Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar will cut the number of quangos and merge state-backed investment agencies if he takes office in May.
Mr Sarwar said he would reduce the number of quangos and government bodies by a third over the course of the parliament.
There are 133 devolved public bodies in Scotland, costing taxpayers upwards of £6.6 billion a year, said Mr Sarwar.
He said this “wasteful and ineffective labyrinth” doesn’t serve the public and instead shields SNP Ministers from scrutiny.
He also wants to merge some functions in order to bring about better value for money. This includes bringing the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Futures Trust under the wing of the Scottish National Investment Bank.
A spokesman said this was aimed at preventing overlap between the investing functions of SE, SFT and SNIB. Current plans do not impact on Highlands & Islands Enterprise nor South of Scotland Enterprise.
Labour would carry out a “root and branch review” of the eight bodies responsible for land, natural heritage and the environment.
Mr Sarwar wants to reduce the number of health boards from 14 to three and conduct annual reviews of government working groups and strategies, scrapping “inactive and ineffective taskforces which meet without delivering change”.
A similar promise to cut quangos was made by Reform UK’s Scottish leader Malcolm Offord who said the money saved by scrapping these bodies could be used to cut income tax.
In a briefing note before the party’s Spring Conference on Friday, Mr Sarwar said “Scotland’s public services are at breaking point, but one industry that is thriving under the SNP is publicly-funded quangos.
“While local services are cut to the bone and our NHS fights for survival, the SNP spares no expense on its own bloated bureaucracy.
“I will end the waste, the deflection and the ‘jobs for boys’ culture of the SNP’s system and put your priorities first.
“I will restore political accountability so Ministers are responsible for delivery – not some distant arms-length body.
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