7/29/2019 Public Services Reform: a response to the Scottish Parliaments Local Government and Regeneration Committee

1/4

A d vice Pa p erJan u ary 2 0 1 3

1

Public Services Reform: a response to the Scottish ParliamentsLocal Government and Regeneration Committee

(1302)

Introduction1 TheRSEwelcomes theopportunity to contribute

to theworkof the Local GovernmentandRegenerationCommitteeandstrand3 of its inquiryinto publicservicesreform.Whilst theinquiry hasbeentaken in3 strands,manyof the issuesbeingraised seemtobe inextricably linked; therefore

someofour commentsmay alsorelate toearlierstrands of theworkof the Committee.

2 The critical startingpoint for all of thiswork fromthe perspective of theRSE is that any significantprogrammeof reformofpublicservices should bedriven byan outcomes basedapproach, i.e. anapproach that focuses onwhatservicesare tobedeliveredandwhat theservices are designedtoachieve.

3 The questions posed in the call for evidencegivenoobvious reference toanoutcomes basedapproach, nor are theya set ofquestions abouteffectiveness.Effectivenessshouldbe the firstconsideration inanoutcomes basedapproach.The implication of the remitof the inquiry is thatachieving economies ofscale is theprime focus.

4 Whilst werecognise that thecurrent pressuresonpublic financesdoes requiretheScottishGovernmentandScottishParliament toexaminetheopportunitiesformore financiallyefficientdeliveryofpublic services, thisshouldnot betheonlymeasure bywhich public servicesare judged

theoutcomesfor people, communitiesandbusinesses inScotlandall need tobe foremost inconsideringanyprogrammeof reform.In reformingpublicservices it isalso important that fullconsideration isgiven to thedemographictrendsthat indicateanageingpopulationand onewithadeclining numberofpeoplein theworking agepopulation.Whilst it ispossible thatmigrationwithin the EUmay changethispattern tosomedegree as the recent census indicates it isprobably too early to judgewhether thishas beena short-termimpactofEUenlargementorwillrepresentamore permanentchange toScotlandspopulation agedistribution.

5 Taking full advantageofdigital technologyalsoprovides opportunities to reformpublic services thatboth bring theservices closer to the individual,whilst alsopotentially improving theeffectivenessof the public service in terms ofoutcome andfinancialefficiency. Themajorbarrier to fullymaximising the benefitsofdigital todate lie in thesignificantpercentageofpeoplewhoeitherdonot

currently have access to thetechnology,orwhodonot fully use the range ofservicesand functions thatthetechnologyoffers.TheRSEwill shortly belaunchingan Inquiry intoReaping theBenefitsofaDigital Scotland, whichwehopewillhelpto identifysomeof the barriersand proposeways toaddressthem.

6 It isessential that the digital divide that theRSEseeks tostudy aspartof its Inquiry isadequatelyaddressed,particularly given theUKGovernmentsdigitalby defaultapproach.

7 Whilst theRSE recognises someof the drivers inseeking toshareservice provision, wherethisinvolves threeormore organisations it can beproblematic. Inmanycases it can beadvancedmoreeasilywhere theorganisationshavedifferent remitsbut within the samegeographicboundary, suchasahealthboardwith a local authority, rather thanwhenorganisationshave thesame remitbutdifferentboundaries, such asa groupof localauthorities. Inthe lattersituation there can often beconflict ifindividual organisations arecompeting for

prioritisationin theoutputof thesharedservice.

8 It is possible toachieve partnerships betweenorganisationswithparallel responsibilities, but onlyif a buy-in tosharedoutcomeshas beenworkedupon inadvance,suchas in the Clyde Valley initiative.Sharedtrust in the service outcomes isvital insuchsharedservices.

9 Aswellashavinga sharedsense ofoutcome, it isalso important that accurateandcomparablesuppliesofdataare available.FromtheworkontheClyde Valleystudy, it isevident that these can be

variable toa significantdegree.

7/29/2019 Public Services Reform: a response to the Scottish Parliaments Local Government and Regeneration Committee

2/4

2

A d v i c e Pa p e r 1 3 0 2

10 It isalso important torecognise thatevenwith theestablishmentof a joint aimthat theimplementationof shared services requires considerable effort aslogistical andpolitical challengescanemergeduring thisprocess.

