Public bodies expenditure: aggregated data for 2022-23

Ministerial Foreword

One of this government’s key priorities is to improve public services. The Scottish Government is proud to support our public services and is committed to maintaining the high quality services that people in Scotland need and deserve.

We are proud to have more front line public sector workers than other parts of the UK, and to pay them more, demonstrating the value we place on workforce, skills, quality and fairness.

But we also recognise that within our finite budget, and ongoing financial constraints and cost pressures exacerbated by Brexit and 14 years of austerity, we have a responsibility to ensure that the investment the Scottish Government makes in our public services on behalf of the people of Scotland is used efficiently and sustainably.

Our commitment to improvement is reflected in a programme of public service reform which is built on two elements. The first is to ensure public services remain fiscally sustainable; the second is to improve outcomes for people and communities.

We can do both by reducing costs, changing how we deliver services, and shifting long-term demand through investment in prevention, building on the work of the Christie Commission. That will ultimately improve people’s lives.

This report focuses on our work on fiscal sustainability. I want public bodies and Scottish Government, working individually and collectively, to continue to pursue all reasonable opportunities which maximise value from available resources, by being more efficient and sustainable.

While public services and bodies can and should focus on public value, we should also not forget that they are democratically accountable institutions. That of itself carries a cost. Our reform challenge is to ensure that this price is proportionate to the value the public derives from them.

I recognise the efforts that public bodies, and the Scottish Government itself, are making to deliver savings and make the most of their resources. I want to thank everyone who responded to the commission that informed this report.

Yet there is more we can and must do. That is why we are proactively taking steps to identify ‘back-office’ expenditure across the public sector, and work with public bodies to shift resources to the front line where possible. The Scottish Government has a range of programmes that are saving money from corporate expenditure that we can use to improve services. Examples include our Single Scottish Estate, National Collaborative Procurement, Commercial Value for Money and Digital programmes, which are securing significant savings, expected to reach up to £280m over a two year period by the end of 2024-25, with further projected savings of nearly £300m over the following two financial years to the end of 2026-27.

From discussions I have had with public sector leaders, I am encouraged by the commitment that many are demonstrating to this work. I am determined to maintain a close dialogue with public bodies, to reinforce the importance of this issue and support collective efforts to reform.

Most of all, I am determined that the people of Scotland can feel assured that their government takes seriously the need for the public services they care about and rely on to deliver real public value.

Ivan McKee MSP
Minister for Public Finance