t quite get Scotland or our devolution settlement, that’s already clear from his first weeks in office. Just as Scotland is not a region, the Scottish Government is not a Whitehall department.
“The Prime Minister must rule out giving a UK Government civil servant the ability to direct the Scottish Government in any way, shape or form.
“Andy Burnham's Westminster Government speaks of devolution by default, but we are seeing little evidence of warm words turning into solid action and this proposed change, if it effected Scotland, would see devolution put into reverse."
A UK Government spokesman told The Herald: "We don't comment on speculation. The UK Government remains unwavering in its commitment to devolution and to making the existing settlement in Scotland work effectively.
"The Cabinet Secretary is leading a review to strengthen the delivery, accountability, innovation and productivity of the UK Civil Service. This has nothing to do with the powers of the Scottish Parliament which are set out in law under the Scotland Act.”
