28 September 2007
A single body should replace the 'overcrowded landscape' of organisations that audit, inspect and regulate public services in Scotland, an independent review has concluded.
In a report published this week, Professor Lorne Crerar put forward a series of radical recommendations to replace the 43 existing regulatory bodies.
Eleven new bodies and 'czars' have been created since devolution in 1999 and the direct cost of scrutiny bodies has risen from £60m in 2002/03 to £92m in 2005/06.
Announcing details of his recommendations on September 25, Crerar said that those responsible for providing services were critical of the current burden of audit and regulation. He added: 'The model I am proposing, if adopted, would reduce significantly what I believe to be an overcrowded landscape.'
Crerar, a lawyer, was appointed by the former Labour-Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive in 2006 to carry out an independent review of the 'audit, inspection and complaints handling' of public services.
His 117-page report suggests a number of ways that the system could be rationalised prior to the setting up of a single, national scrutiny organisation, which would have a core staff 'expert in the business of external scrutiny' and with access to 'a range of professionals'.
Crerar's proposals for the shorter term include requiring existing organisations to collaborate to eliminate duplication and to co-ordinate activity.
The NHS would be subject to the same inspection as other services, with NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, the government's health directorates and the Care Commission becoming part of an independent scrutiny organisation.
One body would scrutinise local government and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman would have the role of overseeing all public service complaints handling systems. The report also suggests that the 'voice' of service users should be strengthened 'to develop more outcome-focused public services'.
Crerar said: 'What I am proposing is radically different from current arrangements and could eventually lead to the creation of one single body.'
A spokesman for Audit Scotland, which provides services for the Accounts Commission and the auditor general, said it supported proposals that scrutiny should be more streamlined and more focused on citizens' views.
Audit Scotland 'already works closely with other agencies to ensure that our work is conducted in a streamlined and effective way', the spokesman said.
Welcoming the proposals, the president of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Pat Watters, said: 'Going from 40-plus scrutiny bodies to one makes things much simpler. But we recognise that this could take time to achieve.'
PFsep2007
