Scottish Government

Professor Lorne D Crerar
ISBN 978 0 7559 5362 2
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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOREWORD

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

01 INTRODUCTION
Remit
Scope of the Review and approach adopted
Areas outside scope
Evidence base
Definitions

02 PUBLIC SECTOR CONTEXT
Changes in the public service landscape
The relationship to internal scrutiny and performance management

03 ROLE, PURPOSE, BENEFICIARIES AND PRINCIPLE OF EXTERNAL SCRUTINY
Role and Purpose
Beneficiaries
Principles

04 PUBLIC FOCUS
Public Awareness
Public involvement in external scrutiny
Consumer focused measurement of public services
Accessibility of reports
Concerns about greater public involvement

05 ACCOUNTABILITY AND GOVERNANCE
Accountability
Governance
Accountability to Parliament

06 PROPORTIONALITY OF EXTERNAL SCRUTINY
Growth of scrutiny
Compliance burden
Other demands for information
Collaborative working
Costs and benefits
Scrutiny as a response to risk

07 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF EVIDENCE

08 WHAT NOW FOR EXTERNAL SCRUTINY?
Strategic priorities
Self-assessment
Future use of scrutiny
Leadership and control
Clear governance for scrutiny bodies

09 IMPLICATIONS AND ACTION
Implications for existing scrutiny
Implications for key sectors
Long term implications for scrutiny arrangements

10 RECOMMENDATIONS

11 COMPLAINTS HANDLING
Present complaints handling systems
The future for complaints handling
Recommendations for complaints handling
Implications

APPENDICES
Sources of evidence
Bibliography
Contributors

Annexes covering evidence submitted to the review and other research commissioned by the review, are available on the review website, or on cd rom along with published copies of this report.