MSPs seek better civil service oversight of decisions
The Scottish Government’s Permanent Secretary should have significantly greater focus on the oversight of, and accountability for the quality of decision-making, a Holyrood committee has reported.
In its Report on Public Administration – effective Scottish Government decision-making, the Finance & Public Administration Committee recommends a shift towards a more coherent, systematic approach for monitoring and evaluating the quality of decisions.
It is the first time a Holyrood committee has examined the inner workings of the civil service and Scottish Government administration. Its findings are informed by discussions with civil servants and ministers past and present, and by evidence from academics and external organisations.
The MSPs also find that while ministerial accountability is well understood, less so is how civil service leaders are also responsible for the quality of policy and delivery. Their report highlights examples from Wales and New Zealand on how to assess independently the quality of decision-making and advice.
They further seek the Permanent Secretary’s view on whether a central unit or body is now needed to provide oversight across the Scottish Government and ensure the continued professionalism of civil servants working for the Government.
Committee convener Kenneth Gibson commented: "The findings in our report are intended to support the Scottish Government in providing greater understanding and transparency over how it takes decisions. This is important if we are to create a better informed, more nuanced and less adversarial environment.
"Greater understanding and transparency will enable everybody – inside and outside of Government – to learn what works well and what doesn’t."
He continued: "If Government decision-making processes only make sense to a small number of policymakers, then most others outwith Government are excluded from evaluating or indeed contributing towards the decision-making process.
"While we welcome recent developments to enhance the capabilities of civil servants, allied to that must be a coherent and systematic way to assess the quality of how decisions are made.
"This is essential to identify where decision-making processes need improvement and where skills need developed. It should also drive up quality, ensuring it is more consistent across the Scottish Government."
On Cabinet transparency, Mr Gibson added: “We welcome the Deputy First Minister’s presumption for transparency. We invite the Scottish Cabinet to consider the approach of routinely publishing timely information on the decisions it takes including the options considered, those discounted, and why the decision has been made.
The convener added that the committee's impression from the evidence heard was that a greater shift is needed from the traditional model of the civil service which values "agile" generalist skills, to "one which also values a more diverse range of specialist skills and which supports staff to flourish within their policy areas, should they wish".