SCOTTISH Labour have been slammed for mixing up English and Scottish disclosure schemes in a job advert for their new general secretary.
The party is currently advertising for a general secretary for Scotland, a role which pays £63,479.31 per year, with a fixed sum allowance of £2608.
The role, based in Glasgow, not only requests that candidates have an “extensive knowledge of the Scottish political landscape” but that they undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check - which doesn’t apply in Scotland.
The SNP said it wasn’t a surprise Labour are becoming “irrelevant” in Scotland when they can’t even “get the basics right”.
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A source, who pointed out the error but did not wish to be named, said it showed the party was “anglocentric” and a “branch office” of the UK Labour Party.
The successful candidate will replace current interim general secretary Drew Smith, a former Scottish Labour MSP, who took over from Michael Sharpe in December 2020.
The advertisement was posted on w4mp, a website which shows job adverts for MPs and political parties, on August 9.
The job advert says the party is looking for a candidate with leadership experience who can motivate “staff and volunteers to achieve tangible business outcomes and targets”.
The job advert mixed up English and Scottish disclosure schemes
It continues: “This role is in Regulated Activity and will be subject to an enhanced recruitment process including an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check with check of the list of those individuals barred from working with children.”
However, a DBS check is only available in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
In Scotland, you would apply to Disclosure Scotland for a basic check on people’s criminal records.
To prove employees are able to work with children and protected adults, as is required in Scottish Labours job advert, in Scotland you would apply to join the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme, managed by Disclosure Scotland.
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DBS is a non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office.
An SNP spokesperson said: “No wonder Labour are becoming irrelevant in Scotland when they cannot even get the basics right.
“This just demonstrates once again how Scottish Labour is a branch office to their bosses at Westminster.”
A source said: “It is so tone deaf to Scotland that it says that the post is subject to DBS disclosure.
“This may seem obscure but DBS doesn’t apply in Scotland as it is different entirely. It is Disclosure Scotland and you would get a PVG.
“It is a totally Anglocentric advert, proving the point that they are a branch office.”
At the time of publication the job advert was still unchanged on the w4mp site.
It comes as the UK arm of the Labour party told staff to expect job losses as senior management plan a major restructuring of the workforce.
Keir Starmer’s team hopes to remove about 90 posts through voluntary redundancy, which would be a quarter of the workforce overall.
Scottish Labour have been contacted for comment.
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