David Maddox: Scotland leads the way

It is not often that Scotland is held up as a paragon of virtue when it comes to efficient government, especially by Kelvin MacKenzie and his fellow Barnett Formula moaners south of the border.
But it seems that some parts of the UK look at Scotland's governance with admiration. In Northern Ireland the ruling Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has tabled a motion for debate at the Assembly on Monday calling for a reduction in devolved departments. Currently, there are 11 devolved departments and 14 ministers there.
And it appears that they have taken a leaf from the slimming down of the Scottish Government by Alex Salmond and the SNP who knocked down the number of departments from nine to six upon taking office.
As one of the motion's sponsors, Strangford MLA (member of the legislative assembly) Simon Hamilton, put it: "When you look at the Scottish example, they are functioning with six down from something like nine. I think that is a sensible target to be going for."