AS a Scot, it embarrasses me to say this, but the Scottish Government’s new Programme for Government, published last week to much fanfare, is absolutely riddled with errors.
Putting the inadequacies of the content aside, the workmanship is shoddy, substandard and lacks attention to detail.
This text should be a keystone document, crafted at the apex of Scotland’s Government – and presented as the clear, accurate and definitive programme that will guide our nation for the next five years.
What we got was slipshod, slapdash and clumsy. A contact of mine who works in industry was skimming through the Programme for Government, looking for the content relevant to business.
They noticed one obvious error. Then another. And another. As they continued reading, the mistakes kept accumulating until they started noting down every error they encountered.
By the end, this impromptu audit had flagged well over 100 points where the document was internally inconsistent. But far more concerning, over and above this poor-quality baseline, were the 70-plus clear errors.
“Attention to detail is not about perfection. It’s about excellence, about constant improvement.” – Chris Denny
You do not have to wait long for them to start. In the opening pages, the First Minister describes the programme’s fundamental purpose as “ensuring that people see and feel their Government that is on their side, working every day to improve their lives”.
Try reading that aloud. It is one of the simplest ways to proof-check a document. The sentence simply does not work as written.
Another paragraph, initially identified by Andy Wightman on Twitter/X, provides a remarkable double hit: “Engaging in an intensive dialogue over the next three months with partners in Local Government, and other parties across Parliament reach a clear shared direction about the future of local governance in Scotland. The Government believes there is a need for regional local government, alongside community empowerment …”
The first sentence is missing “to” before “reach”. The second introduces a new formulation of government nobody explains. Whether local, regional, or national, the prose is certainly all over the place.
Many of the mistakes are individually small but what they lack in significance, they make up for in sheer quantity. There are references to “public heath”, which you might be forgiven for thinking was something to do with peatland restoration, and “public pace”, which could perhaps be connected to jogging.
Of course, these should have been “public health” and “public place” respectively.
These mistakes are embarrassing, but there are much more significant failures. Scotland’s financial services sector is described as “the largest financial hub to London”. That does not mean anything.
The programme promises to continue “to bring work to bring the Ryder Cup to Scotland” – a double bringing. Then there are the contradictions. These are much harder to wave away as typos because they leave the reader unable to tell exactly what the Government has committed to.
Page five promises social care reform while “maintaining a focus on community need”. When the commitment reappears on page 45, it promises reform while “enhancing the focus on community need”. So which is it – maintaining or enhancing?
The document promises to accelerate “offshore, solar and pumped storage renewables technologies, particularly where they can sit off grid”.
This section presents a rather muddled picture of energy, full of buzzwords but little precision. For example, offshore is a location, not a technology. Pumped storage hydro is not renewable, it stores energy, consuming more electricity over the cycle than it returns.
Plus, the whole point of pumped storage is to stabilise the grid. Prioritising them “off grid” negates the reason for building them.
“Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.” – Ralph Marston
The job of integrating the individual pieces into one clear, consistent document was clearly not considered a priority. I do wonder if they did it working from home?
This level of writing would be a disappointment in a basic school submission and real cause for concern if it came from a local authority.
But, for this to be the condition of the Programme for Government, which should be the absolute centrepiece of political communication from the Scottish Government, is almost beyond belief.
Those of us who care about Scotland’s reputation should be the loudest voices calling for higher standards. Undecided voters need to see excellence before they will trust the case for independence.
“Take pride in your work. Its quality is a reflection of you.” – Jim Hendry (Simon’s grandad)
Scotland did not become a globally renowned industrial and engineering powerhouse by being satisfied with broad intentions, approximate answers and plausible soundbites.
That reputation was built by people at all levels of their organisations who valued precision, diligence, responsibility and the methodical discipline of checking the boring detail, not just once, but every single time.
They took pride in their work. What we have here is the antithesis of that. This is not our Scotland.
We need to look ourselves in the mirror and ask: is this as good as it gets for Scotland? Is this what we now accept?
The importance of skilled workmanship and attention to detail was drilled into me as a boy by my grandfather, a bricklayer, and my mother, a nurse.
Our professional bodies in medicine, law and engineering would not tolerate this poor level of workmanship in their own professions. Why should we tolerate it from the highest level of government in the land?
This article is not written to moan or “have a go”. It is written because we care. People from across the political spectrum in Scotland care because we take pride in the quality of our work.
The Scottish Government is a reflection of us, and as such must reflect the best of us. Attention to detail matters, because if you don’t care, why should others?
