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The Scottish Executive Draft Budget 2003-04

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATION AND ASSOCIATED DEPARTMENTS

ADMINISTRATION

Aim

To be an organisation that supports Ministers effectively, is focused on the efficient delivery of better public services, and is perceived by its stakeholders to be modern and well run .

Spending Plans

Table 11.01 Broad categories of spending (Level 2)

What the budget does

The administration budget covers the costs of running the Scottish Executive. This is primarily staffing and associated costs such as accommodation and training. The aim of the organisation is to support Ministers effectively, with a particular focus on the efficient delivery of better public services.

OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS

Objective 1

To enable Ministers to deliver the Executive's priorities for better public services

Past Achievements

The organisation has continued to respond positively to the challenges and opportunities of devolution. Much has been achieved including:

• Ambitious legislative programme taken through (currently average 15 Bills a year, compared to 1 or 2 pre-devolution)
• Management of an expanded programme of policy development, consultation and implementation leading to the delivery of the Executive's targets as set out in its Programme for Government and other documents.
• Improved performance in handling PQs and Ministerial correspondence (74% of PQs answered on time in July 2001 compared to 48% in 1999; 69% of Ministerial correspondence answered within 17 days target by Dec 2001 compared to 32% in 2000)

Despite the growth in output total spending on administration as a proportion of the total budget has fallen steadily from 1.12% in 1999-00.

We are committed to promoting equality in our policies and budgets. As an employer, we aim to continue to improve the diversity of the people we employ to better reflect the population of Scotland. Progress has been made in all under-represented areas of our workforce but we recognise that further improvement is needed to help us value and manage Scotland's diversity and to use all of its talents to benefit all sectors of our society.

What we will do with the money

The main spending plans for the budget covers the cost of paying our staff, office overhead costs, Information Technology and other capital projects.

Table 11.02 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

The organisation has changed dramatically since devolution and will continue to do so. As a larger organisation it now has increased capacity to respond quickly and flexibly to new issues and priorities. The focus for the period ahead will be to prioritise what we do, and where necessary to reshape the organisation. There are no projected increases in staffing numbers over the 2003-06 period.

As part of our commitment to value for money we will:

• Further reduce the total spending on administration as a proportion of the total budget by 2005-06
• Deliver efficiency savings of 3.7m by 2005-06
• Introduce a rolling programme of Best Value reviews

At the same time we will continue to strive for improvement in delivering better public services and ensuring that the organisation is flexible and responsive. A new programme of Best Value reviews will allow us to undertake a comprehensive examination of activity across all departments over the next three years. The reviews will:

• be aimed at identifying whether there are alternative ways of organising and carrying out our work to ensure that it is done both to a higher standard and more efficiently;
• take into account systematically the views of Ministers, external and internal customers and stakeholders; and

• consider how work within the Executive impacts on and meshes with the work of others, notably those who have to deliver and implement our policies, and what customers think of the service we provide, and how they think it could be improved.

We are committed to modernisation and reform and investment in our IT infrastructure is a key priority. We will continue to modernise key corporate systems like those that support Human Resources and invest in the development and exploitation of other systems. We are committed to putting in place information systems and technology by 2005-06 that will enable the Executive to meet its electronic service delivery targets. We will invest over the SR period in two major IT systems - the electronics records management and HR intranet projects. These projects are expected to deliver efficiency savings.

Our improvement programme includes plans to implement an Environmental Management System (EMS) across the Executive Estate in order to monitor and help to continue reducing our environmental impact. Other key challenges will be to meet our revised Greening Government targets in key areas like energy consumption, waste and transport. Further information on the work we are undertaking on Sustainable Development can be found in

We are committed to promoting equality in our policies and budgets and as an employer we aim to continue to improve the diversity of the people we employ to better reflect the population of Scotland. Progress has been made in all under-represented areas of our workforce but we recognise that further improvement is needed to help us value and manage Scotland's diversity and to use all of its talents to benefit all sectors of our society. Challenging targets have been set to increase the diversity of our workforce covering women in senior positions, staff from minority ethnic communities and staff with disabilities. Further information on the work we are undertaking on Closing the Opportunity Gap can be found in

GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE FOR SCOTLAND

Aim

To collect, process, safeguard, and make available information about Scotland's people in a useful, responsible, and efficient way.

