SB(09)5th Conclusions
MEETING OF THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT STRATEGIC BOARD: HELD ON THURSDAY, 21 MAY 2009
Present
Sir John Elvidge KCB (chair)
Robert Gordon CB
Andrew Goudie
Stella Manzie CBE
Alyson Stafford
Richard Wakeford
Kevin Woods
Bill Bound
Heather Logan
In Attendance
Angiolina Foster
Sarah Davidson
Colin McLean
Elinor Mitchell
Katie Wood
Robin Benn
Maureen Bruce
John Ewing (Agenda Item 2 only)
Mary McAllan (Agenda Item 2 only)
Dr Harry Burns, Chief Medical Officer (Agenda Item 3 only)
Kay Barton (Agenda Item 3 only)
Hilary Morrison (Agenda Item 4 only)
Apologies
David Fisher
Agenda Item 1: Minutes and Matters Arising
1. The Strategic Board agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 16 April (SB(09)4th Conclusions).
2. Richard Wakeford said that Ministers had made some significant changes to the Climate Change Delivery Plan, and that it would be helpful to ensure that related policies were properly aligned in consequence.
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: The Concordat and Single Outcome Agreements: Achievements and Challenges (SB(09)29)
3. John Ewing introduced paper SB(09)29 which invited the Strategic Board to note what had been achieved to date through the development of the Concordat and Single Outcome Agreements (SOAs) and sought the Board's views on future challenges. He said that the development of SOAs had proved immensely valuable in achieving alignment across the country. The 15 National Outcomes had clear resonance and meaning for those tasked with delivering public services at local level, including Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs). He drew attention to the assessment of progress in priority areas, including the need to take targeted action to help create the conditions for economic recovery. Officials were continuing to work closely with local government and CPPs. SOA lead Directors had reported that progress was being made in key areas.
4. Mr Ewing said that a significant amount of information gathering was under way, in partnership with officials across the Scottish Government, with a view to developing a set of local indicators which could inform progress reporting via Scotland Performs. He said that there was a continuing need to be aware of the political context in which the Concordat was operating, and of how it was being applied in practice. It would be important to be able to articulate the tensions which existed without disrupting the partnership that had been built up.
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
5. Points made in discussion:
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(a) The development of SOAs and the Concordat was a considerable achievement: it promised a lasting transformation of the central-local government relationship. Better than expected progress was being made on both a technical and a practical level. The pace set had been impressive, with high levels of co-operation among officials.
(b) It was important not to lose sight of the wider value of the Concordat. Improved partnership working was proving highly beneficial to both sides.
(c) COSLA and the Scottish Government were working to preserve the Concordat.
(d) The most significant issue facing both the Scottish Government and local government was the need for budgetary restraint, and the local government dimension should be borne in mind in any discussions. It would be helpful for all Directors and Directors-General to receive swift and early warning of potential difficulties in this area;
(e) The development of shared services continued to require careful handling to avoid tensions. Co-operation among Directorates on links between finance and outcomes-based approaches should be developed further, and better connections should be made with Scotland Performs;
(f) The second round of SOAs was being developed with CPPs, rather than just local authorities, and this should permit outcomes to be more closely grounded in engagement with local communities.
(g) The work undertaken by Directors in shaping the new round of SOAs had resulted in a greater degree of mutual respect between central government and local authorities and their Community Planning partners. This presented a good opportunity for the organisation to consider, in a structured manner, how to improve its relationship management system. It also prompted questions about how to identify and share good practice in knowledge management.
(h) Audit Scotland had been closely involved at senior level in thinking about SOAs and had played a constructive role. The Accounts Commission's current consultation on the second phase of audits of Best Value and Community Planning ("BV2") was seen as an encouraging development, which should focus audit attention more closely on the quality and benefits of partnership working. It would be helpful to offer Audit Scotland our involvement in work to increase auditors' awareness of the implications of the outcomes-based approach.
