Open Government action plan 2021 to 2025 - commitment 1: fiscal openness and transparency

Progress to September 2024

Commitment 1: fiscal openness and transparency

Aim

Benchmarking our fiscal openness and transparency.

Objective

Establish an approach to assess progress of fiscal openness and transparency, moving towards international best practices of transparency and data standards.

Milestones

Milestone (2024): refine our IMF Fiscal Transparency Code benchmarked assessment, building on the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s (SHRC) Open Budget Index assessment to be published in Spring 2024, and in consultation with Fiscal Openness and Transparency Commitment Group and external fiscal experts.

Milestone (2025): review progress and practical application of benchmarking to design effective future approach.

Progress and next steps

On 11 July 2024 the Scottish Human Rights Commission published a Report of its assessment of the Scottish Budget (21-22) using the Open Budget Survey (OBS).

Next steps

We will refine internal benchmarking using the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Fiscal Transparency Code, taking into account SHRC’s assessment and recommendations using the OBS. We will also develop an initial set of options for potential improvements likely to deliver the most beneficial impact.

Status

On schedule.

Aim

Improving the accessibility of our fiscal data and information.

Objective

Implement the Fiscal Transparency Discovery Report recommendations to improve the quality, coverage, presentation and standards of current fiscal data.

Milestones

Milestone (ongoing from 2023): by end Q1 2024 deliver a fully functional (internal) minimum viable product Beta solution for the structuring, standardising and visualising of Scottish budget data.

Milestone (2024): subject to resource, by summer 2024 begin development of a live service, including a public facing fiscal portal.

Milestone (2024): subject to resource by autumn 2024 begin user testing and design engagement with the public and external stakeholders.

Milestone (2025): subject to resource, by end Q1 2025 launch live service and public portal.

Progress and next steps

The development of an internal Minimum Viable Product Beta solution with widened scope to include Scottish budget data from 2022-23 and 2023-24 has been completed. A number of working demonstrations have also been provided for our stakeholder community in Q2.

Next steps

A Business Case is being developed to set out the options for progressing this to a live service. This will outline related resource requirements for both developing, and then maintaining, the live service on an on-going basis.

Status

In progress.

Aim

Improving the accessibility of our fiscal data and information.

Objective

Deliver a procurement management information platform to improve data standards, demonstrate the impact of public sector procurement on Scotland's economy – identifying opportunities to maximise delivery of outcomes at a local and national level.

Milestones

Milestone (2024): sign-off Proof of Concept by end of Q1 2024 and completed the Beta phase of the Management Information (MI) Platform which will include a range of data extracts to support and deliver more concise and informative data across SG procurement landscape.

Milestone (2024): by end of Q4, roll out the MI Platform to other public bodies (Local Authorities, Central Government, Higher Education/Further Education and National Health Service) to identify new sources of data and further data collection which will provide greater information on the impact of public sector procurement.

Milestone (2025): continue to roll out the MI Platform across public sector.

Milestone (2025): continue to identify new data sources to enhance and enrich public sector management information.

Milestone (2025): ability to report on Scope 3 emissions.

Progress and next steps

The Management Information Platform Scotland (MIPS) is now live and actively being used by other public bodies, such as Registers of Scotland, and Perth and Kinross Council, amongst others. This is providing much more detailed information regarding SME’s and their procurement activity, and a range of data feeds which is helping to drive data based decisions and wider collaboration across the Scottish public sector.

Next steps

We are continuing to engage with the public sector to give them access to wider data available, alongside identifying new data sources that will continue to enrich what is already available in MIPS.  We have several continuous improvement initiatives running, including:

• identifying non-core spend (e.g. everything priced below £1000) to help to provide more analysis on suppliers, services and products
• looking at local spend analysis dashboards which will aim to offer users an in-depth insight into collaborative opportunities, spend profiles within their organisation and potential access to an improved local supplier footprint

Both improvement initiatives are in discovery phase.

Status

On schedule.

Aim

Improving the accessibility of our fiscal data and information.

Objective

Improve the transparency around the Scottish Budget, reviewing the accessibility and usability of existing and future information and guidance.

Milestones

Milestone (2024): through our lessons learned exercise from the 2024 to 2025 Budget, we will develop a programme for improvement in the budget process and Budget 2025 to 2026 and over the medium term.

Milestone (2024): we will engage with the Fiscal Openness and Transparency Commitment Oversight Group on our Improvement Plan reflecting in particular on our current progress in responding to the Equality and Human Rights Budget Advisory Group (EHRBAG) recommendations.

