9 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
9.1 At the close of the survey, stakeholders were asked to reflect on all of the issues explored in the interview and suggest one way in which the Scottish Government could improve the way in which it works with and involves other organisations.
9.2 A very wide range of responses were given and no single improvement was mentioned by more than one in ten respondents. However, as figure 9.1 illustrates, the most common responses centred around four main themes:
- a need for the Government to listen more to stakeholders
- involve stakeholders at an earlier stage in the policy process
- provide better feedback on policy developments
- improve join up within the organisation.
Figure 9.1: Priorities for improving the SG's engagement with stakeholders
Q. Finally, thinking about all the things we have discussed, if you could suggest one way in which the Scottish Government could improve the way in which it works with and involves other organisations, what would it be?
Base: All (811)
9.3 To provide a longer-term perspective on stakeholders' aspirations for the future, participants in the qualitative interviews were asked how they would like to see their relationship with the Government evolve in the next 10 to 15 years time. By far the most common response was that the current focus on partnership working and shared objectives should be maintained and developed. Specifically, there was reference to the need for improved "understanding" between stakeholders and government, more "equitable" partnerships and a clearer indication of what the Government wants to achieve in working with stakeholders.
I think the direction of travel is the right way. There was the kernels of this maybe from five years ago and it's just improved and improved and it is the right way to go, to have better understanding, shared vision, and realistic expectations.
Local authority
Well I think a more equitable partnership where we are able to exchange information quite pragmatically, about how things work on the ground … would be the best way forward. I don't think we are looking for more than that really; we're just looking for a dialogue and I'm sure it does happen across many, many, areas of the Government.
Local authority
A successful partnership is shared aims, shared vision and I think as a stakeholder we are clear about what we want to achieve, but perhaps the Government is not clear about what it wants to achieve through its relationship with the stakeholder, so, if they got that side of things a bit clearer, it would make for a much smoother relationship and then you can do a lot more things together.
NDPB
9.4 Of the few additional comments that were made by interviewees, one focused on a need for designated "account managers" in the Scottish Government to facilitate stakeholder engagement with the organisation.
We could do with an account manager from central government. I think at one time, some of the directors from the Scottish Government were attached to different local authorities, to see how that relationship was developing, and I'm not sure to what extent that's happening any more. Inevitably there are some problems arising, so who do you call to fix it? Do you go to the director for that department, do you go to people that you know within the Government? I still think it's quite a faceless organisation and you tend to know people by the work area that you're in, but you don't know across the piece.
Local authority
9.5 Meanwhile a representative of an NDPB suggested that the Government might consider pursuing a less rigid, departmentalised approach to engagement:
I'd like to think that given modern systems, they could be smart enough for us not to be restricted to a single sponsoring department, which in this day and age seems to us to be very old fashioned. Every NDPB like us has a single sponsor department and if they're asking us to behave in a more holistic fashion, the idea of a single port of call to go through seems very old fashioned now.
NDPB