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Building a Better Scotland
ADMINISTRATION
To be the most efficient and innovative central government department in the UK, focused on effective delivery of public services and support for Ministers, and respected and trusted by our stakeholders.
Objective 1 | | To enable Ministers to deliver the Executive's priorities for better public services. |
Target | 1 | Improve value for money by delivering at least 2.5% a year savings through efficiency measures (as required by a flat operating budget over the Spending Review period), while maintaining an effective service to Ministers. |
Objective 2 | | To ensure that the organisation is open, accountable and responsive. |
Target | 2 | Deliver continuous improvement in performance on response times for Parliamentary Questions and Ministerial Correspondence, and conform to Freedom of Information requirements. |
Objective 3 | | To ensure that the organisation is modern and efficient, taking full advantage of developments in information technology. |
Target | 3 | Implement Technology Refresh across the Scottish Executive's existing SCOTS network to meet business requirements and deliver improvements in internal efficiency, and identify opportunities for expanding the scope of the network to enable sharing of services by 2007-08, |
Objective 4 | | To ensure the organisation is diverse. |
Target | 4 | By March 2008 increase the percentage of: - women in senior positions in the workforce to 50.8% in Band C and 36.3% in the Senior Civil Service (SCS);
- staff from minority ethnic communities in the workforce to 2.15% across the Executive (i.e. SCS and Band C as well as Bands A and B); and
- staff with disabilities in the workforce to 5.9% in Band A, 4.1% in Band B, 1.7% in Band C and 3.9% across the SCS.
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What we will do
The largest part of the Administration budget covers the costs of running the core administration of the Scottish Executive, which are mainly staffing and associated costs such as accommodation and training. This spending supports the delivery of the Executive's contribution to all of the objectives set out in this document for the various Ministerial portfolios. The resources of the Executive will be organised in a way which gives priority to those delivery tasks over the rest of the organisation's activity. Over the Spending Review period resource expenditure on the Executive's core administration will remain flat - a real terms cut of more than 5%. This will ensure that the Executive gives a lead in achieving efficiency and prioritising activity in order to free up money to be spent on other public services.
We will ensure that the percentage of total expenditure devoted to administration costs, across the core Executive and our agencies, remains at least 25% below the comparable percentage for the UK Government. We will also continue to ensure that we secure the best possible value for money over the Spending Review period. For example, we will release resources for other public services by delivering at least 2.5% a year efficiency savings in the administration costs of the core Executive through measures such as:
- increased use of the improved ICT systems which we have introduced or are introducing; and
- staffing and IT savings associated with Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reform, as a result of replacing a number of Pillar 1 schemes with a Single Farm Payment Scheme.
As part of the Efficient Government initiative, we intend to extend shared use of ICT systems within the Executive across the public sector, and in particular, support the wider use of eProcurement, which is designed as a national programme providing a common platform for e-Procurement activity across the Scottish public sector.
Technology is an essential component in our ability to meet our objectives and targets. That is why we will increase our capital investment by 1.6/1.8m, helping to secure improvements to ensure that we are technologically able to meet those business demands placed upon us over the Spending Review period. The refresh to the SCOTS network will ensure that we can deliver improvements in internal efficiency, such as investment in electronic working and improved knowledge based information systems. This capital investment will also allow priority projects, such as air conditioning for the IT server areas and works to improve access for people with disabilities, to be undertaken.
We will ensure that the information we provide is accurate and accessible by again improving on our performance in responding to Parliamentary Questions and Ministerial Correspondence. We will also ensure that the Scottish Executive is fully prepared for requests for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and that responses are issued within 20 working days. This will be supported by the introduction of electronic records management which will manage our records and documents electronically for the future.
We are committed to ensuring that the Scottish Executive itself promotes equality and to ensuring that our activities are sustainable. For example, over the Spending Review period we intend to continue to increase the diversity of the Executive's workforce, offering equality of opportunity by setting challenging targets for women in senior positions, staff from minority ethnic communities and staff with disabilities. More detailed information about the Executive's work in these areas is given in the earlier cross-cutting chapters.
Table 13.01 Spending plans 2004-08 (level 2)
m | 2004-05 Plans | 2005-06 Plans | 2006-07 Plans | 2007-08 Plans |
Administration (1) | 234.10 | 242.19 | 243.79 | 243.99 |
General Register Office for Scotland (2) | 8.20 | 9.43 | 11.93 | 10.83 |
National Archives of Scotland (2) | 8.26 | 8.40 | 8.68 | 8.95 |
Registers of Scotland (2) | This body is self funding |
Total | 250.56 | 260.02 | 264.40 | 263.77 |
Notes:
1. The Administration Budget is flat for operating costs: the increase is for capital.
2. Our spending on administration also includes the administration costs in our core departments and associated departments:
- the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) ( http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk), which records population information such as census statistics, registers vital events (births, deaths, marriages, divorces and adoptions), and conducts civil marriages. The settlement provides funding to allow GROS to conduct a census test in 2006-07;
- the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) ( http://www.nas.gov.uk), which selects, preserves and makes available the national archives of Scotland, for example government, court and legal, historical and private records; and
- Registers of Scotland (ROS) ( http://www.ros.gov.uk), which compiles, maintains and provides public access to registers and records relating to rights in land, family agreements, succession, trusts, state appointments, and diligence and sequestration.
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