ThinkSpace Solo
Minority impact: behavioural change will drive Scottish public sector reform
Scotland’s minority government exists in a new parliamentary environment that has the potential to slow down the policy lifecycle. This increases the accountability of civil servant activity; increases the transparency of evidence required for policy; and necessitates wider engagement with those outside the Government’s formal political allegiances. It can no longer therefore be ‘business as usual’ for civil servants as there will be a greater expectation to demonstrate achievement against manifesto promises with outcomes rather than inputs.
We argue that the usual structural changes that accompany 'reorganisations' should be resisted as behavioural change will be more important; but also that Scottish senior civil servants can turn this challenge into an opportunity to ensure robust and quick policy delivery with a wider governance and facilitative role which will leave politicians to focus on the business of politics.
 Click here to download this ThinkSpace Solo article (PDF, 484 Kb)
|
