Inside Track Focus
Public service reform Roadmap for change
Cera Murtagh Feature Writer
The Christie Commission will set out a radical vision for the future of public services in Scotland
For some months now the Christie
Commission has been a handy refrain for politicians. When asked about the challenges facing public services in Scotland, the review has been cited, as if a panacea to all problems. Now on the eve of its publication, expectations are high. But anyone awaiting a step-by-step blueprint of how to reform Scotland’s public services will be disappointed. Due to report this week, the Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services will not prescribe X number of councils, police forces or health boards. What it will do is set out a vision for the radical transformation of how public services are delivered, and even conceived. Te action required is not just about structural reorganisation or efficiency but a complete culture shift. And if there remains any complacency about the need for change, it intends to shatter it once and for all. “Unless Scotland embraces a radical, new,
collaborative culture throughout our public services, both budgets and provision will buckle under the strain,” a copy of the report seen by Holyrood states. Established by the Scottish Government
last November, the commission, headed by former STUC General Secretary Dr Campbell Christie CBE, was charged with reviewing the future of Scotland’s public services “in the context of funding cuts by Westminster”. Indeed the financial outlook is stark. Public spending in Scotland is not expected to return to 2010 levels in real
18 Holyrood 27 June 2011
terms for 16 years. Te Independent Budget Review last year set out the challenge in no uncertain terms, urging “immediate action”. But the public spending squeeze was only
one dynamic of the challenge Christie was tasked to address. Te financial crisis is dwarfed by the demand crisis that could lie ahead if no action is taken. Te projected figures are eye watering. NESTA has estimated that over the next 15 years an extra £27bn will be needed to cope with the increased demands arising from Scotland’s ageing population and the prevalence of certain health problems. Even the Scottish Government projects that the costs of long- term care will rise by nearly 75 per cent by 2030. In this context, there is a growing feeling that the focus can no longer be on servicing demand, on simply building more hospitals, prisons and care homes. Reducing that demand must be the new imperative. But it is not purely about saving money.
Christie is also driven by a need to provide better outcomes for people - particularly those for whom public services are currently seen to be failing. Despite a significant increase in public spending since devolution and a plethora of initiatives, the commission found that social and economic inequalities in Scotland have remained unchanged or, in some cases, got worse. And this is intrinsically linked to the demand challenge. Tis inequality lies at the root of much of
Dr Campbell Christie CBE
the increasing demand on public services. Tackling that gap therefore is fundamental. “Tis suggests that, irrespective of the
current economic challenges, a radical change in the design and delivery of public services is necessary to tackle the deep-rooted social problems that persist in communities across the country,” the report reads. Given Campbell Christie’s background as a
trade union veteran, it is hardly surprising that social justice would loom large in the report. And indeed it is at its heart. Tis “cycle of deprivation” and “low aspiration” has been allowed to persist because public spending has been reactive rather than preventative, the report says. Preventative measures have not been prioritised, it finds, with a staggering 40 per cent of all spending on public services estimated to be on interventions that could be avoided by prioritising a preventative approach. “Tackling these fundamental inequalities
and focusing resources on preventative measures must be a key objective of public service reform,” the report says. Tis comes amidst growing support
for a preventative-spend approach from policymakers in Scotland. An Inquiry into Preventative Spending by the Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee in the last session, called for a shift in resources in this direction. Colin Mair, Chief Executive of the Improvement Service – the body charged
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