Open Government Action Plan commitment 1: provide financial and performance transparency

1. Adopt open government principles and culture

Status: 🙂 On track

Open government principles and culture are being built into the ‘DNA’ of the SNIB. Specifically, the aim is to:

• Create a trusted financial institution from the outset
• Support the Bank to create a culture that is built upon the four pillars of transparency, equality, diversity and inclusion
• Ensure the way the Bank operates will define it as an ethical institution

The SNIB Bill and accompanying Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) sets out a number of legal requirements in relation to diversity and inclusion to create an industry leader. The Bank will also be subject to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2003, the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018, the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Fairer Scotland Duty. The bank will also sign up to the Women in Finance Charter which seeks to build a more balanced and fair finance industry.

2. Explore setting up a Citizen Advisory Group

Status: 🙂 On track

The Programme Team has set out a draft proposal for the establishment of an Advisory Group to advise Ministers on the SNIB in line with the recommendations in the Implementation Plan. Membership of the Advisory Group will be drawn from a cross-section of external stakeholders and civic society, and will be established following Board appointments in late 2019.  

Separately, the Programme Team is also exploring options to establish a Citizen’s Forum for the Bank using a similar model developed for the Bank of England to help engage a wider network of people in understanding the role of the Bank and to help inform potential direction.

3. Develop an Ethical Statement with public participation and input 

Status: 🙂 On track

The draft Strategic/Shareholder Framework which will guide the relationship between Ministers and the bank contains a requirement/commitment for the bank to develop an Ethical Statement to guide its Investment Strategy. To help the bank shape this, the Ethical Finance Hub is being commissioned by the Programme Team to deliver a bespoke piece of research on best practice in this area.

4. Young People's understanding of Public Finances Report will be published

Status: ✔ Complete

The project the Scottish Government commissioned with Young Scot on young people’s understanding of Scotland’s public finances is on track with the research now due in September. The final session was held with S5/6 pupils from Balfron High School in the Stirling Council area on 13 June 2019. Young Scot then assimilated the reports from the previous two sessions with the outcomes from the third session and drafted a final report.

The report was handed over to the Minister of Public Finance on the 3 September 2019. The Report’s conclusions will be used for other research and engagement into citizens’ understanding of Scotland’s public finances, as appropriate.

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

Status: 🙂 On track

The Wellbeing Scotland review on progress against the NPF outcomes was published in May 2019.

Scotland’s contribution to the UK Government VNR on SDG progress was published in July 2019. The Scottish SDG review is due to be published in Sept 2019. Both reports were developed with the SDG Network Scotland, COSLA, and other partners using an open government approach. Further SDG implementation work with the SDG Network Scotland using this approach is ongoing.

Consolidated Accounts for 2018-19 will be published in September 2019. These will include brief material which signposts readers to more detailed sources of information about Scottish Government performance. This will be an initial step to better link the Scottish Government’s reporting on spend with performance reporting on the outcomes it is working to achieve, and will complement the general information on Scotland’s performance available on the National Performance Framework website and from other sources.

6. Making the Scottish Government budget more accessible and easier to understand, experimenting multimedia formats around the budget announcement.

Status: 🙂 On track

The next Budget document is due for publication by the end of 2019.

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

Status: ✔ Complete

A Spending Review Framework was published for the first time in Scotland in May 2019. This set out the criteria governing the assessment of budgets, and the process and timetable, for the 2019 Spending Review. It was part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for Scotland which set out the key financial challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, and also provided the context for the upcoming Spending Review and Scottish Budget. The MTFS was published for the first time in 2018.

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.

Status: 🙂 On track

A set of structured interviews were held with a range of stakeholders during the last months of 2018. These provided a rich set of views on how the Exchequer should evolve further, what success should look like, and early priorities. This has contributed to the Exchequer’s proposed aims as well as the prioritisation of transformation projects which are now being developed. Follow up work with stakeholders will be planned before the end of 2019.

