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Improving scrutiny
06/11/2008
A number of bodies scrutinising public services will be abolished or merged to bring greater consistency and free up staff for frontline duties.
There will be a single scrutiny body looking at health services, and a single body scrutinising care and social work.
The moves are in line with the Government's intention to simplify the public sector landscape and improve public services.
The Finance Secretary John Swinney today outlined to Parliament changes to the organisation of scrutiny bodies:
- A new health scrutiny body will bring together the functions of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and the Mental Welfare Commission, and the scrutiny of independent healthcare currently undertaken by the Care Commission
- A single body will look at care and social work, taking on the functions of Social Work Inspectorate Agency, the Care Commission and HMIE's current responsibilities for child protection
- The Scottish Charity Appeals Panel will be abolished once the Government has publicly consulted and agreed upon where its functions will sit in future
- Complaints handling will be simplified. The Government will discuss with the Parliament whether complaints about the water industry and from prisoners could be handled by Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). This would lead to the abolition of Waterwatch; water customers would be represented by Consumer Focus (formerly the Scottish Consumer Council)
- The Government will also discuss with the Parliament whether the Scottish Prisoner Complaints Commission should become part of the revised functions of the SPSO
- The Prison Visiting Committee will be more integrated with HM Inspector of Prisons.
John Swinney said:
"In the current economic climate, it is more important than ever that all public services actively contribute to increasing sustainable economic growth. We need every ounce of effort to go on delivering first class public services.
"The changes I am announcing today will remove unnecessary burdens on staff, free up their time to focus on delivering public services and benefit people who use them.
"We will tackle the complex, and occasionally arbitrary, structures where too much time is absorbed in crossing organisational boundaries, getting in the way of efficient and effective services. In reducing the burden of scrutiny, however, we will always ensure we protect the interests of all members of society.
"We have a number of bodies working to join up but it is hard for the public to see who is looking holistically at the services they receive.
"In future we will have a single body looking at health, ensuring a greater consistency of scrutiny. A single body focussing on care and social work will look at links in the support chain, from the local authority to service delivery for individuals.
"And HMIE will maintain their focus on raising educational standards, stimulating improvement and promoting self evaluation while also continuing to ensure that education works with other services to support the development and wellbeing of all children in Scotland.
"Creating a simplified and coherent approach will help people to better understand performance and delivery of public services.
"Other changes will reduce the complexity of organisational structures and get better value for public money.
"As legislation will be required, we will deliver the package of structural reform by 2011. While there may be short term transitional costs as we move to a smaller number of scrutiny bodies, these will be offset against savings over time. These savings will contribute to efficiency gains and will go into improving front line services.
"The number of staff working in the scrutiny system will reduce as we move to greater self evaluation and self improvement. I can guarantee there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of these proposed changes.
"These changes affect the scrutiny bodies that report to Government. Parliament has its own Commissioners and scrutiny bodies and Parliament will play a leading role in considering its contribution to improving scrutiny. I am pleased an ad-hoc committee is to be set up to look at Parliament's relationship with its bodies and how this can be improved and I look forward to contributing to its deliberations."
There are currently 29 scrutiny bodies. The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) currently funds 6 officeholders:
- Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO)
- Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC)
- Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland (CCYP)
- Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland (OCPAS)
- Scottish Commission for Human Rights (SCHR)
- Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner (SPSC)
In addition there are currently a further 23 scrutiny bodies:
- Audit Scotland (on behalf of both the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission)
- Standards Commission for Scotland
- Drinking Water Quality Regulator
- Scottish Roadworks Commissioner
- Scottish Police Complaints Commissioner
- Additional Support Needs Tribunal
- Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator
- Scottish Charity Appeals Panel
- Scottish Legal Complaints Commissioner
- HM Fire Inspectorate Service
- HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland
- HM Inspectorate of Prisons
- Scottish Prison Complaints Commissioner
- Visiting Committees for Scottish Penal Establishments
- HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland
- HM Inspectorate of Education
- Social Work Inspection Agency
- Care Commission
- Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
- NHS Quality Improvement Scotland
- Scottish Housing Regulator
- Waterwatch Scotland
- Water Industry Commission
The changes announced today reduce the baseline list from 29 to 23 bodies. It is anticipated that the Parliament's ad-hoc committee will look at opportunities for joining up existing functions which may lead to further reductions.