Aberlour's response to the Scottish Parliament's Public Service Reform Committee Pre-Budget scrutiny call for views
We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Scottish Parliament's Public Service Reform Committee Pre-Budget scrutiny call for views on public service reform, and to share our view on how such reform can be progressed through efficiencies and preventative budgeting. In 2011 The Christie Commission set out a clear direction for how best Scotland could deliver early, preventative help and support rooted in place-based, public service delivery that works for people and communities. In Scotland there is no shortage of understanding or evidence of what this should look like, but over the last fifteen years we have failed to implement such changes at the scale or with the sustained investment required to transform how public services are commissioned, funded and delivered to meet this ambition.
Delivering good public services is essential to creating a fairer and more equal society. If our ambition is to ensure Scotland’s public services meet the needs of all of our citizens and communities then that requires the necessary investment. Our public services must be driven by a clear understanding of what works and what people and communities themselves feel will meet their needs and improve their lives. This means services must be accessible, flexible and adaptable, rather than people and communities having to fit into the services and systems we have created.
Effective public service delivery must be rooted in a rights-based approach, providing early help and support as an entitlement (not a privilege or ‘luxury’) as and when people need it, helping to prevent challenges in their lives escalating into crises. Incorporation of the UNCRC insists that the human rights of Scotland’s children and young people must be respected, protected and fulfilled, including through public services that uphold and deliver those rights.
The third sector currently plays a critical (although often unrecognised) role in the delivery of public services alongside the public sector, particularly across health, education and social work services. However, the third sector cannot continue to act as a key partner in public service delivery if inadequate budgets and funding result in services no longer being sustainable. Scotland’s public sector and third sector need to deliver together to reach all children and families who need support in the way that they need it, for as long as they need it.
Public service reform must ensure our public services are informed by, aligned with and contribute to Scotland’s identified national priorities on ending child poverty, Keeping The Promise, reducing drugs harm, and responding to Scotland’s housing emergency. This means public services doing things differently, as the status quo is clearly not working. By ensuring a holistic approach to better connect public services to help meet the needs of Scotland’s communities, Scotland can better align our public sector bodies, agencies and services with shared policy aims on tackling child poverty, supporting families and creating public services that work for our citizens and help to meet those national priorities.