SNP depute leader Keith Brown has called on the Chancellor to deliver better value for money for taxpayers in the Royal Bank of Scotland sell-off.

The SNP is also calling for cash from the UK Government’s shares sale to be reinvested to benefit future generations.

“A savvy government would be using their majority shareholding in one of the UK’s biggest banks to drive growth in the business and deliver better return on investment for the taxpayer,” said Brown, ahead of the UK Budget on October 29. “Instead, they’ve overseen wholesale branch closures – hitting Scottish consumers hard – and shipped off shares at a loss of billions to the public purse.”

UK taxpayers still retain a 62.4% holding in RBS, after it was bailed out by the Treasury in response to the global financial crisis in 2008. Some of the Government’s shareholdings have since been sold back to the market at huge losses to the taxpayer. The UK Government sold off a tranche of shares in June, incurring a loss of £2.1 billion on their initial investment.

Brown pointed out that the financial crash had led to a decade of Tory austerity and affected every community. He said any share windfalls should be used to safeguard the future.

“In his upcoming Budget, the Chancellor should give a guarantee over future sales of RBS shares which safeguards the interests of all of us, not just the major corporates,” said Brown.

“When it does come to cashing in, let’s look seriously at how these funds are being reinvested.

“A Fund for Future Generations, managed through Scotland’s new National Investment Bank, could create huge opportunities for inclusive growth, innovation, tackling inequality and building Scotland’s

infrastructure for decades to come.”

The proposal for a Fund for Future Generations has been put forward by the SNP’s Sustainable Growth

Commission. Investments from the fund could be made via the National Investment Bank currently being established.

Brown’s call was backed by financial journalist Ian Fraser, whose book Shredded: Inside RBS, the Bank that Broke Britain, has been described as the definitive account of the rise and fall of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Fraser said the stewardship of RBS by successive governments since the bail-out had so far been “abysmal”.

“We put £45.5bn into it in 2008/2009 and on our present progress it looks like we are going to get back, at most, £25bn because of the collapse of the share price,” he said.

“The whole approach by the UK Government has been deeply flawed. That they have paid out £8.5bn in bonuses since the rescue speaks volumes about their attitude.

“There has been a lack of focus about reforming the banking sector and I think what Keith Brown is saying is sensible, although to some extent it is shutting the stable door after the horses have bolted as successive UK Governments have allowed the bank to be mismanaged over the past decade.”

Fraser said action should have been taken earlier and also pointed out that RBS had been allowed to shut down nearly half of its branch network.

“That is arguably an act of betrayal to the local communities across Scotland and the UK who have already lost money because of the bailout. Their reward is to see the bank give up on them and shut its doors in their communities.”