Scottish government

A Holyrood you trust or Westminster you do not? Open Minds on Independence #23

Stephen Richard — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 17:29:05 +0000

A Holyrood you trust or Westminster you do not? Open Minds on Independence #23

Primary Author or Creator

The National

Stephen Richard Sun, 10/10/2021 - 18:29

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Believe in Scotland

Date Published

Sat, 05/01/2021 - 12:00

Category

Scottish government

Type of Resource

News Media

Fast Facts

How does the Scottish Government score in the Worldwide Governance Indicators?

1: Voice and Accountability - good

2: Political Stability - good. Better than England

3:Government Effectiveness - good and more trusted than England

4: Regulatory Quality - good although an independent Scotland would need some new regulatory bodies

5: Rule of Law - good. It has a well-regarded legal sysem

6: Control of Corruption - good. Trust in Scottish government 4 times higher than trust in the UK government.

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.thenational.scot/news/19272830.open-minds-independence-23-holyrood-…

Keywords

Worlwide Governance Indicators

UK Government

Scottish Government

Language English

The Statistics of Devolution

Stephen Richard — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 11:39:06 +0000

The Statistics of Devolution

Primary Author or Creator

David Byne

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/26/2021 - 12:39

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Add additional Authors and/or Publisher

Alternative Published Date

2019

Category

Scottish government

Type of Resource

Book

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

10pp

Fast Facts

Statistical collection and analysis needs to be improved in a devolved UK. Greater detail of local and regional analysis is required for both Scotland and England.

More details

pp 133- 142 in: Data in Society: Challenging Statistics in an Age of Globalisation

edited by Evans, Jeff, Ruane, Sally

Resource Address (URL)

https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rXimDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA133&dq=D…

Keywords

Scottish statistics

statistics collection

Language English

Thinking Outwith the Box, GERS 2020-21 and the SNP conference Agenda

Stephen Richard — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 11:35:41 +0000

Thinking Outwith the Box, GERS 2020-21 and the SNP conference Agenda

Primary Author or Creator

Craig Dalzell

Stephen Richard Tue, 09/14/2021 - 12:35

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Chris Hanlon, Agnes MacAuley

Date Published

Wed, 08/18/2021 - 12:00

Category

Scottish government

Economy

Type of Resource

Podcast

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

41:43 minutes

Fast Facts

This week, Craig talks to SNP Policy Development Convenor Chris Hanlon and Agnes MacAuley from SNP Greenock & Inverclyde about the latest GERS figures and what they mean (and don’t mean) for Scotland, independence and the post-pandemic recovery. They then discuss up and coming motions to the SNP conference that have been influenced by or based on Common Weal policies including one for a National Transport Company designed to help decarbonise our cars and other vehicles. Finally, they discuss the role of non-party think tanks in Scottish politics and what they can do that party affiliated policy groups cannot.

Common Weal podcast #97,

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/podcast/the-common-weal-policy-podcast-episode-97/

Language English

Claim Scots will be £2,000 worse off after independence is Unsupported

Stephen Richard — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 10:10:04 +0000

Claim Scots will be £2,000 worse off after independence is Unsupported

Primary Author or Creator

The Ferret

Stephen Richard Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:10

Date Published

Tue, 08/04/2020 - 12:00

Category

Finance

Scottish government

Type of Resource

Fact check

Fast Facts

It’s not possible to predict how much money a notionally independent Scotland might be able to spend in the future, and how this might compare with the amount spent per person in the rest of the UK at that time.

The GERS figures do not show that if Scotland were to become independent, each person in Scotland would become £2,000 worse off. The figure only refers to the current difference between revenue and spending in Scotland compared to the UK.

