Open Government action plan 2021 to 2025: commitment 5 – participation milestone progress

Embedding Open Government principles in the National Performance Framework refresh and using best practice approaches to support high quality engagement and participation, while undertaking work to review the National Outcomes

Timescales

By 2023.

Review of the National Performance Framework and National Outcomes

• analyse outputs from research and engagement undertaken (consultation, call for evidence, desk-based research, stakeholder meetings) and submit a statutory report to the Scottish Parliament by Spring 2024
• publish a suite of Impact Assessments undertaken as part of the NPF Review and a thematic gender review
• develop an implementation plan and set of resources to support the use of the reviewed NPF
• the NPF Expert Advisory Group to continue to meet throughout the Review to provide feedback and advice, and advise on the development of the implementation plan

Where we started

Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, there is a requirement within every five years for the Scottish Government to undertake a review of the National Outcomes.

The National Outcomes are laid out in the National Performance Framework (NPF). The NPF is Scotland's wellbeing framework and sets out the kind of Scotland we want to see. It also measures Scotland's progress towards the National Outcomes.

Initial milestones were outlined to involve:

1. early engagement and input into NPF refresh planning by Open Government team, ensuring awareness and understanding of Open Government principles

2. inclusive discussions and agreements about the practical applications of these principles to the NPF i.e. what would an NPF that is transparent, accountable and participatory could look like

3. collaborative development across NPF refresh process of a set of outcomes and indicators that are transparent, accountable and have been influenced by participatory processes

What changed and why

Public engagement on the Review began in early 2023 and saw the development of a further set of activities to expand on the initial milestones detailed.

These saw the addition of the following milestone activities which were reported on during 2022/2023:

• desk based research and stakeholder meetings, alongside a consultation and call for evidence to inform the Review of National Outcomes
  • work involved reviewing existing citizen engagement exercises, a review of community Action Plans, commissioning the Children’s Parliament to contribute, and a thematic gender review
  • this has now been completed
• analysis of the outputs of these four strands (consultation, call for evidence, desk-based research, stakeholder meetings) with a view to getting a report to parliament by the end of 2023
  • this has been delayed until Spring 2024
• development of an implementation plan and set of resources to support the use of the reviewed NPF
• an Expert Advisory Group to meet throughout the Review to provide feedback and advice, and to test out and prototype a framework for wellbeing conversations to explore how this test phase can feed into the Review of National Outcomes

Where we are now

A report was laid in Parliament in May 2024. The report describes the process followed to review the National Outcomes and summarises the evidence analysed. Parliament had a minimum of 40 days to scrutinise the report.

The Finance and Public Administration Committee (FPAC) launched an inquiry into the report on 13 May 2024. Parliamentary scrutiny concluded with a debate on 8 January 2025.

Following the recent Parliamentary inquiry into the statutory review of the National Outcomes, the Scottish Government has written to the Finance and Public Affairs Committee to advise that it will act on the evidence by reforming the National Performance Framework (NPF) in 2025. This sets out the Scottish Government are committed to a collaborative and participative approach to the design and delivery of our National Outcomes.

The National Outcomes and Indicators will not be updated until the reform project has concluded. This means performance of national indicators will not be reported on the NPF website during this period. Performance should not be inferred.

What activity this will involve

Open Government staff will feed into the delivery of this reform activity for the National Performance Framework.

Milestone status

Complete.