Table 11.03 Broad categories of spending (Level 2)

What the budget does

The functions of General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) mainly stem from the Registrar General's statutory responsibilities. These are as follows:

• to make arrangements for taking periodic Censuses of Scotland's population, and to prepare and publish demographic and other statistics;
• to administer civil registration of vital events - births and deaths, plus marriages, divorces and adoptions - and the statutes relating to the formalities of marriage and the conduct of civil marriage;
• to maintain the National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR) of patients in Scotland for the Scottish Executive; and
• to make available public records about individuals to customers (for example, genealogists).

The Registrar General reports on various statistical matters (births, deaths - including information on cause of death - marriages, divorces and population estimates) to Scottish Ministers each year, and the Registrar General's Annual Report is laid before the Scottish Parliament. This is supplemented by additional publications, all of which are accessible or referenced on the GROS website ( www.gro-scotland.gov.uk).

The work undertaken by GROS is wide ranging and includes:

• policy development
• oversight and regulation of work undertaken by local registrars (who are local authority employees)
• specialised statistical collection, analysis and dissemination
• direct service to members of the public and to public and private sector organisations requiring information from registers and other Departmental records
• the safe maintenance and archiving of these records

OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS

What we will do with the money

The peak period of work on the 2001 Census (2000-01 and 2001-02, when the GROS out-turn was 11M and 15.6M, respectively) is now over. During the period covered by the current budget plans the Department will publish results from the Census, consider options for future Census policy, and carry out ongoing functions such as registration; making records available to the public and other organisations; and operating the NHSCR.

Additional funding has been secured for 2004-05 and 2005-06 to establish a Scottish Family History Service (SFHS), providing a "one stop shop" for research into family history, following completion of the digital imaging of genealogical records. This SFHS will integrate services provided to the public by GROS, NAS and the Court of the Lord Lyon.

GROS's strategic objectives are:

• to ensure that all information collected is relevant, accurate, complete and updated as required, in such a way as to maintain public confidence;
• to produce, and publish timeously, accurate statistics relevant to the needs of government and other public-sector organisations and the private sector;
• to preserve certain public records permanently and to store them securely;
• to give ready access to open public records to customers; and
• to continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness with which these objectives are delivered and the quality of service provided by the Department.

Table 11.04 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

Following the 2001 Census, spending on Census tasks will reduce significantly during the 2002-03 to 2004-05 planning period. Nevertheless, substantial expenditure is still required on Census matters in publishing results from the 2001 Census, evaluating the 2001 Census, and considering plans for future Census policy.

The funding for Registration reflects the introduction of some changes in policy and to procedures, but will remain fairly constant throughout the budget period.

Similarly, income and expenditure relating to Vital Events and NHSCR will remain fairly constant, reflecting the relatively routine nature of the work.

Records Enterprise sells search places to customers at New Register House and access to historical records through a website, together with extracts of births, marriages, deaths etc. Income from this offsets much of the operating costs of this business .

Additional funding has been made available over the period up to and including 2003-04 for a programme to convert the historical records held by GROS to digital images, which will improve public accessibility to Scotland's genealogical database.

A Scottish Family History Service (SFHS) is to be established to provide a "one stop shop" for research into family history. The project builds on our commitment to deliver modern joined-up public services in an area where Scotland is a potential world leader. There are also significant potential benefits to be obtained from a growth in genealogical tourism once the SFHS is established. There is a provision of 0.3M and 1.3M in 2004-05 and 2005-06, respectively, in the Records Enterprise budget for this project. The investment will:

• draw together the services provided to the public by GROS, NAS and the Office of the Lord Lyon;
• provide a joined-up Family History Research service over the Internet; and
• create a Family History Research centre at the Register House campus in Central Edinburgh that is fully integrated behind the scenes and seamless to the customer.

Staff Relations and Equal Opportunities

GROS is an equal opportunities employer. Policies are in place to guard against discrimination and aim to make sure that there are no unfair or illegal discriminatory barriers to employment or advancement in GROS.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SCOTLAND

Aim

To select, preserve and make available the national archives of Scotland, promote proper archive provision, and lead the development of archive practice in Scotland.

