7. Strengthening accountability
The final principle outlined in Transforming Public Services relates to the accountability of public services and aims to move power and resources to the frontline, strengthen local responsibility and accountability and efficient and effective governance.
In all three groups, concerns about the accountability of public services were raised. Often these were referred to in terms of a limited amount of democratic accountability:
Local services, local public services, local councils are, at the end of the day, accountable to the residents - they should be in every sense of the word and I don't think it's happening. (Glasgow pre-meeting)
Participants in Ayr and Dundee felt that the public needed to be able to put their trust in elected members, both at Councils and within the Scottish Parliament:
I think maybe we are jaded because basically…council equals politics to me so everyone is fed up with politics…you cannot trust any of them…you do not believe them because they are lying through their teeth when they have told you they are going to do something. (Ayr pre-meeting)
It's a question of accountability. There's a lack of trust between what's perceived as the top and the bottom of the public sector and a lack of trust, in some respects, in these kinds of exercises today. (Dundee pre-meeting)
Overall, it was felt that to be successful the reform programme would need to address the issue of a lack of trust and accountability in local Councils and public services in general. Accountability and trust were often discussed in relation to consultation and community engagement and improved strategies for communication and consulting consumers and citizens may impact on the overall perception of the accountability of public services.