Resource Address (URL)

https://theferret.scot/gers-union-dividend-2000-scottish-independence/

Keywords

Public finance

Union dividend

Language English

Preparing Scotland digitally for independence

Stephen Richard — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 08:32:47 +0000

Preparing Scotland digitally for independence

Primary Author or Creator

Gordon Morgan

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/12/2021 - 09:32

Alternative Published Date

November 2017

Category

Scottish government

Type of Resource

Policy Paper

Fast Facts

Gordon Morgan examines the IT Systems requirements for an independent Scotland in this White Paper Project report.

More details

― Several important areas of Scottish governance, like the NHS, Local Government, and Police and Fire Services, are already devolved. However, other areas like most tax collection, borders and customs, and foreign affairs, are mostly reserved areas and would need to new IT systems established upon independence.

― A tentative estimate of the total cost to build new IT systems for all required areas has been identified at around £1,250 million to be spent over a three year independence transition period. This is comparable to the budgets being identified to reform and upgrade current government IT systems within Scotland in recent years.

― A well designed IT system will aid in quickly recouping this investment in the form of revenue from the customs agency and central bank.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Preparing-Scotland-digitally…

Keywords

Government IT systems

IT systems

Digital independence

Language English

Towards a Defence & Security strategy for an independent Scotland

Stephen Richard — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 08:17:06 +0000

Towards a Defence & Security strategy for an independent Scotland

Primary Author or Creator

Garry Macdonald

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/12/2021 - 09:17

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Common Weal

Alternative Published Date

December 2017

Category

Scottish government

Defence and Security

Type of Resource

Policy Paper

Fast Facts

This paper is intended to provide an overview of the following aspects of a Scottish Defence & Security Strategy:

• What is meant by ‘Scottish national security’
• What threats it would be required to address
• What framework it would operate under
• How Scottish foreign policy would impact it
• What institutions would implement it

The intent of this paper is not to serve as a finalised strategy but instead to provide a basis for further discussion and development.

More details

― An independent Scotland’s present and future threat environment includes serious organised crime, cybercrime, terrorism, social unrest, coercion by state and non-state actors, military threat from a foreign state and natural or man-made disaster. The current threat is predominantly occupied by non-state actors as opposed to any existential or territorial threat. However a defence & security strategy should account for future risk assessment, without indulging a ‘climate of fear’.

― In the interim period following independence, Scotland should pursue ‘associate membership’ in NATO and the EU, allowing for a more flexible foreign policy while allowing integration in specific areas of mutual interest. This would take the form of joining the ‘partnership for peace’ programme in respect to NATO and the European Free Trade Association in respect to the EU, before considering full membership in the future.

― A framework for an independent Scotland’s Defence & Security Strategy should rest on five pillars: policy coherence (strategic integration across the various policy areas which affect defence and security); regional partnerships (forming strong relationships with like-minded countries, taking account of Scotland’s geopolitical position); a resilience model (ensuring Scottish society as a whole is resilient to shocks); a law enforcement focus (a presumption that law enforcement takes priority over military); and readiness and regeneration (an ability to respond quickly if the military threat landscape changes suddenly).

― A single, integrated Scottish Security & Intelligence Agency should be established, responsible for collecting, analysing and utilising information in support of law enforcement, national security and foreign policy objectives.

― Police Scotland will have to significantly enhance its Organised Crime & Terrorism Unit while its International Assistance Unit would take on increased significance in the context of independence.

― A Scottish Customs Agency would be required to tackle the economic and social impact of illegal trafficking on Scotland, working closely with law enforcement, intelligence and military forces.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Towards-a-Defence-Security-s…

Keywords

Defence

security

Foreign affairs

Scottish Customs Agency

Police

Language English

Public Procurement in Scotland: The case for scrutiny, accountability and transparency

Stephen Richard — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 21:42:14 +0000

Public Procurement in Scotland: The case for scrutiny, accountability and transparency

Primary Author or Creator

Margaret Cuthbert

Stephen Richard Mon, 09/06/2021 - 22:42

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Common Weal

Date Published

Tue, 05/09/2017 - 12:00

Category

Scottish government

Type of Resource

Policy Paper

Fast Facts

Leading economist Margaret Cuthbert draws on 15 years of research on Scottish public procurement in making the case that procurement in Scotland is shrouded in secrecy and wide-ranging reforms are needed to ensure transparency and accountability.

