A nation with ambition: the Government's Programme for Scotland 2017-2018 (executive summary)

Measuring progress: the National Performance Framework

It is 10 years since we launched our world-leading National Performance Framework. It sets out a vision of national wellbeing for Scotland and charts progress towards this through a range of social, environmental and economic indicators.

The Framework changed how we do government in Scotland. We shifted the focus to improving outcomes and considering how our actions will improve the quality of life for people in Scotland. We have put this approach in legislation in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

Our latest figures (2015-2016) show 55 out of 66 of the existing indicators demonstrate performance that is either improving or being maintained. That includes:

• the total value of Scottish exports increasing from £19.3 billion in 2006 to £28.7 billion in 2015 – an increase of 49.1% over the period
• the percentage of children in combined material deprivation and low income falling from 16% in 2006-07 to 10% in 2015-16
• the percentage of young people in learning, training or work is increasing – in 2015-16, 92% of school leavers from publicly funded schools were in positive and sustained destinations, compared to 87% in 2007-08
• the amount of electricity generated by renewables has risen from 16.8% of gross electricity consumption in 2006 to 54.0% in 2016
• the gender pay gap has decreased considerably, with the gap in median earnings between men and women working full-time in Scotland falling by 6 percentage points, from 12% in 2007 to 6% in 2016
• the percentage of people who have been the victim of a crime fell from more than 20% in 2008-09 to below 15% in 2014-15
• the quality of hospital inpatients’ healthcare experience is improving, with the average patient score rising from 78 out of 100 in 2009‑10 to 83 out of 100 by 2015-16 – the highest level recorded

Looking forward to the next five years, a vision for Scotland must be created in discussion with the people who live here. Therefore, in advance of proposing new outcomes to the Scottish Parliament, we have been asking people what kind of Scotland they would like to live in. These conversations along with those we have had about what a fairer and healthier Scotland would look like have provided us with a rich source of information to develop a new set of proposed national outcomes for Scotland.

Scotland was one of the first nations to state strong political support for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The review of the national outcomes provides us with an opportunity to further embed these Goals in the National Performance Framework. We will also take the opportunity to put human rights at the heart of how we assess national performance by embedding them in the proposed Framework too.