Item4 ecyp outcome agreements

							Executive Group Item 4

Outcome Agreements Purpose 1. The purpose of this report is to update members on progress so far in our discussions with the Scottish Government regarding the development of single outcome agreements, and to outline the next steps in the development of the process. Recommendations 2. It is recommended that members:i. ii. iii. Note the progress made in our discussions with the Scottish Government; Give early consideration to the future status of Children‟s Services Planning; and Discuss the potential implications of ring-fencing being removed.

Background 3. Since 2002, local government has proposed the idea of an outcome based approach to our relationship with the Scottish Government and other partners which focuses on what political leaders both national and local wish to achieve rather than on how we should go about our business. In short, the focus is on delivering outcomes rather than inputs and processes. On taking up office the new Scottish Government indicated that it was equally committed to this approach and COSLA, SOLACE and others have been working with civil servants to progress the development of outcome agreements as quickly as possible. 4. A detailed report setting out progress so far in our discussions with civil servants regarding the development of single outcome agreements was presented to Leaders at their meeting on 28 September. In brief the report highlighted a number of key messages: i that the development of single outcome agreements must demonstrably reflect the nature of a new relationship between the two spheres of Government in Scotland based on “parity of esteem”. that we will jointly sign up to a small number of strategic objectives – smarter, wealthier and fairer, greener, safer and stronger, and healthier – with supporting outcomes and a set of national performance indicators which the Scottish Government sees as forming the basis on which the progress of the public sector as a whole will be judged; that when local government and the Scottish Government sign up to these common priorities all elements of the public sector are then accountable for their achievement. This should make the business of Community Planning led locally by local Councils a more effective process as all parties will have been signed up to the same set of priorities and outcomes. that local government will then develop a menu of local outcome indicators which can be drawn upon to „populate‟ the single outcome agreements between
Page 1 of 3

ii

iii

iv

each council and the Scottish Government, so as to demonstrate progress in delivering the national priorities while reflecting local priorities and circumstances; v that there should be no special initiatives outside the generality of the outcome agreements. In the past, these initiatives have either directed how services are to be delivered or constrained local flexibility in the use of resources, or both, and have often been inefficient and time consuming. that alongside the development of a single outcome agreement for each council there will be maximum local flexibility in the use of resources, through reductions in ringfencing, a reduction in reporting requirements and a much reduced external scrutiny framework; and

vi

vii finally, whilst there is a potential link between single outcome agreements and the spending review in terms of eventual efficiency savings, there can be no basis for reducing the resources available to local government from April next year. Next Steps 5. We believe that we can now be more confident that Councils and the Scottish Government will be in a position to start the process of developing single outcome agreements at the start of the next financial year. Whilst the Scottish Government has led the development of national performance indicators, in early consultation with COSLA and SOLACE, local government is taking responsibility for developing the menu of local outcome indicators that councils and their community planning partners will draw upon to “populate” the single outcome agreements. 6. To start this process, COSLA and SOLACE have commissioned the Improvement Service to review the range of indicators that are already used by councils and their community planning partners which relate to the achievement of the 5 strategic objectives. A significant amount of effort will be needed to take the material from this mapping exercise and come up with a reasonable set of draft indicators. We are currently identifying the resources available to us to undertake this work and it is anticipated that this will include the Improvement Service and local government staff with analytical skills and knowledge of the outcome based approach. We may also draw upon the analytical services within the Scottish Government which supported the development of the national performance indicators. As well as considering the set of draft local outcome indicators, the Convention in December will be invited to agree a process of consultation with the Scottish Government and councils. As part of this process we intend to invite councils to consult their community planning partnerships. COSLA with SOLACE will also make arrangements to consult the other professional associations within local government and the Accounts Commission, with earlier discussion as appropriate. Our aim is to ensure that each council is in a position to begin the process of developing their own single outcome agreement with the Scottish Government over the course of the next financial year, with implementation expected in 2010-11. To enable this to happen we need to have an agreed menu of local outcome indicators and to have developed a template for a single outcome agreement, for the Convention to endorse at its meeting in March 2008.
Page 2 of 3

7.

8.

Children’s Services Planning 9. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 requires that local authorities produce children‟s services plans. Guidance issued in 2004 asked agencies to draw together existing plans for school education, children‟s social work, child health and youth justice into an Integrated Children‟s Services Plan. This is supported by a Quality Improvement Framework for Integrated Services which sets out a range of performance indicators derived from the “vision” for children and young people – that they are: safe; nurtured; healthy; achieving; active; respected and responsible; and included.] 10. Officials in the Scottish Government have raised with COSLA the question of how children‟s services planning sits in the outcome agreement context. We will explore with them what guidance is needed to assist integrated children‟s services planners understand and work within the new context.

Future of Ring-fencing 11. The corollary of the broader work undertaken on outcomes is that local authorities will have greater financial autonomy. As part of this, and in line with COSLA‟s wishes, it is likely that the practice of ring-fencing resource allocations from central government will be reduced, with a view to being phased out. COSLA has however stipulated, as part of spending review negotiations, that stability to councils is critical and therefore there must be no change to the distribution of resouces with the removal of ringfencing. In essence resources will be distributed to councils as before but the reporting requirements and the direction of how money is to be spent by councils will be removed.

Conclusion 12. The process of developing single outcome agreements will take significant time and effort, but the benefits in terms of demonstrating a new relationship with the Scottish Government, having all parts of the public sector working to shared priorities and outcomes, securing maximum flexibility in the use of resources and reducing the level of bureaucracy should make this effort worthwhile.

Penny Curtis Team Leader 0131 474 9273 penny@cosla.gov.uk 29 October 2007

Page 3 of 3