The Scottish Government announced that a number of bodies scrutinizing public services would be abolished or merged, with the aim of bringing greater consistency and freeing up staff for frontline duties. There would be a single scrutiny body looking at health services, and a single body scrutinizing care and social work.
Source: Press release 6 November 2008, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: SG press release | Scottish Parliament report | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Nov
A think-tank paper examined how the Scottish public sector was funded, and the role of the 'Barnett formula'. It considered the options available for funding within the existing arrangements if the Barnett formula were to be scrapped.
Source: Andrew Hughes-Hallett, Jeremy Peat, Andrew Scott, Lesley Sutton and Fabian Zuleeg, Options for Scotland's Future: The Economic Dimension, Hume Occasional Paper 80, David Hume Institute (0131 667 9609)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Nov
A report examined the 'Barnett formula', used to allocate public spending between England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Identifiable public spending per head in England was running at £7,535 per annum (2007-08): but in Scotland it was 22 per cent (£1,644) higher, in Wales 14 per cent (£1,042) higher, and in Northern Ireland 30 per cent (£2,254) higher. Such spending gaps were 'impossible to justify' to English taxpayers.
Source: Mike Denham, Unequal Shares: The definitive guide to the Barnett formula, TaxPayers' Alliance (0845 330 9554)
Links: Report | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined the flexible work agenda in Scotland compared with two other small European Union countries – Denmark and Hungary. Lack of flexibility in working patterns prevented many employees, especially women, from achieving their preference of balancing unpaid and paid work responsibilities. Lack of flexibility could also lead people aged over 55 to leave the labour market altogether when they might have preferred to work flexibly instead.
Source: Linda Boyes et al., Sustainable Working Lives, Scottish Council Foundation (0131 225 4709)
Links: Report | Summary | Literature review
Date: 2008-Jul
A think-tank report said that disparities in funding across the United Kingdom were becoming an increasing source of tension between the four nations, especially between England and Scotland. It called for the 'Barnett formula' – used to fund the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland – to be replaced with a more transparent and equitable funding system.
Source: Iain McLean, Guy Lodge and Katie Schmuecker, Fair Shares: Barnett and the politics of public expenditure, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Report | IPPR press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report presented the findings from a qualitative evaluation of the New Deal Plus for Lone Parents pilot in Jobcentre Plus districts in Scotland and Wales. Staff felt that the pilot offered lone parents the support needed to address multiple barriers to entering employment: but there was a need to 'fine tune' some of the elements to make them more appropriate to claimant needs.
Source: Sarah Jenkins, Extension of the New Deal Plus for Lone Parents Pilot to Scotland and Wales: Qualitative evaluation, Research Report 499, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2008-Jun
The Scottish Government announced plans for improving infrastructure investment in public services. A new company – the Scottish Futures Trust – would aim to release up to £150 million each year for increased investment through greater partnership, improved preparation and handling of projects, and better value finance.
Source: Taking Forward the Scottish Futures Trust, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | SG press release | UNISON press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-May
A think-tank report said that despite a huge increase in government spending over the previous 10 years, improvements in public services in Scotland had failed to keep pace with those in other European countries, including England. It called for: more direct, local accountability so that services were more responsive to the needs and wishes of people and local communities; greater decentralization of public services so that operational decisions were taken as close as possible to the people they affected; and increased diversity of provision, which could mean different approaches in different areas as well as a wider range of service providers.
Source: Ben Thomson, Geoff Mawdsley and Alison Payne, Power for the Public, Reform Scotland (0131 524 9500)
Links: Report | Reform Scotland press release | FT report
Date: 2008-Apr
A paper examined the general lessons learned from a study of how productivity improvements might be possible in Scottish public services.
Source: Jo Armstrong, Improving Productivity in Scotland's Public Services: Policy Lessons, Occasional Paper 76, David Hume Institute (0131 667 9609)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Apr
A paper examined the role that immigration could play in shaping Scotland's economic future. It called for a managed points-based immigration system that explicitly took into consideration economic and demographic differences between regions.
Source: Robert Wright, The Economics of New Immigration to Scotland, Occasional Paper 77, David Hume Institute (0131 667 9609)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Apr
A pilot scheme in Scotland, which involved developing new qualifications to give pupils skills for life and for the workplace, was found to have been well received by schools, colleges, teachers, and pupils; and to have raised the status of vocational learning.
Source: Thomas Spielhofer and Matthew Walker, Evaluation of Skills for Work Pilot Courses: Final Report, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | Summary | SG press release
Date: 2008-Mar
A literature review for the Scottish Government examined the theory of 'public value', and outlined how public participation could contribute to the process of authorizing what public managers did, establishing priorities and decision-making, and measuring the performance of public organizations.
Source: Alexandra Albert and Eleanor Passmore, Public Value and Participation: A literature review for the Scottish Government, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Literature Review
Date: 2008-Mar
A study found that using social inclusion clauses in public purchasing contracts (in five pilot areas) delivered new training, apprenticeships, and permanent jobs. New guidance was published by the Scottish Government to support public bodies in their use of community benefit clauses.
Source: Richard MacFarlane and Mark Cook, Community Benefits in Public Procurement: A report demonstrating the methodology for including targeted recruitment and training clauses in public sector contracts, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | Guidance | SG press release
Date: 2008-Feb
A report examined the debate about the future of public service reform in Scotland. It highlighted both the contested and the more consensual areas of reform, and the extent to which Scotland appeared to be diverging from England.
Source: Frauke Sinclair, Directed or Devolved? The future of public service reform in Scotland, Scottish Council Foundation (0131 225 4709)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jan
The Scottish Government published plans for implementing recommendations made in an independent ('Crerar') review of regulation, audit, inspection, and complaints handling of public services in Scotland.
Source: Independent Review of Regulation, Audit, Inspection and Complaints Handling of Public Services: Government Response, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Plan | Review | SG press release
Date: 2008-Jan