Scottish Minister Faces Calls to Reject £11,000 Artist Residency Plan

First Minister John Swinney has been urged to block plans by his public finance minister, Hannah Mary Goodlad, to spend £11,000 of taxpayer funds on an 'artist in residence' for her Shetland constituency office.

The proposed role is intended for a painter, sculptor, or musician to create materials that communicate the minister's aims to the public and media. The position, advertised with an annual salary of £33,000, would amount to £11,000 for a four-month tenure.

Opponents have condemned the plan, with Scottish Conservative culture spokesman Murdo Fraser calling on Swinney to "ditch her plans to squander money on hiring someone for this role." Fraser stated, "If John Swinney has even an ounce of respect for taxpayers’ money, he will tell his colleague to ditch her plans to squander money on hiring someone for this role. It is astonishing that the minister for public finances ever thought this would be a good use of public resources." He urged Swinney to "intervene and tell Hannah Mary Goodlad to set an example and avoid leaving the taxpayer to pick up the bill for an artist-in-residence to work for her."

Reform UK MSP Max Bannerman criticized the proposal as an "ostentatious nod to Shetlanders" and questioned Swinney's silence on the matter. "If the First Minister does not intervene, we have to assume John Swinney is permissive of this level of grandiose self-gratification at a time when his government is supposedly looking to ease the nation through a cost-of-living crisis," Bannerman said.

Goodlad, who became an MSP for the first time following May's elections and was appointed Public Finance Minister in Swinney's reshuffle, defended the plan. She stated that arts, language, and culture are important to her and that a key role of an MSP is to "communicate effectively and inclusively with constituents." She added, "There are many ways in which to fulfil that role beyond traditional expectations."

The job advert specifies that the artist will "contribute to and deliver projects exploring policy areas of priority to the MSP through your own artistic practices, to support communication and engagement with constituents."

Additionally, Goodlad is reportedly advertising for a part-time staff member to translate her press releases into the Shetland dialect, at an annual cost of £12,800.

Swinney's program for government has pledged action on public sector reform aimed at reducing the scale and cost of the state. The SNP has been approached for comment regarding calls for Swinney's intervention.