6. The Strategic Board agreed that:
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
(a) Directors-General should continue to ensure that Directors had the support and flexibility they needed to manage their relationships with local government and CPPs; (Action: All)
(b) Directors-General and Directors should be made aware of particular sensitivities in relations with local government. In turn, Directors-General and Directors should ensure that their own experiences with local authorities, CPPs and COSLA were fed back to colleagues across the organisation; (Action: All; and Public Service Reform Directorate)
(c) It would be timely to remind all staff across the Scottish Government of the importance of the Concordat; of the need to ensure that they worked in partnership with local government; and of the requirement for all to ensure that Ministers were properly briefed on handling matters which might have an impact on local government-related issues, so as to minimise the risk of inadvertent error;
(d) Consideration should be given as to how to improve relationship and knowledge management across the organisation, building on the process adopted for the development of SOAs and taking into account the distinct expectations of different local authorities and Community Planning Partnerships; (Action: Public Service Reform Directorate; and Directorate of Change and Corporate Services) and
(e) A structured opportunity should be arranged to help Audit Scotland build capacity among its staff to operate effectively in an outcomes-focused context. (Action: Finance Directorate)
7. The Permanent Secretary welcomed the Scottish Government officials who joined the meeting at this point to observe the proceedings.
Agenda Item 3: Delivering the Healthy Life Expectancy Component of the Government's Purpose (SB(09)27)
8. Kevin Woods introduced paper SB(09)27 which provided the Strategic Board with a cost analysis of current activity to deliver the healthy life expectancy (HLE) component of the Government's Purpose; a summary of the investment currently being made to deliver in each of the main areas of intervention; and a consideration of the relative value of interventions; and of an exploration of whether there might be more effective ways to deliver increased HLE.
9. Kevin Woods said that there was a complex and mutually dependent relationship between HLE and economic growth. All government actions mattered in relation to health improvement, although health services had a particularly significant role to play. Examples of effective interventions to improve HLE included anticipatory care (for hypertension or raised cholesterol) and elective surgery provision (for hips or cataracts), which had rapid impact on quality of life for individuals. The evidence for effective policy interventions had some limitations, because causal relationships between interventions and the scale of responses were not well understood. Consideration therefore needed to be given to expanding the evidence base.
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
10. Points made in discussion:
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(a) Very many interventions impacted on HLE, and the priorities identified in paragraphs 24, 25 and 26 of the paper appeared reasonable.
(b) The Quality and Outcomes Framework, which underpinned the GP contract in Scotland, included outcomes defined in terms of the management of long-term conditions and access to care. Community Health (and Care) Partnerships had been established to help shift the balance of care towards primary, community and mental health care settings. An integrated resource framework was being developed to support this move;
(c) Preventive work, or early intervention, in areas which typically affected the working age population, such as alcohol, drug abuse, obesity, early onset coronary heart disease, stroke and mental health, could make a clear contribution to delivering the Government's Purpose. Healthy children and young people with a capacity to learn were essential to future prosperity, and Scotland had a distinctive focus on early years interventions which was already attracting international attention. In areas such as alcohol abuse, there was good evidence for positive outcomes from brief clinical interventions. Joint working between NHSScotland and social care services was vital in managing issues such as alcohol and obesity, and active links with COSLA were essential in taking this agenda forward.
Agenda Item 4: Balanced Scorecard (SB(09)28)
11. Hilary Morrison introduced paper SB(09)28 which provided the Strategic Board with a report on the Corporate Balanced Scorecard. She said that the process of building the Scorecard was still developing. Improvements had already resulted from the good relationships which were being built up with data owners. The Office of the Chief Statistician had helped to develop a deeper understanding of the data. Statisticians were currently studying the data, and a refreshed Scorecard including a more developed commentary would be made available to the Strategic Board in July.
12. Stella Manzie said that the Balanced Scorecard formed part of the organisation's new and more robust governance and accountability framework. She drew the Strategic Board's attention to 3 points: the high vacancy rate; the fact that efficiency targets had been achieved; and performance in response to Parliamentary Questions and Freedom of Information ("FOI") requests. She said that, although the time taken to process requests was reducing, continued attention should be given at senior level to increasing the quality of responses to FOI requests.
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
13. Points made in discussion:
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(a) It was important to capture the right data and to be accurate in reporting;
(b) There was much value in presenting information in this way, and the "Red Amber Green" assessment was helpful. It was useful to see the information collated in a single place, and it would be important to be able to break it down according to the individual responsibilities of Directors-General;
(c) The high vacancy rate was a cause for concern. In considering their response, Directors-General should take into account the likely budgetary position in 2010-11 and plan accordingly. They should review how staff were deployed and adjust workloads as necessary, as well as examining the extent of the use of agency staff and consultants and whether this represented the most efficient solution. There might also be scope to consider the way in which some support services were delivered;
(d) The payment performance figure was expressed as an average over 3 months and appeared out of line with expectations;
(e) Many entries had no corresponding targets or threshold limits. These entries should be reviewed and aligned to other targets as appropriate.