Table 11.05 Broad categories of spending (Level 2)

What the budget does

The national archives play an important role in Scotland's economic and cultural life. The property market in Scotland is dependent on the services provided by the NAS to legal searchers, while its historical records are much used in lifelong learning and are a major attraction for genealogists, which helps promote tourism. In addition to advising Scottish Ministers on records and information policy, the NAS advises Scottish public authorities about the creation and management of their records, it advises public and private owners about their historical records and it provides a reference service to the public on all aspects of the national archives.

OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS

Table 11.06 More detailed categories of spending (Level 3)

What we will do with the money

NAS is committed to servicing the continuing demands for access to the archives from an increasing number of customers. NAS will continue to provide:

• over 1 million extract copies a year from its records to over 10,000 personal callers and 3,500 postal enquirers; records include government, court and legal, sasines, church and private records;
• an education service for primary and secondary schools, further education and lifelong learning initiatives;
• a range of technical advice on archive-related matters for a wide range of public bodies;

An initiative for joint working with GROS and the office of the Lord Lyon is underway, whereby a Scottish Family History Service will come into being in April 2005. We envisage that the development and implementation of this service will provide a significant boost to genealogy-related tourism.

NAS policies to increase usage of the nation's records by electronic means will help in the Executive's aim of combating social exclusion, by increasing the accessibility of the nation's archive, while increased awareness of the shared heritage in the archives will promote a sense of personal and community identity.

NAS are currently nearing the end of a major refurbishment programme at its historic headquarters building, General Register House. Expenditure on this programme has been a significant element of the NAS Budget for a number of years and most of the NAS capital allocation in the current Budget will be spent on GRH refurbishment.

NAS generates income of around 1m a year through charges for producing copies, other sales and professional services.

REGISTERS OF SCOTLAND

Aim

To compile and maintain public registers promptly, accurately and cost-effectively, and to provide, develop and improve high quality services to meet customer needs.

What the budget does

Registers of Scotland is an Executive Agency with responsibility for the public registers and records which provide for the registration of a wide range of deeds relating to:

• rights in land (the two largest registers are Scotland's land and property registers, the Register of Sasines and the Land Register)
• succession
• trusts
• family agreements
• diligence and sequestration
• state appointments

The Agency became a trading fund with effect from 1 April 1996. It is self-financing from fees charged for registration of deeds. The First Minister set financial performance objectives annually.

What we will do with the money

The Land Register is a modern, computerised map-based register, which is replacing the older Register of Sasines. The objective is to extend the operation of the Land Register to the whole of Scotland by 2003.

The Agency monitors its efficiency and costs by means of a Standard Production Cost Index. This index is a ratio of the costs of producing casework in the Land and the Sasine Registers divided by the number of cases completed. The objective is to reduce the costs of processing its casework.

The Agency also has an objective to fully meet the current needs of its customers and to anticipate and satisfy their future needs.

The Agency's performance in 2002-2003 will be measured against targets set by Scottish Ministers. These are to:

• achieve a 6% return on net capital employed over a 3 year period ending 31 March 2003
• conclude the Land Register extension programme by extending the operation of the Land Register to the counties of Banff, Caithness, Moray, Orkney and Zetland, Ross and Cromarty and Sutherland on 1 April 2003
• maintain and enhance customer service through retention of Charter Mark by:
• • increasing customer satisfaction by 10% as regards accuracy, speed of response and value for money represented in the delivery of the Agency's services
  • processing 96% all other enquiries in compliance with the Agency's customer service policy
• achieve turnaround times:
• • averaging 15, but not exceeding 25 working days for Sasine Writs;
  • averaging 25, but not exceeding 30 working days for Dealings with Whole
  • averaging 105 but not exceeding 125 working days for domestic First Registrations with 70% of all such applications being completed within 125 working days
• reduce the standard production cost index by 3% by 31 March 2003 from its base at 31 March 2002
• achieve 20,000 chargeable accesses per week the on Registers Direct website by 31 March 2003.

• achieve a registration accuracy rate of at least 98% during 2002-2003.

Table 11.07 Spending Plans (Level 2) Real Terms

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