17 March 2006
Scots Executive to consult on shared services strategy as part of reforms
The Scottish Executive is about to publish a shared services strategy that encompasses the whole of Scotland's public sector in an effort to free substantial resources for the front line, a senior Executive official has revealed.
Peter Russell, giving the keynote address to the CIPFA in Scotland annual conference, said the strategy was vital to ensure that Scotland's public services offered value for money.
Russell, who is head of the efficient government delivery group at the Executive, told delegates there was an unassailable logic for joining up back-office functions.
Using local government as an example, he said: 'There can't be 32 best ways of doing something.'
The shared services strategy, being published for consultation during the next month, is one of three documents on the future of Scottish public services in the pipeline.
John McClelland, the businessman asked to review public sector procurement for the Executive, is due to report his findings within days.
Ministers will also shortly publish a discussion paper on 'excellent public services', considering what the future priorities for public services ought to be and what reforms will be necessary to achieve them.
This agenda will include a concerted attempt to focus on service outcomes, entailing a shift away from the current emphasis on managing processes in the public sector.
'This is not about top-down reform, but the status quo can't be an option,' Russell told the conference. 'Public services need to move forward and change and we need to use our resources to be more efficient.' He was candid that the efficient government programme is being driven partly by the knowledge that funding is likely to be squeezed in the next spending round.
Scotland's share of the 'national cake' would decrease as a result of the Barnett Formula. At the same time, the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review is likely to herald a general tightening of budgets.
Russell said that together the various strands of work added up to a programme of wide-reaching reform. 'This is an historic opportunity to transform the delivery of public services in Scotland for a generation.'
Professor Arthur Midwinter, whose intended speech to the conference was previewed in last week's Public Finance, was unable to attend the conference for personal reasons.
Wide support for restructuring of public services
An overwhelming majority of conference delegates believe that an overhaul of organisations and structures is vital if Scotland's public services are to perform effectively in the future.
Reform of the organisations used to deliver services, including abolishing some and merging others, is essential if lasting improvements are to be achieved, a vote on the issue suggested.
Delegates backed the motion, 'to secure a role in Scotland's future, the structure of public services will have to change significantly', by 79% to 21%.
Speaking in the preceding debate, Stuart Fowler, a director at RSM Robson Rhodes, said there were too many organisations involved in the delivery of public services. These bodies often had overlapping functions and were keen to protect their areas of influence, which prevented joint working.
'Until these barriers are overcome, it's difficult to see how improvements in the front line can be achieved,' Fowler added.
But Charles Swainson, medical director of NHS Lothian, said reorganisation would merely be a distraction from the real task of changing working practices.
He argued that users were not interested in which body delivered a particular service, but cared only about whether or not they had a good experience.
He cited research by Audit Scotland after the NHS reforms in 2000, which found that the public did not understand the new structures and had found it more difficult to access services as a result.
Private sector blamed for lack of R&D
The private sector must accept responsibility for Scotland's poor record on research and development if lasting economic growth is to be achieved, an eminent academic has warned.
Professor Joan Stringer, an expert in industrial policy and principal and vice-chancellor of Napier University in Edinburgh, told the conference it was wrong to blame public policy failures for Scotland's low level of R&D investment.
While effective policies could aid economic development, Stringer said, R&D was a crucial element in a strong economy and one that could be delivered only by the private sector.
'We need to stop blaming the public sector or public policy for the failures of the private sector,' Stringer said.
'The Executive needs to make sure that policies provide incentives to R&D, not try to do it [itself].'
Despite this, delegates rejected by 80% to 20% a motion that the Scottish government's policies were 'on track to secure long-term economic growth for Scotland'.
PFmar2006
