Scottish Government Prevention Unit Plan

Background

The Prevention Unit was established in June 2026 within the Scottish Government's Strategy and Delivery Directorate. Its role is to deliver on prevention through Public Service Reform and to support preventative approaches across Scottish Government and the wider public sector.

The importance of shifting to prevention has been a long-standing aspect of Public Service Reform. The 2011 Christie Commission identified a decisive shift towards prevention as one of the four pillars of public service reform, arguing that public services must do more to anticipate and prevent poor outcomes rather than responding once problems have become entrenched.

More recently, the Public Service Reform Strategy reaffirmed prevention as a central component of reform, setting out a vision for public services that are preventative, joined-up and centred on improving outcomes. The Strategy recognised that achieving this shift requires action at both national and local levels, including stronger evidence on prevention, greater collaboration across organisational boundaries, and approaches to investment and budgeting that support longer-term preventative action.

Progress has already been made in strengthening Scotland's approach to prevention. Through the Prevention Unit and wider Public Service Reform activity, work has been undertaken to develop practical tools and approaches to support preventative action, including the development of a Prevention Toolkit, progress towards a Preventative Budgeting approach, and work to strengthen the evidence base for prevention and preventative investment. The establishment of the Prevention Unit provides an opportunity to build on these foundations, further developing and embedding these approaches over time while supporting partners across Scotland to apply prevention more consistently in policy, service design, and investment decisions.