Working in an open and transparent manner has been integrated into the Exchequer’s proposed aims. This is driving a focus and priority on this across the transformation programme and existing work.

9. Development of a tax communications and engagement strategy

Status: 🙂 On Track

A September workshop is planned with a wide range of stakeholders to explore the provision of timely and relevant information to the public and to Scottish taxpayers

10. Public consultation on a devolved taxes policy framework.

Status: 🙂 On track

Consultation events which provided an opportunity to learn more about devolved taxes were held across Scotland. The consultation closed in June.

11. Reviewing the scope and breadth of communications around income tax in Scotland and who delivers it

Status: 🙂 On track

No activity yet

12. Enhance openness and transparency relating to  Infrastructure Investment

Status: 🙂 On track

In September 2018, the Scottish Government announced the adoption of a National Infrastructure Mission (NIM) commitment to increase annual infrastructure investment.

The NIM has involved new fiscal controls to ensure ongoing fiscal sustainability, and have published detailed modelling on a tighter affordability limit (in Budget 2019-20, Dec 2019) and new capital borrowing policy (in the Medium Term Financial Strategy, May 2019).

NIM are already committed to updating and publishing the following suite of reports on the progress of the 2015 Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP):

• IIP Progress Report -  an annual report which outlines key achievements over the course of the previous year as well as a sector-by-sector update on key infrastructure projects
• IIP Project Pipeline -  a six-monthly update which mainly relates to information on the delivery of projects with a capital value of £20 million or more 
• IIP Programme Pipeline -  a six-monthly update which provides information relating to ongoing key major infrastructure programmes with investment of £50 million or more
• IIP Major Capital Projects Progress Update - a six-monthly update which mainly includes information on the progress of projects with a capital value of £20 million or more which are at Outline Business Case (or equivalent) approved stage or beyond 

In 2018, the Scottish Exchequer reviewed and refreshed the overview information provided to Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee (PAPLS) each year in support of the progress updates on major capital projects and programmes. The new overview responds to queries raised by MSPs and Audit Scotland over the last year. 

The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) found that Scotland has a high level of infrastructure transparency for data that is disclosed throughout project delivery, in comparison with the United Kingdom and internationally. Scotland’s figures for transparency when measured against the COST infrastructure data standard are 95% for larger projects and 70% for medium-sized projects. In the UK, the equivalent figures are only 60% for larger projects and 35% for medium-sized projects.

A new, short-life independent ICfS has been set up to provide long-term strategic advice to the Scottish Government on national infrastructure priorities. 

In preparing its advice, the Infrastructure Commission is engaging widely across all of Scotland, including with industry and civic society. The Commission has also appointed a social research company to seek views from the users and future users of infrastructure, including engagement with young people. A report of their activity is available here: https://infrastructurecommission.scot/storage/32/ICSJune2019Update.pdf

The creation of ICfS offers an opportunity to enhance the transparency of the Scottish Government’s approach to infrastructure planning.

The Scottish Exchequer will consider the Commission’s advice and, by June 2020, set out its investment priorities for the next 5 years in the IIP and an accompanying Capital Spending Review.

13. Consult with civil society on how best to make published procurement information useful and accessible by May 2019

Status: 🙂 On track

The Scottish Government met with representatives from civil society on the 21 May 2019. At the consultation event, the following organisations were in attendance: the Soil Association, LINK (a group of social enterprise companies that provide affordable housing), the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Office and the Open Contracting Data Standard helpdesk.

14. Publish Scottish Government contract documentation, starting with large collaborative frameworks by June 2019

Status: 🙂 On track

The Scottish Government published its first set of contract documents on the 21 June. The second set of documents were published on the 2 July. The government is working with procurement colleagues to support the publication of further contracts once awarded.

15. Publish Scottish Government procurement related spend information by December 2019

Status: 🙂 On track

The Scottish Government are in the process of finalising what spend information will be published and where that information will be published.