Addressing theCommittees questions:

Whatare localauthorities doing orconsidering doing in terms ofalternativedeliverymethods?Whathasworkedandwhathasnt?Whatsavings havebeenachieved fromadoptingalternativedeliverymethods?Whatsupport isbeingprovidedby theGovernment indriving

change?11 TheCommittee shouldconsiderwhat ismeant by

alternativedeliverymethods. It is amistake toplaceall of the focus onshareddelivery. Theway inwhichlocal authoritieshave changed over thepast 15yearshasnotalways been fully recognisedbycentralgovernmentwithmanycore responsibilities nowbeing delivered throughthe third sector.

12 There are examples inEngland of servicesbeingCommunitised.Onesuch example is ofCountyCouncilswherethereisanolderpopulation, and

wherethey have been recruitingolderpeopletoprovideadvice andsupport to otherolderpeople.(Examples of this exist inDorset&Wiltshire).It isperhapsmore likely thatolder peoplewill takeadviceand support fromthose ofa similar age andwith similar experiences than fromsocialworkerswho aremuchyounger thantheyare.

13 A further example is available insomeLondonBoroughs around transportingchildrenwithadditional supportneeds. North Ayrshire Councilprovides a similar example. Here theCouncil has

beenworkingwith groups ofparents ofchildrenwithadditional supportneeds, encouragingandenablingthemtorun a rota for takingtheir childrentoandfromschool. Thisseems tomakemore sense thanhavingspecially equippedbuseswhichare only usedtwice a day, especially since the parentsof thesechildren often havesuitably equippedvehiclesalready. Theseexamplescomprisea blendofvoluntary contributions (of timeandresources)aswell asdifferently salariedstaffwhocanberecompensed for their time invariousways.

Howareopportunities for sharingservicesbeing identified?

14 Manyof the examplescited inregard to thisarerelatively trivial andamount tomere dropsin the

ocean when it comestocostsavings.Largerscalesavings are notevident.TranscendingandcooperatingacrossLocal Authority boundaries ischallengingandrequires a buy-into theprocess atpolitical and seniorofficer level. Thiswas a keycomponent of theClydeValleypartnershipcited inparagraph 9.

15 DoesScotlandneed32Local Authorities? It isoftenargued that if Scotlandhadfewer, larger LocalAuthorities itwouldbeeasier toshareservices andfunctionsacrossLocal Authority boundaries.But

thereisa problemaround howLocalAuthorityboundarieswould bedetermined if theywere tobechanged.Forexample, if LocalAuthorityboundarieswere determinedbyscale,withaminimumsize tobeencompassedwithineach boundary,wewouldfacea difficulty with regard tocertain unmoveableboundaries,especiallyamongstdistinct islandcommunitieswho donot want tobesubsumedwithin a largergeographical region.

16 Thereare a considerable numberof factors thatarise fromboundarychanges,andmanyof the

existingboundariesaremaintained for allsorts ofhistorical reasons. However, it is now approaching 20years since the establishment of the currentmap oflocalgovernmentandwith thedrive towardsgreatercoordinationand efficiency; itmay now beanappropriate time toreconsiderthis issue.

Howare thetensionsbetweenpotentialsavingsandpotential job lossesbeingresolved?

17 A veryhighproportionofspend inpublicservicesarises fromthecostof employingsuitably qualifiedstaff todeliver theservices expected. To savesignificant sumsofmoney therewill havetobereducednumbers of staff. Furtherreductionsinoverall budgets and the numbers ofstaff willinevitably lead to tensionsbetween employers andthe trade unionsonhow this ismanaged.To date itwould seemthatconflicthas beenminimised by theapproachofmany publicservices inseeking toavoidcompulsory redundancies.

7/29/2019 Public Services Reform: a response to the Scottish Parliaments Local Government and Regeneration Committee

3/4

18 It isalso important torecognise that inmovingtosharedservicesbetweenpublicagenciesthereisalsoa requirement to train staff in the skills involvedinworkingacrossorganisationalboundaries.

What legislativebarriersare there todevelopingsharedand innovative servicedeliverymodels to theirfull potential?

19 There isno legislative barrier;amajor barrier isafear/reluctance of causingdisruption. In sharingservices local electedmembersunderstandablyseek todefendtheir own communities. Therefore,developingtrust betweenpotentialpartner localauthorities is anessential component ofachievingcrossborderpartnerships.

20 There can also beVAT implicationsof shared

services thatcan inflate costs orcancelout orreduceanyanticipatedsavings fromthesharedprovision.It canthereforeoftenbebetterfor service providerstosimply provideservices themselves toavoid thetransactioncosts associatedwithsharingservices.

Inwhatareas is there scope fornationalsharedservicesalong the linesof theshared recruitment portal for localauthorities myjobscotland?

