Scottish Government Prevention Unit Plan
The Scottish Government Prevention Unit Plan sets out the purpose, objectives, and strategic priorities of the Prevention Unit. It describes the Unit's future work programme and how it seeks to connect with partners to support the shift towards prevention across Scotland.
Longer term ambition
The work already underway across the Prevention Unit, Scottish Government and wider partners is building the evidence, capability, and partnerships needed to support a fundamental shift towards prevention in Scotland. While this transformation will take time, significant progress is being made in creating the conditions for prevention to become a more routine part of policy development, service design, and investment decision-making.
To provide a clear sense of direction, we have developed a longer-term vision for each of the Unit's objectives. These vision statements provide a direction of travel, setting out what we aim to achieve by the end of 2026 and the longer-term outcomes we are working towards by the end of the Parliament in 2031 (Figure 4). Together, they describe the outcomes the Unit is working towards and will help guide the development of priorities, workplans and partnerships over the coming years.
| - | End-2026 vision | 2030 vision |
|---|---|---|
| Objective 1 – Delivering on Prevention in Public Service Reform | Preventative budgeting has been applied across the full Scottish Budget, with insights from this work incorporated into the development of the 2027-28 Scottish Budget for the first time. This will be underpinned by a clear analytical framework for understanding preventable outcomes and the drivers of demand for public services. | A Scottish Prevention Investment Framework supports a coordinated approach to preventative investment, bringing together evidence, proposition development, funding, investment decisions and learning. Costed plans have been developed for key drivers of public service demand, providing a clear basis for preventative action and helping to direct resources towards interventions with the greatest potential to improve outcomes and reduce future demand. |
| Connecting Prevention across Government | The Areas of Shared Interest have been published and begin to support greater connection around key prevention priorities across Government and with partners. | Areas of Shared Interest support sustained collaboration across sectors and generating actionable evidence and insight. Significant development of the tools, evidence base, partnerships and enabling infrastructure has taken place across all themes, strengthening Scotland's ability to inform policy, shape investment decisions and deliver preventative action at scale. |
| Building Capacity for Prevention | Prevention is part of national processes, including the budget process, PFG and national outcomes. The Prevention Toolkit is beginning to support preventative policy approaches across partners | Prevention is routinely considered within national budgeting, policymaking and analytical processes, supported by mature key tools and evidence-based approaches. A strong culture of prevention exists across the public sector, with leaders, policymakers and analysts consistently incorporating preventative approaches into planning, investment and service delivery. |
Contact
Email: PreventionUnit@gov.scot