Publication: Auditor General Blog
Attention to detail a must for public service reform
Blog: By Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland
Is Scotland serious about public service reform?
There's no question that the Scottish Government has upped the ante.
Since well before May's election, the language of ministers has focused on putting reform "at the heart of government".
Actions have followed:
- we now have a Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform
- a Directorate in the Scottish Government to help deliver a public service reform strategy
- a Board to help steer the ship
- and a new public service reform parliamentary committee to hold ministers to account.
These are all very welcome developments - in tone and deed. But they are also essential.
The numbers are well rehearsed by now, but the scale of the fiscal challenge facing the Scottish Parliament is unprecedented.
There is a near £5bn gap between what ministers want to spend on public services by 2030 and the funding available to them. A figure that predates ministers’ 2026 manifesto commitments.
A sizeable chunk of that, around £2 billion, is expected to come from rising social security spending, where Scotland spends much more than it receives through the Westminster block grant.
The size and cost of the overall public sector workforce, particularly in the NHS, has also grown significantly since devolution. It’s also relatively bigger than the UK public sector workforce. That locks in future spending and reduces the government's budgetary wiggle room.
These are all political choices. What we've not seen to date is a clear, detailed plan about how that level of spending will be afforded across the medium to long-term.
Hard decisions required
I said the action the Scottish Government has taken so far is essential.
But the hardest work remains.
My audits, and those of my predecessors, have shown repeatedly that the Scottish Government is good at setting out its vision, producing strategies, frameworks, and plans. But it has struggled to deliver on policy ambitions.
Service reform has been talked about for a long time but so far there has been no evidence of large-scale change on the ground since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013.
Instead, what we have seen is short-term measures that have helped balance annual budgets rather than fundamental changes to how services are delivered.
Hard decisions about the shape, size and, especially, the operation of the public sector have not yet been taken.
Take prevention - the idea of investing in policies that prevent problems in people's lives taking root and helping relieve future pressures on public services. It's a cornerstone of the new Public Service Reform strategy.
A big part of prevention is caring for people in their communities to stop them ending up in hospital. But while structures have changed over the last decade, progress has been very slow, and the money hasn't followed the ambition. Meanwhile, the pressure on our hospitals is increasing.
Change is possible but detailed planning vital
I believe that change is possible. That public service reform in Scotland, if done well, can ensure government is able to provide effective and sustainable public services in the future.
But we now need tangible action and at pace.
Setting out that goals will be achieved by the end of this parliament will not be enough. Ministers need to explain to the public and the Scottish Parliament what stepping stones will be taken so that they get there. And the devil will be in the detail of those delivery plans.
Without clear priorities, robustly costed and adequately resourced policies, agreed delivery timelines, and well understood measures of success, meaningful reform will be difficult to deliver.
Collective leadership and more transparency
Much greater transparency about the government's progress on reform will be needed to improve scrutiny.
Given the scale of the challenge, it would have been better if a Medium-Term Financial Strategy had been prepared this calendar year - one of the key documents that allows the Parliament to question and challenge ministers' tax and spending plans.
Greater collective leadership will also be vital.
Ivan McKee is the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform. But it will take a cabinet and Scottish Government united around the aims of reform for it be delivered.
Inevitably, there will be trade-offs and compromises. And the Scottish Government will need to bring public service leaders, the public, and the Parliament with them, too.
For their part, public service leaders will need to rise to the challenge.
It is a formidable undertaking, and difficult work, but the stakes are now higher than ever.
If the right foundations aren't put in place in this Parliament, the consequences for public services will be far greater in the future. And much more difficult and painful to fix.
My role and future reporting
My role as Auditor General is not to take a view on policy decisions, but to give an independent assessment of how well public services are being stewarded and make recommendations for improvements.
In the coming months of this year I'll be reporting on Scotland's college sector, the management of the ScotWind leasing round, the Scottish Government's plans for investing in renewable energy, and the delivery of the Scottish Child Payment.
There will also be work on the NHS's position and my annual report on the Scottish Government's accounts. Those last two reports in particular will help lay out the scale of the challenge facing ministers.
I also continue to believe that reform is not an intractable issue. That with a relentless eye on the detail, and a collective will from all our leaders, it is possible to bring about change. I look forward to reporting on progress.
Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland
