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Recording Our Achievements SUMMARY

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RECORDING OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

Devolution is about putting the government of Scotland closer to the people of Scotland. It is about Scottish solutions for Scottish issues. It is about making government in Scotland more open and accountable. The Programme for Government process, and this report on it, has been a key part of that new open government. The Executive has published its objectives, reported on its progress against them, and been honest when it has not achieved them. This has given the people of Scotland a chance to judge for themselves how the Executive has performed.

The graph below shows the Executive's overall performance against its objectives between 1999 and December 2002. It shows that, at December 2002, 92% of the Executive's targets were either achieved or on track to be achieved by their stated deadline.

The following pages give a summary of how the Executive's delivery against its objectives has affected the people of Scotland, highlighting the impact on key groups.

DELIVERING FOR EVERYONE

The Executive is committed to ensuring that it delivers policies that benefit all Scotland's people. The Executive has focused on the five areas - health, education, transport, crime and the economy - that affect everyone, regardless of who they are or where they live. Some examples of the Executive's efforts to deliver improvements for everyone in Scotland, in rural and urban areas, include:

• A new National Waiting Times Unit
• The purchase of the HCI Hospital in Clydebank, for use by NHSScotland patients
• More doctors and nurses in the NHS
• 100 new or refurbished schools
• Providing fresh fruit for infants in nursery schools
• A pre-school education place for every 3 and 4 year old
• Record numbers of police officers
• More drugs seizures
• New laws to tackle sex offending and other serious crimes
• 108 projects to support public transport in rural areas
• New ferries, airport terminals, and Edinburgh Cross Rail, the first new railway since 1993
• 98,000 more people in jobs since 1999
• Securing the Ryder Cup 2014 for Scotland.

With the agreement of the Scottish Parliament, the Executive also introduced a range of legislation. Where appropriate, these are listed on the following pages, and a full list is provided at the end.

DELIVERING FOR CHILDREN

Scotland's future success, and the future shape of its society, depends on the abilities and skills of the current generation of children. The Executive has therefore sought to ensure the best possible start in life for Scotland's children. In pursuit of that goal, the Executive has delivered:

• A pre-school education place for every 3 and 4 year old
• Smaller class sizes in Primary 1, 2 and 3
• 100 new or refurbished schools by 2003
• A landmark teachers' pay and performance agreement
• Improved education for children with special educational needs and disabilities

With the agreement of the Scottish Parliament, the Executive supported these achievements with the introduction of the following legislation:

• Standards in Scotland's Schools etc (Scotland) Act 2000 - to improve the quality of school education
• School Education (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2002 - to ensure equality of opportunity for parents of children entering primary school, and provide new career structures for teachers
• Scottish Qualifications Authority Act 2002 - putting the Scottish exams system back on a firm footing, improving governance and communication
• Education (Disability Strategies and Pupils' Educational Records) (Scotland) Act 2002 - provides for creation of plans for adapting and improved access to education for pupils with disabilities.

DELIVERING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

As well as ensuring that children have the best possible opportunities in their future, the Executive is committed to ensuring that today's young adults have those opportunities too. The growth of the Scottish economy depends on the skills and energy of Scotland's young people, and they are entitled to fruitful and rewarding lives. The Executive has had significant successes in meeting this commitment, with:

• 60,000 more enrolments in Further and Higher Education
• 20,000 Modern Apprenticeships
• Student contribution to tuition fees scrapped
• Bursaries for young students from low-income families.

With the agreement of the Scottish Parliament, the Executive supported these achievements with the introduction of the following legislation:

• Education and Training (Scotland) Act 2000 - provides the basis for Individual Learning Accounts, reducing barriers to learning
• Education (Graduate Endowment and Student Support) (Scotland) Act 2001 - introduced payment of graduate endowment, extending support to Higher Education students studying by distance learning and removed liability for council tax bills of students who share property with
  non-students.

DELIVERING FOR COMMUNITIES

Closing the gap between the most disadvantaged in Scotland and the average has been one of the key principles driving the Executive's work. In addition, reducing crime in all Scotland's communities has been a challenge requiring new laws. As a result, the Executive has delivered:

• 137,000 homes warmer and more energy efficient through Warm Deal
• 8,500 central heating systems installed in homes of some of Scotland's most vulnerable people
• Child-care grants for lone parents in Higher Education
• Drugs Enforcement Agency set up to target dealers and reduce the supply of drugs
• Improvements in the Children's Hearings System
• Introduction of electronic tagging of offenders.

With the agreement of the Scottish Parliament, the Executive supported these achievements with the introduction of the following legislation:

• Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 - providing, among other things, a better package of minimum rights and housing opportunities for homeless people
• Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 - introduced the first ever national system of care services standards, with a strong user and
  carer focus .

DELIVERING FOR OLDER PEOPLE

The Executive is committed to ensuring that Scotland's older people have access to the services they need, and to ensuring their quality of life. The Executive is continuing to work to ensure that the provision of services to the elderly reflects their needs, but has already delivered:

• Free personal and nursing care for all those who need it, benefiting more than 75,000 older people
• Free off-peak local bus travel for older and disabled people
• More support for community transport schemes benefiting the elderly and disabled
• Safer communities through the formation of Community Safety Partnerships.

With the agreement of the Scottish Parliament, the Executive supported these achievements with the introduction of the following legislation:

• Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 - allowing more assistance for those unable to make decisions themselves due to dementia or an inability to communicate
• Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 - delivering major improvements for people needing care at home or in a care home, including the introduction of free personal and nursing costs for older people, and new rights for carers.

36 ACTS PASSED BY PARLIAMENT

• Mental Health (Public Safety and Appeals) (Scotland) Act 1999
• Public Finance & Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000
• Budget (Scotland) Act 2000
• Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2000
• Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000
• Abolition of Feudal Tenure (Scotland) Act 2000
• Standards in Scotland's Schools etc (Scotland) Act 2000
• Ethical Standards in Public Life (Scotland) Act 2000
• Education and Training (Scotland) Act 2000
• Bail, Judicial Appointments etc (Scotland) Act 2000
• National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000
• Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000
• Transport (Scotland) Act 2001
• Salmon Conservation (Scotland) Act 2001
• Budget No. 2 (Scotland) Act 2001
• Education (Graduate Endowment and Student Support) (Scotland) Act 2001
• Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001
• Convention Rights (Compliance) (Scotland) Act 2001
• Scottish Local Authorities (Tendering) Act 2001
• Housing (Scotland) Act 2001
• Erskine Bridge Tolls Act 2001
• International Criminal Court (Scotland) Act 2001
• Police and Fire Services (Finance) (Scotland) Act 2001
• Scottish Local Government (Elections) Act 2002
• School Education (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2002
• Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002
• Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2002
• Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002
• Budget No. 3 (Scotland) Act 2002
• Marriage (Scotland) Act 2002
• Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2002
• Fur Farming (Prohibition) (Scotland) Act 2002
• Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (Scotland) Act 2002
• Education (Disability Strategies and Pupils' Educational Records) (Scotland) Act 2002
• Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
• Scottish Qualifications Authority Act 2002

FURTHER INFORMATION

This paper is a summary of Recording Our Achievements, a comprehensive report on the Scottish Executive's achievements since devolution. Recording Our Achievements is based primarily on the Executive's performance against the commitments made in the Programme for Government documents Making it Work Together and Working Together for Scotland.

Recording Our Achievements is available from The Stationery Office:

The Stationery Office Bookshop
71 Lothian Road
Edinburgh EH3 9AZ

Tel: 0870 606 55 66

Recording Our Achievements is also accessible via the Scottish Executive website: www.scotland.gov.uk

Summary versions in Gaelic, Hindi, Punjabi, Chinese, Arabic, Bengali and Urdu, as well as Braille and audio versions, are available on request from the Scottish Executive.

If you have any queries or comments about the contents of Recording Our Achievements, or Recording Our Achievements - A Summary, please contact the Scottish Executive:

Scottish Executive Policy Unit
Room 4N.06
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh EH1 3DG

Tel: 0131 244 2133
Fax: 0131 244 2240

PolicyUnit@scotland.gsi.gov.uk