Open Government Action Plan commitment 1: provide financial and performance transparency
Progress reports on our commitment to provide financial and performance transparency as part of our open government action plan.
Commitment overview
The problem
How we use public money was one of the things people were most interested in during our public discussions. They wanted to understand how and why decisions are made and how those decisions help make Scotland a good place to live.
What we're doing
We and the Scottish Exchequer, along with the new Scottish National Investment Bank will work with partners, experts, and the public to find and understand good practice on transparency, accountability and public involvement. We will work to improve the effectiveness of how we communicate budget information.
How that will help
This will help to solve the problem as we and the new institutions begin to understand from others – initially from young people – the questions people have about public finances. We should then be able to use this understanding to provide useful financial information to the public.
Progress
How we're doing
The majority of milestones in this commitment were successfully delivered, with most others on track to deliver successfully outside of the Action Plan timescale. One commitment has been put on hold due to Covid-related staff redeployment.
What's next
The Financial Transparency Steering group are focussing their attention on the approach to the third OGP Plan, which will be co-created in 2021.
Milestones
Note that "completed" refers to the specific actions set out in the commitment, not necessarily to the whole work strand
| Milestones | Progress | ||
| Scottish National Investment Bank | 1 | Adopt open government principles and culture |
✔ Completed |
| 2 | Explore setting up a Citizen Advisory Group | 🙂 On track | |
| 3 | Develop an Ethical Statement with public participation and input | 🙂 On track | |
| Scottish Exchequer | 4 | Young People's understanding of Public Finances Report will be published | ✔ Completed |
| 5 | Make links between budget and outcomes. Publish more information about Scotland’s progress in relation to the National Performance Framework and Sustainable Development Goals | ✔ Completed | |
| 6 | Making the Scottish Government budget more accessible and easier to understand, experimenting multimedia formats around the budget announcement | ✔ Complete | |
| 7 | A Spending Review framework will be published by June 2019 which will set out the economic and political context, the criteria which will govern the assessment of budgets and the process and timetable for the review | ✔ Complete | |
| 8 | The Scottish Government will work with partners and expert civil society actors to review and incorporate good practice on transparency, accountability and citizen engagement into the work of the Scottish Exchequer. This will include a number of round table events to bring together experts on fiscal transparency to share learning and understanding | ✔ Completed | |
| Scottish Exchequer - Tax | 9 | Development of a tax communications and engagement strategy | Incomplete |
| 10 | Public consultation on a devolved taxes policy framework | ✔ Completed | |
| 11 | Reviewing the scope and breadth of communications around income tax in Scotland and who delivers it | ✔ Completed | |
| Scottish Exchequer - Infrastructure & Investment | 12 | Enhance openness and transparency relating to Infrastructure Investment | ✔ Completed |
| Procurement | 13 | Consult with civil society on how best to make published procurement information useful and accessible by May 2019 | ✔ Completed |
| 14 | Publish Scottish Government contract documentation, starting with large collaborative frameworks by June 2019 |
✔ Completed | |
| 15 | Publish Scottish Government procurement related spend information by December 2019 | ✔ Completed | |
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