SB(08)16th Conclusions
MEETING OF THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT STRATEGIC BOARD: THURSDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2008
Present
Sir John Elvidge KCB (chair)
Robert Gordon CB
Andrew Goudie
Stella Manzie
Philip Rycroft
Richard Wakeford
Kevin Woods
Bill Bound
Heather Logan
Apologies: David Fisher and Alyson Stafford
In Attendance
Norman McFadyen (For Agenda Items 2 - 6 only)
Angiolina Foster
Sarah Davidson (For Part)
Andrew Watson
Elinor Mitchell
Fiona Watt
Katie Wood
Alistair Brown (For Agenda Items 1, 2 and 3 only)
Paul Gray (For Agenda Item 2 only)
Ros Cockerell (For Agenda Item 3 only)
Fiona Cook (For Agenda Item 6 only)
John Ewing (For Agenda Item 7 only)
David Henderson (For Agenda Item 7 only)
Ruth Parsons (For Agenda Item 7 only)
Agenda Item 1: Minutes and Matters Arising
1. The Board considered the minutes of the meeting held on 30 October.
2. The Strategic Board agreed:
(a) The minutes of the meeting on 30 October should be adjusted in relation to Agenda Item 6: Forth Replacement Crossing (FRC).
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted; and
(b) To provide its comments on the minutes of the meeting held on 30 October to the Cabinet and Corporate Business Secretariat, which would be presented to the Strategic Board for approval at the meeting scheduled for 18 December (Action : All and Cabinet and Corporate Business Secretariat).
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
Agenda Item 2: Redeployment Issues Arising from the Public Sector Simplification Programme (SB(08)49)
3. Paul Gray introduced paper SB(08)49 which considered redeployment issues arising from the Public Sector Simplification Programme. Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted. Mr Gray said that pressures on budgets could create difficulties for some employers who are trying to achieve delivery outcomes while having to either carry surplus staff or offer early exit packages, both of which would constrain resources planned for improving efficiencies. Such pressures had been discussed recently by the Effective Bodies Strategic Group, who endorsed the approach being proposed in the paper. Mr Gray said the paper proposed the establishment of a redeployment team within Change and Corporate Services Directorate, which would undertake the work required to support all future redeployment exercises including those arising from the Simplification, Scrutiny and Effective Public Bodies Programmes. It would also establish the way forward across the Scottish Public Sector. The costs of establishing this team would be met from the existing Finance and Central Services Budget. Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
4. Points made in discussion:
(a) The proposed redeployment team would be in a position to support all future redeployment exercises, as well as supporting the current exercises through Simplification, Scrutiny and Effective Bodies Programmes. Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
(b) Investment at the present time, including the provision of dedicated staff, would allow a process to develop that would serve both organisations and individuals well and would ensure effective and timely cost savings;
(c) Good ideas on how to deal with issues such as redeployment often came from within organisations, and at all levels;
(d) People, Business and Innovation Group had previously been responsible for ensuring that any external recruitment by the Scottish Government had only taken place where it was absolutely necessary; and
(e) The Redeployment team would require the continued demonstrable support of all Directors and the Strategic Board, to ensure its success.
5.
The Strategic Board agreed:(a) That further consideration should be given to how we handle external recruitment decisions in the future, in the light of this focus on redeployment; (Action: Paul Gray and Change and Corporate Services Directorate)
(b) That the importance of managing underperformance remained critical; (Action: Paul Gray and Change and Corporate Services Directorate)
(c) That a Redeployment team be established to support all future redeployment exercises including the Simplification, Scrutiny and Effective Public Bodies Programmes; (Action: Paul Gray and Change and Corporate Services Directorate)
(d) That the Public Sector Unions should be approached regarding the proposals in the paper; (Action: Paul Gray and Change and Corporate Services Directorate) and
(e) That collective advice on redeployment should be prepared and considered by the Strategic Board. Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted. (Action: Stella Manzie and Paul Gray)
6. The Permanent Secretary welcomed the Scottish Government Officials who joined the meeting at this point to observe the proceedings.
Agenda Item 3: Finance Director's Report (SB(08)50)7. Alistair Brown introduced paper SB(08)50 which reported key financial developments, including a high level overview of forecast end of year outturn expenditure informed by spending in the first seven months of 2008-09. Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted. Mr Brown said that the budget was subject to variance introduced by external factors outwith the immediate control of the Scottish Government; for example, there had been an increase in the resource forecast variance overspend, primarily due to the allocation of an additional £32.8m to Local Government to meet the cost of changes to the commutation factors for police and fire-fighters pensions. Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted. He said that all Directorates were utilising new mechanisms to control new commitments to expenditure even if such expenditure was already in the budget. Mr Brown said that the additional funding which came to the Scottish Government as a result of the Pre-Budget Report was not included in the information presented in the paper.
