Tag: participation

With the Scottish Government aiming to deliver average savings of £0.5bn a year to public services over the next three years, Holyrood’s Public Service Reform Committee is seeking views on how achievable the proposed public sector reforms are.

The Committee has today launched a consultation asking how barriers to progress with reform can be overcome; how preventative approaches to spending can be promoted; and how the delivery of public services can be simplified.

As part of its pre-budget scrutiny work, the Committee will also consider whether there is sufficient clarity around how front-line roles, which are to be protected, are defined.

Speaking as the call for views launched, Committee Convener Bob Doris MSP, said: “A Spending Review demanding £1.5bn worth of public sector efficiencies, lays bare the need for us to understand the detail of how these savings are to be made and fundamentally, how they will shape public service delivery.

“Funds designated for prevention must also be put to good use and the simplification of services must lead to positive outcomes for both the provision of services and expenditure.

“We’d like to hear from those who lead, deliver, and rely on public services about what steps can be taken to remove barriers to more progress with reform, support preventative approaches, and ensure that efficiencies do not undermine frontline delivery.

“Our scrutiny will help shape the Scottish Budget before it is finalised, so contributions at this stage are especially valuable.”

The Committee is keen to hear from leaders in the public sector; community planning partnerships; trade unions; academics and think tanks; third sector representatives and staff who deliver services within or on behalf of the public sector.

The call for views closes on Friday 14 August 2026 after which the Committee plans to take oral evidence, before reporting to Parliament late October/early November this year.

Read the questions and submit your views on Citizen Space

QUESTIONS

1. The Scottish Government aims to deliver on average £0.5 billion in savings through efficiencies per year for the next three years (2026-27 to 2028-29): 
   
   1. To what extent are these savings achievable, and how will they shape public service delivery? 
       
   2. What progress is being made towards achieving these efficiencies? 
       
   3. What are the barriers to achieving greater efficiency and how can these be addressed? 
2. How should the Scottish Government best present the extent of any realised efficiencies in the annual budget publication, including providing clarity on whether these are expected to be recurring savings? 
    
3. The Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan aims to achieve an average reduction of the public sector workforce of 0.5% per year over five years.
   
   1. To what extent is this target achievable and how will it shape public service delivery?  
   2. What progress is being made towards achieving this target?
4. What actions can the Scottish Government take to ensure these workforce reductions are delivered in a managed way which best supports effective government and public service delivery?
    
5. The PSR strategy states that it will protect frontline services. To what extent is there sufficient clarity about how frontline roles are defined and how efficiencies in back-office functions can be delivered in a way that minimises impact on the delivery of public services? 
    
6. Beyond the financial benefits that the Public Sector Reform (PSR) Strategy aims to achieve, what are the key outcomes that reform should be aiming for? 
    
7. The PSR Strategy includes 18 different workstreams which aim to remove barriers to reform.  One workstream focuses on “simplification”, recognising that “complexity of processes, structures and reporting requirements is a key barrier to effective and efficient service delivery”. “Prevention” is one of three pillars providing structure to the Strategy.
   1. What should the Scottish Government’s priorities be under its simplification workstream and what level of savings can be achieved through this approach? 
       
   2. What progress has been made to date with preventative budgeting?
       
   3. How should the forthcoming Budget support greater progress towards preventative budgeting across the devolved public sector? Please set out any barriers and how these can be addressed. 
   4. What changes to the Scottish Government’s approach to budget-setting are needed to effectively deliver public service reform? 
8. The Scottish Government included an upfront Invest to Save Fund of around £30 million in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 Scottish Budgets for reform projects that will deliver ongoing savings and support the delivery of the PSR strategy.  
   
   1. To what extent is the Invest to Save Fund delivering projects that achieve ongoing savings?  
       
   2. How are successful outcomes from this Fund being shared more widely across the public sector?