Scottish Government

Why has the NPF been refreshed?

Scottish Ministers are committed to the outcomes based approach as set out in 2007 in the NPF's 10 year vision. The refresh reflects lessons learned from across Scottish Government and its partner organisations since 2007. It provides a better measure of progress towards the National Outcomes and reflects current priorities as outlined in Manifesto Commitments, the Government Economic Strategy, Programme for Government and Spending Review documents.

What changes have been made to the NPF?

The NPF refresh re-affirms the approach to transparent Government; to the Government's Purpose and continues to reflect national wellbeing and success. There are no structural changes to the Framework itself.

The main changes are to the National Indicator set which has been updated as follows:

Seven National Indicators have been removed from the original 45. These indicators either relate to targets that have been delivered or have been replaced by more suitable measures of progress towards the National Outcomes.

There is a new National Outcome related to older people reflecting the demographic significance of the ageing population and the Government's commitment to independent living, enablement and health and social care integration.

Which indicators have been added to the NPF?

• Improve digital infrastructure
• Improve levels of education attainment
• Increase the proportion of babies with a healthy birth weight
• Increase physical activity
• Reduce deaths on Scotland's roads
• Improve the responsiveness of public services
• Reduce children's deprivation
• Widen use of the internet
• Increase cultural engagement
• Improve end of life care
• Reduce pre-mature mortality
• Improve self-assessed general health

The reasons why indicators have been added are provided by following this link.

Which indicators have been removed from the NPF?

• Improve public sector efficiency through the generation of 2% cash releasing efficiency savings per annum
• Reduce the number of Scottish public bodies by 25% by 2011
• Increase the social economy turnover
• Increase healthy life expectancy at birth in the most deprived areas
• Reduce mortality from coronary heart disease among the under 75s in deprived areas
• Achieve annual milestones for reducing inpatient or day case waiting times culminating in the delivery of an 18 week referral to treatment time from December 2011
• Increase the percentage of criminal cases dealt with within 26 weeks by 3 percentage points by 2011

The reasons why indicators have been removed are provided by following this link.

Additionally, the measures for 9 National Indicators have been improved. These are:

• Increase the number of businesses (previously 'Increase the business start-up rate')
• Increase exports (previously 'Grow exports at a faster average rate than GDP')
• Increase the proportion of healthy weight children (previously 'Reduce the rate of increase in the proportion of children with their body mass index outwith a healthy range by 2018')
• Reduce emergency admissions to hospital (previously 'Reduce the proportion of people aged 65 and over admitted as emergency inpatients two or more times over a single year')
• Improve support for people with care needs (previously 'Increase the percentage of people aged 65 and over with high levels of care needs who are cared for at home')
• Reduce reconviction rates (previously 'Reduce overall reconviction rates by 2 percentage points by 2011')
• Improve people's perceptions of their neighbourhood (previously 'Increase the percentage of adults who rate their neighbourhood as a good place to live')
• Reduce Scotland's carbon footprint (previously 'Reduce overall ecological footprint')
• Reduce waste generated (previously 'Reduce to 1.32 million tonnes of waste sent to landfill by 2010')

Details of the improved measures are available in the indicators' Technical Notes.

Why is there an additional National Outcome?

Lord Sutherland's Independent Review of Free Personal and Nursing Care in Scotland (28 April 2008), recommended that the Scottish Government establish clear national priorities and outcomes for older people in the NPF. There was support for this from Age Scotland, who, in their report Breaking Down Barriers (autumn 2010), called on the next Scottish Government to immediately implement Lord Sutherland's recommendation.

The new National Outcome which has been added - 'Our people are able to maintain their independence as they get older and are able to access appropriate support when they need it' - reflects Lord Sutherland's recommendation on the demographic significance of the ageing population and the Government's commitment to independent living, enablement, and health and social care integration.

How does the refresh of the NPF affect Scotland Performs?

The delivery of the Purpose and National Outcomes is monitored through tracking progress on the Purpose Targets and National Indicators on the Scotland Performs website. Scotland Performs has been updated to reflect the refresh of the NPF. For example, policy and analytical text for the Purpose Targets, National Outcomes and National Indicators, technical notes, supporting graphs, direction of travel arrows and performance at a glance have all been updated.

A new section has been added to the menu on Scotland Performs Home Page setting out the changes with supporting materials.

How does the refresh of the NPF link to public service reform?

The refreshed NPF is a key support for focusing and tracking progress against the Government's public service reform programme, in particular:

• A decisive shift towards prevention
• Greater integration of public services at a local level driven by better partnership, collaboration and effective local delivery
• A sharp focus on improving performance, through greater transparency, innovation and use of digital technology

How does this refreshed NPF take account of equality and inequalities in Scotland?

The refreshed National Indicators encompass a wide coverage of society in line with the Government's Purpose for all of Scotland to flourish. The Purpose Targets and the specific National Outcome "We have tackled the significant inequalities in Scottish Society" show the importance given to tackling inequalities and advancing equality across the whole of Scotland, and there are also some specific indicators on reducing children's deprivation and reducing the proportion of individuals living in poverty.

A fuller analysis of the equality data underlying the refreshed set of National Indicators will be published later in 2012, in support of anticipated demand from public authorities across Scotland and the requirements in the Equality Act 2010.

Where I can I find out more about the refresh of the NPF and read through to Scotland Performs?

Full details of the refresh are available on Scotland Performs at www.scotlandperforms.com.