SECTION 1 - OUR NEW APPROACH TO GOVERNMENT
Since taking office over a year ago this administration has adopted a new approach to government. We have a single, overarching Purpose - to focus government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth - and we are determined to work in partnership with wider Scottish society so together we can deliver on the Purpose.
We know the importance of working in partnership and so we have developed a new and productive relationship with local government, a new way of working, which is enshrined in our historic Concordat. This new relationship puts local government at the heart of governance in Scotland sitting alongside national government as an equal partner. We are working together to achieve agreed outcomes and to deliver growing success, opportunity and prosperity for the people of Scotland.
As never before, the Scottish Government is reaching out across Scotland's economy and society - to business, the public sector, the third sector - to build a consensus on what we can achieve as a nation and provide the routemap to get there. Our Government Economic Strategy sets out how we will deliver the Purpose and is crystal clear about the scale of Scotland's economic potential and this Government's ambitions for the future.
Our aim is to close the growth gap with the rest of the UK by 2011, and move forward to emulate the recent success of the small, independent countries off our shores. Even within an increasingly challenging global economic environment, we believe that we have set an agenda for government and a programme for economic progress that will put Scotland on a course for long-term success.
Our approach to government is based on:
- Vision - working to meet the rising ambitions of the people of Scotland;
- Trust - using responsibility wisely and fairly, and empowering local government and our communities; and
- Competence - getting the big decisions right and always putting Scotland's interests first.
The people of Scotland expect us to govern responsibly and effectively. Our approach is about repaying this trust. Our policies for the economy, society and environment embody Scotland's traditions of enterprise, responsibility and social justice. We are working in partnership at all levels, committed to improving services at a local level right through to positioning a modern progressive Scotland in the British Isles, Europe and throughout the world.
We are focused on sustainable economic growth - on all of us sharing in a better, fairer way of life. We want to deliver a more inclusive Scotland so that, no matter where people live, opportunities are open to them. This is our social democratic contract with the people of Scotland - and it is one we intend to honour during the lifetime of this parliament.
How we are taking our new approach forward
Success will flow from a broad social partnership bringing together Scottish society as real partners in a process that is focused on delivering our Purpose and growing national success. The key to achieving our aims lies in reaching out and bringing together business, local government, the third sector, trade unions and others.
In this way we can build strong national agreement, through negotiation and talking openly, on some of the difficult issues affecting Scotland that have held Scotland back in the past and have proved intractable - alcohol and drug misuse, for example.
Over time, the debates around these issues have become sterile and unproductive, with arguments polarised. One illustration is the way in which, over the last couple of decades, the debate around drugs misuse has become viewed as a stark choice between harm reduction (accepting drug usage will happen and mitigating impact) or abstinence ("just say no"). We don't accept that these views are irreconcilable. Scotland is not alone in being affected by such issues, and the key is to see what approaches will work best, given our particular circumstances.
Preventing Offending by Young People - A Framework for Action |
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This framework sets out the shared vision of what national and local agencies working with children and young people who offend, or are at risk of offending, should do to prevent, divert, manage and change that behaviour. It has been jointly developed with partners including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA), the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland, the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration, the Crown Office, inspectorates and Audit Scotland. The framework demonstrates a shift in attitude towards such young people, in particular through a focus on prevention and early intervention; and a move to an outcome-based approach which sets out a high level strategic vision, and empowers and supports local partners to deliver. This is reflected in the financial and performance management arrangements for youth justice, where we have moved away from ring-fenced funding and targets. Confirming the commitment to a system which sees young people who offend as having needs, the framework stresses this is consistent with the other key objective of keeping communities and individuals safe, rejecting the often polarised nature of the debate. Securing consensus on a previously vexed and divisive subject is an early and significant demonstration of the benefit of our collaborative approach. |
Why we are taking this new approach
We are responding to the new confidence and ambition of the people of Scotland, capturing that spirit of ambition in the work of the Scottish Government. We believe wholeheartedly in greater responsibility for Scotland. Responsibility should lie with those best able to use it - in central or local government, or in our communities. We want to bring about a culture of independence, a culture of responsibility, to ensure communities and individuals can play their part in increasing sustainable economic growth in Scotland, turning the Purpose of this Government into a reality.
In that spirit, we are working to promote openness and accountability in the Scottish Government and beyond. The quality of public debate improves when our citizens can see and judge the results that government is delivering at national and local level.
- Scotland Performs allows people to track online our progress towards the Purpose, targets and outcomes.
- Single Outcome Agreements will allow people to see what is happening in their local area, and how public sector partners are jointly achieving better outcomes for their community.
- Exploratory discussions have begun on possible widening of the application of Freedom of Information legislation to cover more organisations carrying out certain public functions.
- Public services and other bodies are regularly inspected to check how well and how safely they are working. Work is underway to simplify the existing system of inspection.
Over the next year, we will get to grips with more of the issues faced to deliver public services with a structure fit for a nation and an economy of 5 million people. We will tackle blockages, duplication and over-complicated bureaucracy to achieve a more outcome-focused public sector and more efficient and streamlined public services, which provide better value for the public pound and help deliver our target of 25% fewer public bodies in Scotland.
- We will continue to build on the new relationship set out in the Concordat with COSLA to work together on key issues and to extend Single Outcome Agreements to Community Planning Partnerships, involving other key players such as the third sector.
- We will introduce a Public Services Reform Bill to take forward the simplification agenda for fewer national public organisations and other reforms to improve scrutiny and accountability. The Bill will also include proposals for establishing Creative Scotland.
- We will ensure that the ways we vote are clear for all to understand. Acting on the Gould Report, we will introduce a Scottish Parliament and Local Government Elections Bill so that Scottish Parliament and local government elections are held at different times.
The National Conversation
The central issue that faces our country is how we govern ourselves in the future. A culture of independence and responsibility benefits the nation as a whole as well as organisations, communities and individuals. The Government is therefore making the case for Scottish independence but it recognises that there are other views and that there needs to be a full and open debate of all of the issues and options.
Through the National Conversation we are engaging with the people of Scotland and our civic institutions, to discuss the future of this country and the responsibilities we should have as a nation to make Scotland more successful.
As a result of the National Conversation there is now agreement among all Scotland's main political parties that the Scottish Parliament should have additional responsibilities. There is also now broad support in the Scottish Parliament in favour of a referendum to give the people a choice on Scottish independence. This is a once in a generation opportunity, and we will fulfil our manifesto commitment to introduce a Referendum Bill to allow a vote on independence to take place in autumn 2010. The Referendum Bill will provide the framework for the conduct and mechanics of the referendum itself.
The debate now turns on the scale of our ambitions for Scotland. We believe independence is the best state for small countries like Scotland. We believe that with independence we could match or exceed the economic success of countries like Ireland and Norway. So over the next year we will set out the positive case for independence - leading debate on the big issues for the future of Scotland: the economy; foreign policy and defence; justice and home affairs; social policy; energy and the environment. Others will make the case for other forms of change. What is important though is that we use the National Conversation to have a proper debate about what is best for our country and about what independence and responsibilities the Scottish Parliament and Government need to achieve the ambitions of our people. We want the people of Scotland to be fully informed about the arguments and choices when they cast their votes in the referendum in 2010.