(f) The grievance rate merited further analysis. The definition of grievance seemed broad, and there was some uncertainty as to what precisely was being measured. It was vital that staff should feel confident in the processes for raising concerns, and there was also a cultural and management dimension to be developed;
(g) A significant drop in the number of Official Replies suggested that the definitions used in the Ministerial Correspondence section of the Scorecard might not capture adequately all the ways in which civil servants currently communicated.
14. The Strategic Board agreed that :
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(a) Work should continue to ensure that the data presented was accurate and robust; (Action: Strategy and Ministerial Support Directorate)
(b) Realistic and measurable targets should be set wherever possible. For absence rates, this should take into account the need to achieve rates which were below the UK Civil Service average. (Action: Strategy and Ministerial Support Directorate; Change and Corporate Services Directorate)
(c) The analysis of the vacancy rate needed urgent attention to ensure clear separation between historical vacancies which did not need to be filled and rates of current, approved vacancies;
(d) Further consideration should be given as to what information Directors-General would require to help them judge the appropriate levels of agency staff and consultancy support in different parts of the organisation, as well as to monitor the number of agency staff who were nearing their maximum term; (Action: Strategy and Ministerial Support Directorate) and
(e) The payment performance figure should be checked for accuracy. (Action: Finance Directorate)
Agenda Item 5: 2008-09 Provisional Outturn Report (SB(09)30)
15. Alyson Stafford introduced paper SB(09)30 which provided the Strategic Board with a report on the provisional unaudited financial outturn for 2008-09. She said that the final underspend was expected to lie within the range £39 million to £84 million. The books would remain open for 2008-09 until the accounts were signed in September, but at present it was clear that there had been no breach of the Parliamentary totals.
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
16. Points made in discussion:
(a) Finance Directorate staff should be congratulated on their contribution to achieving successful outturn management during 2008-09;
(b) The relatively small underspend in relation to the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) set by Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT) was part of a higher figure for the underspend on the Scottish Parliamentary budgets, which included Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) items such as student loans and public sector pensions, which were particularly uncertain because they were demand-led. In managing the Scottish Parliamentary budgets, no particular risk was attached to setting AME forecasts which turned out to be too high; in contrast, it would be difficult to control the risk of breach if they were set too low;
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
17. The Strategic Board noted the conclusion set out in the paper.
Agenda Item 6: Update on the Economy (Oral item)
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
18. Andrew Goudie introduced this item which was the third of regular monthly updates to the Board on the economy and circulated slides (SB(09)5th Meeting - Presentation - Agenda Item 6 - State of the Economy) to be considered alongside this item. He said that Gross Domestic Product figures for the fourth quarter of 2008 showed that Scotland tracked the performance of the rest of the UK very closely.
19. Dr Goudie said that there was as yet no evidence of recovery in any sector of the Scottish (or UK) economy, although there was some suggestion that the rate of decline might have slowed. It would be critical, over coming months, to develop strategies which would keep people in the labour force. He said that, when recovery came, the availability of loan finance would be a significant issue: it was as yet uncertain how the lending which had previously come from overseas financial institutions would be replaced.
20. Dr Goudie said that the refreshed Economic Recovery Programme was in preparation and that it now focused on 3 themes for priority action: supporting jobs and communities; strengthening education and skills; and investing in innovation and the industries of the future. The document was set clearly within the Government Economic Strategy and set out progress already made towards achieving the Purpose.
21. Points made in discussion:
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(a) Consideration should be given to the possible negative consequences of increased levels of unemployment for policy areas such as mental health, substance abuse, delinquency and re-offending rates, among others, as well as the wider resource implications and pressures on public services which would arise from such trends;
Part of the record of discussion under this agenda item is considered exempt from publication at this time and has been redacted.
22. The Strategic Board agreed that:
(a) Work to refresh the ERP should be a priority;
(b) More could be done to ensure that counter-cyclical value was derived from all measures already in place;
(c) Further effort should be made to ensure that spending plans were more closely oriented towards delivering the Purpose; and
(d) Further consideration should be given to the social impacts of current economic conditions and to their consequential impact on Scottish Government policy and expenditure in areas such as justice and mental health. (Action: Strategy and Ministerial Support Directorate)
Agenda Item 7: Any Other Business
28. Kevin Woods updated the Strategic Board on the progress of the outbreak of Influenza A(H1N1) and the measures that were being taken by the Scottish Government and at UK level to ensure that preparations were as well advanced as possible.
Date of Next Meeting
29. Thursday, 18 June at SAH, Edinburgh at 9.00 a.m.
Cabinet and Corporate Business Secretariat
June 2009