21 There isawidevariety ofoptions thatcould be

considered, forexamplestandardising all planningconsent forms. Is itnecessary for these tobedifferentwithineach LocalAuthorityas is currentlythecase?There isscopefor improvingmobility bymakingformsetc. uniformacross LocalAuthorityboundariesand being able tocreateand store alldata electronically.

22 There aremany opportunities for services tobecomeelectronic, butonly if thereisequality of access.Glasgow for example only has around60%of thepopulation connected toBroadband internet.Also,

making everythingaccessible electronically onlyworks if there isnoother alternative.Where theoption stillexists for people do things(e.g. renewingcar tax) inperson, a proportionwill continue todosorather than useanelectronicsystem.

23 There aremany LocalAuthorityemployees, e.g.gardeners, refusecollectors, whodonot regularlyaccessoruse the internetaspartof their jobs, andtherefore dont have regular/constant accesstocouncil updateswhichare publishedover theweb.Forexample, council updates onschoolclosuresdue

toweather are often issuedvia the internet. Thisassumes that themajority of peoplewill have accesstoa laptop/PC and beloggingonfirst thing in themorning.This isbynomeans the case.

24 Fromaproceduralpoint of view, there isaconfidencebarrier to sharingservices electronically.Facebookpenetration isprobably far greater thancomputerbased digital accessto information.Accessto the internet (Facebook,email etc.) ismore likely tobedoneviamobilephonesthanvia computer. The

useof socialmedia for informationsharing etc.tends to raiseconcerns aboutdata protection, butconcerns about this are not insurmountable.Informationsharing andweb accessviamobilephones, rather than computers, ispossibly thewaytogo for somefunctions.

What hasbeenlearnedfromelsewhere,for exampleNottinghamEarlyInterventionCityorBirminghamtotalplace initiative?

25 Theseare strongexamplesbut it is importanttoensure that theyare not simply islandsofexcellence. Theextent of learning acrossboundaries isnotclear. Part ofwhatMSPs shouldbeempoweredtodo isto look atexamplesofgoodpractice fromother councils. However,more needstobedone toensure thatsuchsharing and learningacross boundaries does take placebetween ScottishLocal Authorities.

Inwhatwayscan innovativedeliverymethodsandcollaborativearrangements(asmentioned, for example, in theChristie Commissionreport)help toimproveoutcomesandtackleembeddedsocial problems?

26 It could beargued that, ifweare alreadyprovidinggoodservicesthenall thatweneedtodo isroll theseoutto thosewhoarent already receivingthem.However, thisapplies only if the serviceswearealreadyproviding are goodandmeet the needs ofdifferentpeople inourcommunities

27 LocalAuthoritiesneed togetthebalance rightbetweenoverallrelationshipmanagement andpersonalised relationshipmanagement. It is oftenadifficult balance tostrikebutmore needs tobedonetopersonalise thedeliveryofservices, for examplethereare very few examplesofhow personalisedmanagement issuccessfullyscaled up tobeyond1000+people.

3

A d v i c e Pa p e r 1 3 0 2

7/29/2019 Public Services Reform: a response to the Scottish Parliaments Local Government and Regeneration Committee

4/4

AdvicePapersare producedonbehalf ofRSECouncilby anappropriately diverseworkinggroupinwhose expertise and judgement the Council has confidence.

Any enquiries about this submissionshouldbeaddressed to the RSEs HeadofPolicyAdvice,

BristowMuldoon.Email: bmuldoon@royalsoced.org.uk.

Responses are published on theRSEwebsite:www.royalsoced.org.uk.

AdvicePaper (RoyalSocietyofEdinburgh) ISSN2040-2694

TheRoyal Society ofEdinburgh(RSE) isScotlandsNationalAcademy. It isan independent bodywitha

multidisciplinaryfellowshipofmenandwomenof international standingwhichmakesituniquelyplaced

tooffer informed, independentcommentonmatters ofnational interest.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotlands National Academy, is Scottish Charity No. SC000470

4

A d v i c e Pa p e r 1 3 0 2

InwhatwaysareCPPsbeing involved indriving themovetowardnewservicedeliverymethods?What ishamperingtheir involvementandhowcan itbeovercome?

28 Local councilsare seenas themaindriving forcebehindCommunityPlanningPartnerships. TheCPPsare perceivedashavinglittle autonomyor impetus todrivethingsforwards themselves. It isessential if the CPPsare tobe the agentsofchange,inareas suchasthe integration ofhealthand socialcare, as isnecessary, that their authority isstrengthened.