Sustained progress needed on Scotland’s National Performance Framework ambitions, says Finance Committee

In a report published today, the committee sets out a suite of recommendations aimed at ensuring the NPF is a “much more explicit” part of policy making.

This begins, says the committee, with the Scottish Government making clear how it will use the NPF in setting national policy, and in collaborating with local government and wider Scottish society.

The report also says Scottish Government funding decisions need to be aligned with NPF outcomes, and that greater scrutiny and accountability is required.

Finance and Public Administration Committee Convener Kenneth Gibson said:

“The NPF remains an important vision of the type of place Scotland should aspire to be, but there needs to be more sustained progress towards achieving that vision.

“While there is no single solution, of key importance is positioning the NPF as the start of a 'golden thread' from which all other frameworks, strategies and plans flow, through to delivery on the ground.

“We recommend that the government explicitly set out how its policies will contribute to the delivery of specific NPF outcomes, their intended impact on NPF outcomes, and approaches to monitoring and evaluation.

“Similarly, government funding decisions should also be aligned with National Outcomes. From the wide range of organisations we heard from the NPF is not currently seen to drive financial decisions, nor is it a mechanism by which organisations are held to account for spending effectively.”

The report also makes recommendations for strengthening and refocussing scrutiny - including by parliamentary committees - over how organisations have regard to the NPF.