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
Agenda Item 4: Annual Report from Scottish Government Audit Committee (SB(08)51)8. Bill Bound introduced paper SB(08)51, which reported on the activities and business of the Scottish Government Audit Committee (SGAC) in 2007/08. He gave a brief outline of their role within the Scottish Government governance structure. He said that SGAC provided a challenge function to both internal audit and Audit Scotland and that one of their most important tasks was in supporting Directors General in identifying and managing risk, especially in a period of change. He said that the Committee's key reporting line was to the Permanent Secretary as Principal Accountable Officer (PAO). A SGAC/Portfolio Audit Committee (PAC) Chairs meeting was held in 2007/08 to report on issues of commonality across portfolios and timed to enable reports to PAO prior to signing off the Annual Accounts. He said that in his role of Chair of SGAC, he invited Audit Scotland to contact him between meetings if they had any concerns about process or the delivery of their work programme. He said that he had only been contacted on one occasion, but that Audit Scotland had welcomed the general principle.
9. Points made in discussion:
(a) SGAC and the PACs played an important role in managing the scope of Audit Scotland activity within the office; and
(b) DGs should discuss any concerns about the process of working with Audit Scotland with PACs, in the first instance.
Agenda Item 5: Corporate Risk Register and Performance Management (Oral Update)
10. Philip Rycroft provided a brief oral update on the development of the Corporate Risk Register and the Performance Management Framework. He said that although a formal paper was scheduled for the next meeting on 18 December, it was important to update the Board on 3 main strands of work. The first was the need to communicate the recently agreed descriptions of the roles and responsibilities of Strategic Board and its committees, Directors General and Directors. Strategy and Performance Division were working closely with Communications Directorate to identify a suitable vehicle to communicate this to the wider organisation.
11. The second was on the work to assess the need for a Scottish Government wide risk register. He said that robust Risk Registers for DG "families" were all in place, but that they were not all in the same format. He had come to the view that striving to achieve consistent formatting and approach would be an unnecessary distraction. He was satisfied, following discussion with DGs, that the emerging risks were of a similar degree of importance and relevance to the organisation as a whole. It was hoped a finalised corporate risk register, which would build in key aspects from each of the individual DG risk registers, would be available at the December meeting.
12. The third area was Performance Management. Mr Rycroft said he hoped to present the first report to Strategic Board in December, on performance across the organisation including progress on national outcomes, the Purpose and purpose targets.
13.
Points made in discussion:(a) That it would be extremely useful to see the new reporting tool in operation next month, and it was critical to decide, at that meeting, how the tool could best be used.
14.
The Strategic Board agreed:(a) To respond to Mr Rycroft's request for information and updates quickly, as this would improve the quality of the report; (Action: All) and
(b) To provide critical analysis of the developing report. (Action: Perm Sec; Andrew Goudie and Robert Gordon)
Agenda Item 6: Scottish Government Diversity Delivery Plan (SB(08)52)
15. Norman McFadyen, the Scottish Government's Diversity Champion and Fiona Cook, the Scottish Government's Diversity Manager, introduced paper SB(08)52 - a draft Scottish Government Diversity Delivery Plan. Mr McFadyen said the current plan was due to expire in 2008 and that we were obliged to present our new plan to Cabinet Office by 15 December. He sought the Strategic Board's support for the plan and the targets contained within it, and their agreement to issue it to Cabinet Office by deadline. He said that the targets for workforce diversity were particularly challenging given the effective freeze on recruitment. He said that the Scottish Government had voluntarily set targets above Whitehall Departments' targets (with the exception of the ethnicity target, which would not be appropriate in the context of Scotland's demography).
16. Points made in discussion:
(a) It would be useful to include clearer deadlines and milestones, so that progress could be charted;
(b) The Employers Forum on Disability has developed a good programme, which encourages employers, through the use of a compelling business case, to employ people with disabilities;
(c) The current Diversity and Equality Groups should be merged, and it should be ensured that staff from across the organisation, at all levels, were represented on that working group;
(d) As an illustration of the type of practical issue that should be addressed as part of this work, the front doors of St Andrews House were noted to be extremely heavy, which could lead to access problems;
(e) It was important to make a distinction in the report between describing the things you do constantly and the things that are work-in-progress, and the use of the description "ongoing" was therefore unhelpfully ambiguous;
(f) It would be important to try to engage more meaningfully with staff from minority ethnic backgrounds; and
(g) When the organisation is constrained, for example by the presumption against recruitment, in how it will achieve its targets then it is important to have a clear focus on specific things we plan to do to meet targets.
17.
