Criteria for establishment of a new public body: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/01206
Date received: 24 April 2018
Date responded: 23 May 2018

Information requested

1. The rationale behind the presumption against creating new public bodies.

2. Criteria for assessing whether to create a new public body.

3. Guidance given to/received from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body in relation to the appointment of new commissioners/new public bodies.

Response

1. The rationale behind the presumption against creating new public bodies.

The information you have requested in this part of your request is available from:

a. Speech by First Minister Alex Salmond to Parliament on Delivering More Effective Government, Wednesday January 30 2008: http://www.gov.scot/News/Speeches/Speeches/First-Minister/simplifyingpublicservices

b. Link to the Christie Commission report into the delivery of public services: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/352649/0118638.pdf

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

You may find this additional information held by the Scottish Parliament useful:

http://www.parliament.scot/S4_ChamberDesk/WA20120803.pdf

2. Criteria for assessing whether to create a new public body.

There should be rigorous assessment about the need for a new public body before any consideration is given to developing formal proposals for the establishment of such a body.

Key issues to be covered in the assessment include:

• The need for the functions and services being proposed;

• The contribution that the proposed functions and services will make to the Scottish Government's Economic Strategy and National Performance Framework;

• The level of demand for the proposed functions and services;

• The extent to which the proposed functions and services offer good use of public money

• The impact of not providing the proposed functions and services.

3. Guidance given to/received from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body in relation to the appointment of new commissioners/new public bodies.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested because there is no guidance given to/received from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body in relation to the appointment of new commissioners/new public bodies.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

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