Milestone (2025): deliver an improved Budget process based on lessons learned and stakeholder input, including the Fiscal Openness and Transparency Commitment Oversight Group.

Progress and next steps

As reported above, the results of the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) Open Budget Survey on the 2021 to 2022 Scottish Budget were published in July. The results and conclusions of the survey are in the process of being analysed.

It is anticipated that action will be taken to implement a number of improvements as part of the 2025 to 2026 Scottish Budget. Further action is also being developed for implementation as part of the 2026 to 2027 Scottish Budget.

Next steps

The analysis of the SHRC OBS survey will be completed in September and improvement advice will be proposed to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government.

Work will be undertaken on the other potential improvements planned for the 2025 to 2026 Scottish Budget. This includes potentially publishing on the Scottish Budget web site the in-year revision budget review guidance documents prepared for the Parliament, and reviewing the Scottish Budget web pages.

Status

On schedule.

Aim

Improving participation and engagement on the public finances.

Objective

Build on previous engagement and best practice to develop a multi-stakeholder approach to the next Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP).

Milestones

Milestone (2024): work to support planned Scottish Exchequer engagement events in 2024, to showcase the infrastructure transparency already in place in Scotland, and set out our ambitions for the coming years.

Milestone (2024): develop a public and stakeholder engagement strategy, in conjunction with Scottish Futures Trust, by the end of 2024 for internal use, consistent with the recommendations from the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland. This will in turn inform the next Infrastructure Investment Plan and therefore will be overseen by the Infrastructure Investment Board. The Fiscal Openness and Transparency Oversight Group will be provided with bi-annual updates for information.

Milestone (2025): continue work with Scottish Futures Trust to improve the engagement we have planned with the public around infrastructure by testing various engagement options, ahead of development of the next Infrastructure Investment Plan. This will be overseen by the Infrastructure Investment Board. The Fiscal Openness and Transparency Oversight Group will be provided with bi-annual updates for information.

Progress and next steps

There has been engagement on infrastructure data transparency in Scotland at the Open Government Partnership’s Nordic+ event on fiscal openness in April 2024. This has been coupled with ongoing engagement with the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST) around their transparency work, to help to understand best practice to inform the approach to public and stakeholder engagement with the next IIP.

We have continued to work with the Scottish Futures Trust and other stakeholders to develop thinking in this space.

Next steps

We will continue engagement and work with the Scottish Futures Trust to develop a public and stakeholder engagement strategy which will inform the next IIP.  We will also keep the Fiscal Openness and Transparency Commitment Group updated on this work as milestones are met.

Status

In progress.

Aim

Improving participation and engagement on the public finances.

Objective

Build on previous engagement, striving for a best practice approach to engagement, ensuring that we use our tax powers in a transparent policy making process.

Milestones

Milestone (2024): by end May 2024 engage with the Tax Advisory Group (TAG) and wider stakeholders to develop a draft tax strategy.

Milestone (2024): having launched a public consultation on the tax strategy, work with TAG and other stakeholders to help identify seldom heard voices and consider ways to encourage participation.

Milestone (2024): engage with citizens and stakeholders before the budget process begins, to better understand knowledge of the tax system and help inform decision making.

Milestone (2024): by end 2024 publish the Tax Strategy. Stakeholder and citizen engagement will feature in the Strategy, and will be an area of interest in the analysis of consultation responses. This data may provide insights that can be used to inform both the strategy and future approaches to engagement, including Budget 2025 to 2026.

Milestone (2025): by September 2025 engage with citizens and stakeholders before the budget process begins, to better understand knowledge of the tax system and help inform decision making.

Progress and next steps

While the publication of the Tax Strategy was delayed, a comprehensive process of stakeholder engagement has taken place over the summer. A combination of stakeholder events and roundtables have been delivered to gather a wide range of view on the Tax Strategy. These views are helping to shape the final strategy. 

Pre engagement on the Scottish budget 2025 to 2026 has begun, with citizen views being gathered through our annual YouGov survey. The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey has also been published, providing information on public attitudes to taxation and redistribution. The results of these two exercises will accompany the Scottish Budget.

Work has also begun on developing a ‘tax literacy framework’ that will help set out underlying principles for work to improve public understanding of tax.

Next steps

The Tax Strategy will be published alongside the Scottish Budget. In addition, an annex on public attitudes to tax that includes data from both the YouGov survey and the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey will accompany the Scottish Budget.  Stakeholder roundtables have also been arranged to gather views in advance of the Scottish Budget.

Status

On schedule.