SB(07)15th Conclusions
Revised
STRATEGIC BOARD MEETING
THURSDAY, 28 JUNE 2007
Present
Sir John Elvidge (chair)
Robert Gordon CB
Kevin Woods
Philip Rycroft
Richard Wakeford
Apologies had been received from Shonaig Macpherson, Bill Bound, David Fisher and Andrew Goudie who was attending a meeting at Holyrood.
In Attendance
Owen Kelly
Sarah Smith
Sarah Davidson
Donald Cameron
Colin MacLean (Agenda item 4)
Paul Taylor, who was work shadowing the Permanent Secretary, attended the meeting as an observer.
Agenda Item 1: Minutes and Matters Arising
1. The minutes of the previous meeting (SB(07)14th Conclusions) were agreed. There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.
Agenda Item 2: Report from Cabinet
2. Ms Davidson reported on the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, 26 June and said that Cabinet had received a technical briefing in advance of formal Cabinet discussion on the Forth Crossing project and had agreed the proposed options for consultation over the summer period. Cabinet had also agreed to further discussion in the early autumn about the preferred funding, procurement and legislative choices and project governance arrangements for the project. In relation to public sector pay policy the Cabinet had agreed that UK pay policy should continue to operate and that strict controls on public sector pay in Scotland should be applied. The Permanent Secretary said that the Cabinet Secretariat was preparing further advice on the management of Cabinet business which would remind staff of the importance of ensuring that appropriate legal and financial advice was sought before proposals were submitted to Cabinet. The advice would also remind staff that where proposals were predicated on analysis which predated the new administration, Cabinet should be given the opportunity to consider the underpinning analysis of advice before being asked to reach decisions. The Permanent Secretary added that he had asked Ms Davidson to develop actions to ensure that Cabinet business was of the required quality and that a note would follow.
Agenda Item 3: Risk Management
3. The Board noted actions in place to address identified risks to a successful transition to the new administration.
Agenda Item 4: Presentation on Early Years Education
4. Colin MacLean introduced the item which was intended to: consider the impact and implications of applying a greater focus on early years/early interventions across portfolios; identify and consider consequential challenges for the organisation; and to agree next steps.
5. In discussion the following points were made:
(a) It would be helpful to clarify what was meant by early years intervention given that in some cases children born to drug addicted parents were already suffering the effect of substance misuse;
(b) It would also be important to clarify what was meant by intervention and to be clearer about the effectiveness of available measures. Consideration was also needed to establish the most effective means of delivery and in particular to think about the defining characteristics of the voluntary sector which supported successful intervention;
(c) The challenges attached to early years would be a test of the organisation's ability to deliver across the 5 strategic objectives. There were a number of fundamental issues for consideration including what the role of the state should be, the appropriate balance between family and state, resource allocation, and the management of risk that arises when policy is adjusted or greater innovation applied;
(d) There were also issues around the Executive's relationships with Agencies including whether the Executive should set the framework and performance manage delivery bodies - or become more closely involved in delivery. It would be important to judge whether the limit of what could be achieved by existing levers and available capacity was being reached, and about the extent to which relevant agencies were fit for purpose;
(e) Consideration was needed about the impact and likely future contribution of Community Planning Partnerships. The introduction of outcome agreements appeared to be some way off and could not be relied on as a solution to early years issues;
(f) Developing greater understanding of the root cause of problems in early years would be critical and in particular to think about links to other issues such as the correlation between lack of access to green open space and other problems;
(g) A key challenge for the spending review would be around the extent to which Ministers would prioritise resource allocation to meet multiple needs;
(h) It would be necessary to think about whether intervention should be focused on children, families or communities and about whether addressing the needs of children and families should be seen as the means of moving on to address problems in communities; and
(i) Innovation was key to success, including focusing resource on people/areas in greatest need as opposed to the present universal approach. However it would be necessary to explore risk boundaries with Ministers given that innovation would increase risk.
6. Summing up the Permanent Secretary said that 4 key messages had emerged from discussion:
¨ It would be important to develop a strong narrative to increase public understanding of this issue and which reflected Ministers view of the priority attached to tackling early years issues. (Action: Colin MacLean and Owen Kelly);
¨ Clear mechanisms were required to support and encourage innovation;
¨ Consideration was needed about how to turn language about a greater role for the voluntary sector into a practical reality, taking account of the inevitable tensions that would arise with statutory providers; and
¨ Work was needed to address current levers and instruments considered not to effectively addressing early years issues.
(Action: Colin MacLean and the Children and Young People and Social Care Directorate)
7. The Permanent Secretary thanked Colin MacLean for his presentation and said that it had provided a reminder that much work was needed on developing and building communities and that more thought was needed about how to bring this and the early years agenda together over time. The Permanent Secretary added that the presentation had demonstrated the approach to early years as a model of how directorates should drive delivery of their agenda up into the strategic objectives.
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
Agenda Item 5: Performance Measurement/Business Planning
8. Philip Rycroft said that following PBIG discussion about the business planning tool later that day, he would write to members of the Board seeking approval for extended trialling of the complete framework being developed for business planning. This work encompassed the development of a common business planning tool and templates for directorate and strategic objective plans and for business improvement plans. This work would also cover the work done on performance management which was compatible with the business planning tool. The Board noted the update.
Agenda Item 6: Programme Boards
9. This item was deferred to the following meeting.
Agenda Item 7: Any Other Business
Public Sector Pay policy
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
Date of Next Meeting
10. Thursday, 5 July at 8.30am.
Cabinet and Corporate Business Secretariat
June 2007