The Strategic Board agreed:(a) To sign off the report and issue to Cabinet Office by the deadline;
(b) That the cost and security implications of adapting the front doors of St Andrews House should be explored; (Action: SAH House Team); and
(c) That senior managers should ensure that the Diversity policy is translated into practical action, as anecdotal evidence suggests that not all staff have the positive experience our diversity policies are intended to produce. (Action: All DGs)
Agenda Item 7: Local Government Concordat (Presentation)
18. Ruth Parsons outlined progress made in the year since the signing of the Concordat between the Scottish Government and local government. She said that there had been tangible deliverables and significant changes in the way in which the Scottish Government and local government work together. Ms Parsons said that there would be challenges in moving the relationship forward and that the success of the partnership working was dependent on the investment made to the strategic relationship and the quality of engagement at all levels. She said that the Outcomes approach had been successful and should be maintained, with thought being given as to how policy development aligns with this approach. The financial situation arising from the current economic climate could present some challenges and consideration as to how to prioritise funding, pressures and policies would be required.
19. Points made in discussion:
(a) The changes in the relationship between the Scottish Government and local government have been both substantial and beneficial. It would be necessary and right to continually invest and nurture the relationship to ensure it flourished. It was recognised that there would always be instances of competing interests and pressures between the two parties and it would be important to be alert to such interests and pressures as they emerge and develop. The ability to recognise and then deal with such issues at an early stage would assist in the continued success of the relationship;
(b) It would be important to continue to embed both awareness and understanding of the Concordat and the Single Outcome Agreements (SOAs) throughout the Scottish Government. The Director Network would continue to develop, and utilise, its experience in relation to the SOAs. The sharing of experience between the Scottish Government and local government would be of assistance to both parties, and there were already examples of good experiences through secondments from the Scottish Government to COSLA. Such secondments also recognise, and help, constraints on COSLA due to its size;
(c) Key issues going forward would include: understanding when the need arises to engage with local government in policy development; when identifying issues that might be emerging, collating and sharing demonstrable evidence to assist in discussion and resolution; monitoring of the 32 SOAs and any inconsistencies that emerge from them; ensuring relevant Ministers and officials are fully sighted to all developments and issues;
(d) The Outcome based approach was the right approach, and care should be taken to ensure that this approach continued. Internal awareness and agreement on the status of the Concordat and its commitments would be vital in informing any external discussion and agreement regarding, for instance, the time scales for meeting commitments. The financial and budgetary implications arising from the Concordat and its commitments require discussion and deliberation;
[The Permanent Secretary and Kevin Woods left the meeting]
(e) The current economic climate was an additional vital factor to consider in any discussions. If less finance was to be available to the public sector then it might be appropriate to revisit, strategically, some of the aims of the agreement. Whilst there might be some aims which have to be taken forward within specific time frames, for instance those delivering EU Directives, there may be flexibility in some other areas; and
(f) Continued engagement with COSLA and acknowledgment that part of the success of the relationship relied upon mutual understanding of shared liabilities.
20.
The Strategic Board agreed:(a) Collective advice on the Concordat commitments, including advice on prioritisation, looking to outcomes and inputs, with discussion on the possible flexibility of performance timeframes should be prepared by the Strategic Board; Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted. (Action: Stella Manzie)
(b) That proposals on the value of extending secondment opportunities in relation to local government should be prepared; (Action: Stella Manzie and Change and Corporate Services Directorate)
(c) The positive benefits and outcomes of the Concordat and SOAs should be clearly identified and communicated; (Action: John Ewing and Public Sector Reform Directorate) and
(d) Ruth Parsons' personal role in the creation and development of the Concordat and the relationships around it had been crucial, and a huge debt of gratitude was due to her personally.
Agenda Item 8: Any Other Business
21.
The Strategic Board:(a) Noted the importance of the guidance issued on 21 November to the Permanent Secretary, Director Generals and Directors regarding the changes to procedures and processing of receipts and invoices to ensure the Scottish Government supports business in Scotland by paying all invoices within 10 days. The Board noted further guidance and procedural changes will follow. The Board agreed that the organisation has a collective responsibility to ensure the new measures delivered; (Action: All)
(b) Agreed that all staff should be encouraged to complete the staff survey; (Action: All)
(c) Noted ongoing work in relation to the Scottish Government's Economic Recovery Plan though the Economic Directors Group, which meets weekly. The Board agreed that the work of this group should be brought to the Board for discussion, when appropriate; (Action: Angiolina Foster and Strategy and Ministerial Support Directorate)
(d) Noted that a paper on the Green Economy was being prepared by Richard Wakeford and his team.
Date of Next Meeting
Thursday, 18 December at 9.00am.
Cabinet and Corporate Business Secretariat
December 2008