Public Service Reform in Scotland: Time for a strategic approach
Published: 21 September 2026
21 September 2026: With the Scottish Government committing to making public service reform 'the defining task of this Scottish Parliament', Dr Ian C. Elliott argues for a strategic approach to turn this into reality, by learning from what works and strengthening the connection between Scotland’s national outcomes, accountability mechanisms, and local delivery.
21 September 2026: With the Scottish Government committing to making public service reform 'the defining task of this Scottish Parliament', Dr Ian C. Elliott argues for a strategic approach to turn this into reality, by learning from what works and strengthening the connection between Scotland’s national outcomes, accountability mechanisms, and local delivery.
Blog by Dr Ian C. Elliott
The government has committed to making public service reform the defining task of this Scottish Parliament. But public service reform can mean many different things to different people – for some it may be perceived as an opportunity whilst for others it will be seen as a threat. What is needed is a strategic approach that builds on what works and a clearer link between Scotland’s national outcomes and accountability mechanisms.
The 5-year Programme for Government, the 5-year corporate plan (Serving Scotland), and the Public Service Reform Strategy provide a good foundation as key elements of a strategic state. I define the strategic state as “a whole-of-government approach to the design and delivery of public services which links a shared long-term vision with the collective capacity, capability and conviction to make it happen”. These three documents provide a clear vision and sense of direction, the key task now is to connect this national strategy, including the National Performance Framework and national outcomes, to local delivery.
Yet the Programme for Government does not directly reference the National Performance Framework or the national outcomes. So what should happen next?
In his analysis on the fiscal backdrop Professor Graeme Roy noted the challenges facing the Scottish Government in balancing their budget. This includes challenges around public sector pay and the overall size of the public sector workforce. Yet we know that in Scotland public sector employment is not high. The Public Service Reform Strategy draws a comparison between the 22% public sector employment in Scotland and the 18% in the UK as a whole. But other countries, who we often claim to emulate, have much higher public sector employment including Finland (25.2%), Norway (30.1%) and Sweden (28.2%) (the OECD average is 18.4%).
Likewise, our local authorities are amongst the largest, by population size, in Europe – again the comparisons are telling: Finland (310 local governments), Norway (357) and Sweden (290). We also know from recent experience that larger local authorities are not necessarily better or more efficient and that any moves towards restructuring or further centralisation can be disruptive, expensive and a distraction from improving services.
In order to build the link between strategy and delivery, public service reform should be place-based and people-driven. When the recent review of the National Performance Framework was announced it was in the context of an apparent implementation gap. To close the gap between strategy and delivery there needs to be much more focus on processes, practices and ways of working. This means deprioritising activities that do not directly contribute to the national outcomes. More attention needs to be focused on reducing administrative burdens on citizens accessing public services and on organisations working collaboratively in the design and delivery of public services.
We need a bigger conversation with those who deliver and use our public services to learn from and build on existing policy and delivery success. For example, the single authority model, community wealth building and participatory budgeting all shift power, resources and decision-making closer to communities. Further work is needed to work with communities and our public servants to consider how to facilitate further delegation of responsibility and decision-making, and more proportional reporting and performance-management, while strengthening accountability for national outcomes.
The development of the new National School for Government and Public Services may provide a valuable opportunity to bring our public servants together from across different organisations and localities to learn from each other and build the networks and relationships needed to support this innovation.
If we want to develop a truly strategic state we need to have clear priorities and then empower those at the local and community level to deliver. The 5-year Programme for Government and the 5-year corporate plan provide the clear priorities – what is needed now is clearer alignment between these plans and the National Performance Framework and true empowerment at the local and community level to realise these goals.
Author
Dr Ian C. Elliott is a Senior Lecturer in Public Administration at the Centre for Public Policy. His research includes the strategic state and mission-led government as well as the teaching of public administration. Ian has extensive experience of advising governments and conducting research on behalf of governments and public bodies including most recently as a member of Scottish Government Reform Advisory Group for the National Performance Framework.
Image by Gannet77 from Getty Images Signature via Canva Pro
First published: 21 September 2026