Scotland's Public Service Reform Strategy: Delivering for Scotland

Part Two – Public Services in Scotland: Where we are now

Public services touch on every aspect of our lives. For many people our experience of public services is about getting a GP or dentist appointment, travelling to school or work, the performance of schools, and the work of our police keeping people safe. Many public services are less obvious but just as necessary to our lives, such as: keeping food safe, ensuring water quality, registering land and property transactions, supporting businesses. All of these public services should be effective, efficient and good quality.

Recent events – Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and international conflict – have put significant pressure on public services. Future challenges – demographic shifts, rising demand for public services and fiscal constraint – will exacerbate these pressures. While circumstances are improving for many people in Scotland, a significant minority still experience inequality, poverty and complex challenges. The scale of the fiscal challenge is significant, which makes reform all the more pressing to protect service delivery for people across Scotland.

People in Scotland have told us that:

• Despite increased investment, people’s satisfaction with public services is declining².
• Services can be confusing, help can be hard to access and basic provision can feel stretched.
• There is unnecessary and unhelpful duplication in the system, including multiple providers of similar services and service users repeatedly having to provide the same information to different public sector bodies.

Colleagues across public services have told us:

• Those working on the front line can feel constrained in their ability to act to support people.
• As organisations, we have the capability but not always the will to act differently and remove duplication and complexity.
• Despite the importance of prevention, we have not moved the dial sufficiently to prevent damaging experiences and reduce the risk of future need that leads to expensive demand for public services.

The Scottish Government and its partners have continued to increase investment in public services and the public sector workforce. But we know that investment, while welcome, is not enough (Figures 1 and 2). We have also known since the Christie Commission (Figure 3) reported in 2011 that a significant amount of our resources is used to deal with the consequences of preventable problems, not to fix them.

The capacity to change

Scotland has a longstanding commitment to reform, and we have shown we have the ability to deliver real change within the public services system. Our National Performance Framework³ sets out the society we want to achieve and how we will measure progress; the Scottish Approach to Government⁴ bases our policy development on co-production, improvement and building on the assets we have; and the Scottish Approach to Service Design⁵ empowers people to be part of the services that affect them and brings together national and local government, health, public bodies, the third sector, and the private sector to collaborate in delivering end-to-end services.

Most importantly we have a system founded on shared values, and which is a size that means we can get around the table, build relationships and work together, to make the change needed. This is the platform from which we will deliver reform.

Together we must be willing to be brave, to challenge ourselves to ensure we are delivering what the people of Scotland need and deserve. We need to take risks, to offer trust and give permission to act – that is a commitment from Scottish Government to our partners.

“We’ve got what it takes to both imagine and to create a better Scotland - of that I have no doubt - because there is nothing wrong with Scotland that can’t be fixed by what is right with Scotland.”

John Swinney MSP, First Minister 15 January 2025

Figure 1 Public Services in Scotland: Facts and Figures

Public sector in Scotland is larger than the UK and accounts for 22% of total employment, compared to 18% in the UK as a whole. This reflects a larger public sector workforce in many areas, with Scotland having, for example, relatively more police officers, firefighters, GPs, dentists, teachers, and civil servants, compared to England and also reflects differences in which services are provided within the public sector, in areas such as water, railways, and social care.

The public sector in Scotland is larger and relatively better paid; after taxes the median pay for a full time public sector employee in Scotland earned around £1,500 more than the UK average in 2023.

The public sector pay bill is £25 billion, over 50% of the Scottish Government resource budget.^a

Figure 2 Scale of the challenge

Scotland’s population is expected to grow and then plateau to 2074/75 with Scotland’s share of the UK population falling from 8% in 2029/30 to 7% in 2074/75.

Scotland’s population is ageing with the median age projected to rise from 43 in 2029/30 to 49 in 2074/75. The size of the over 65 population is set to increase over the next 50 years with the size of population aged 16-64 set to decrease.

These trends will have spending consequences; health spending is higher for older age groups.

Based on current trends, health and social care spend­ing is projected to rise from around 40% of devolved public spending in 2029/30 to almost 55% in 2074/75.

Without reform, revenue will be unable to meet this demand. This could lead to a potential budget gap of 11.1% (depending on decisions by UK Government).^b

Figure 3 This strategy builds on the key principles of reform developed in response to the Christie Commission

Prevention
Prioritising spend on public services which prevent negative outcomes and further demand for public services.

Place
Integrated services at local level that are locally responsive and focussed on improving lives.

Partnership
Public service providers working in partnership, integrating service provision to improve outcomes.

People
Empowerment of individuals and communities through involvement in the design and delivery of services.

Performance
Delivering maximum value for every pound of public money spent, and being able to assure the public that this is the case.

a. Economic Overview of the public sector in Scotland., Office of the Chief Economic Advisor, 30 May 2024
b. Fiscal Sustainability Report, Scottish Fiscal Commission April 2025

Box A: Reform successes

Youth Justice Services
Between 2008/09 to 2022/23 there has been a 92% reduction in the number of 12 to 17 year olds proceeded against in Scotland’s courts and a 96% reduction in the number of under 18s being sentenced to custody.

Investment in Early Learning & Childcare (ELC)
Scottish Government have invested around £1 billion every year in funded ELC since 2021. 95% of 3 and 4 year olds are registered for the 1140 funded childcare offer and 74% of parents have said that the offer has either helped them to work or look for work.

Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015
Asset transfer legislation is the first of its kind in the UK and has shifted the balance of power towards community organisations, ensuring that asset transfer is available throughout Scotland.

Taking ScotRail and the Caledonian Sleeper into public ownership
The latest survey data shows that since public ownership overall satisfaction with ScotRail has increased by 1% to 91%, this is 5% above the GB average satisfaction score and represents one of the best satisfaction rates across the UK.

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012
This was one of the biggest public service transformations since devolution creating the Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Almost £2.5 billion has collectively been taken out of the police and fire cost base over the last 10 years; with additional reform savings predicted for both organisations.

Cashback for Communities
CashBack for Communities is an early intervention and prevention programme which strengthens communities by supporting young people aged between 10 and 25 who may be at risk of becoming involved in antisocial behaviour, offending or reoffending. Cashback returns money recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to support positive diversionary activity like sport or youth work. Since its inception in 2008 Cashback for Communities has committed £156 million supporting around 1.4 million young people across all 32 local authorities in Scotland.

Childsmile
A national programme to improve oral health amongst children. Between 2003 and 2020 it has halved tooth decay amongst children and supported a reduction in socio-economic health inequalities and generated significant cost savings for NHS Health Boards.

Scottish Child Payment (SCP)
Introduced in 2021 it provides payments every four weeks to families received a qualifying reserved means tested benefit for each child under 16. Data and modelling indicate that SCP is acting to reduce the number of children growing up in poverty in Scotland.

Family Nurse Partnership (FNP)
Is an intensive, preventative, one-to-one home visiting programme for young first-time mothers. It has led to measurable improvements for children and families. Scotland is the first country in the world to deliver the programme at a national level.