More details

― Why is it that our public representatives are signing up to contracts where the public cannot see the terms of the contract? In the few cases where we have finally been given access to a contract and its financial model, we have found serious problems.

― Why is it, in the cases concerning public procurement, we continually have to resort to Freedom of Information requests which is time consuming, rarely frees the information requested on major public procurement projects, and of no benefit in regard to getting changes made in any existing contract? Helpful answers to requests for information concerning contracts and financial models have rarely been forthcoming.

― The third issue concerns the very powerful role that is being played by the Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) and the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) in the public procurement of major projects. The SFT, set up in 2008, is a private company. It now has a major role in Scotland’s public sector build, maintenance and servicing of projects. Its presence in the procurement chain has resulted in the public finding it difficult, if not impossible, to scrutinise the decision-making process on the facility being built; the process of handing out contracts; the financial aspects of the contract; the effect that the project will have on the local community including on jobs, and on local businesses; and importantly the long term effect this is having on Scotland’s financial well-being and the ownership of what was once regarded as essential public goods.

― There appears to be no analysis of whether the methods now being used for public procurement of major projects are constructed in such a way that local businesses are missing out on the architectural work, on the maintenance and services work, and, for example, potentially innovative work that could lead to other contracts. Local businesses are involved but are far down the food chain and may not be in as advantageous a position as is desirable for them to grow and develop as they might otherwise have done.

― The fifth issue considered concerns the methods used by the Scottish Government, Health Boards, Prisons, and Local Authority Councils to raise finance for public procurement. The lack of Whole of Government Accounts for Scotland means that we have no idea what the effect on Scotland’s long term level of debt will be from these projects.

― The final issue concerns the need for a strengthening of the role which needs to be played by the relevant Parliamentary Committees in dealing with economic and financial issues.

― This paper is based on what information has been made available through published documents and through Freedom of Information and other requests on each of the above six areas. It draws on research carried out by Jim Cuthbert and I over the past 15 years.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Public-Procurement-in-Scotla…

Keywords

Scottish public procurement

Public procurement

Freedom of Information

Scottish Futures Trust

Public procurement finance

Government transparency

Accountability of government

Government accountability

Language English

Open Government Note: Transparency in Public Finance – the role of good data

Stephen Richard — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 16:53:26 +0000

Open Government Note: Transparency in Public Finance – the role of good data

Primary Author or Creator

Common Weal

Stephen Richard Mon, 09/06/2021 - 17:53

Date Published

Fri, 10/20/2017 - 12:00

Category

Scottish government

Fast Facts

This Common Weal note examines how an Open Government approach to Public Finance data can improve its usability and transparency for citizens.

More details

― There are two primary issues with data for the public and for transparency – trust and usability. The former of these is crucial.

― Making numbers have meaning for people should be the primary public-facing aim of public data. But this should also carry an additional element – regular work should be done to systematically identify what information the public wants from public data.

― As a substantial user of public data, Common Weal regularly comes across the issue of comprehensiveness and consistency. Put very simply, often Scotland lacks crucial data because it is collected from across government rather than being coordinated by a central body.

― There should be a single portal for Scottish public sector data. This would clearly be aided by a single statistics agency. However, there is very widely varying practice out there on the presentation of data to the public – and clearly for openness the better and easier the presentation the more likely people are to feel data is useable.

― Almost everyone involved with public data will have had some experience of ‘obstructionism’ in gaining access to public data. Whether it is failure to publish, denial of Freedom of Information requests, use of ‘commercial confidentiality’ clauses, refusal to disaggregate date or provide methodologies or claims that ‘personal data’ can be inferred from larger data sources, there has simply been far too much ‘that’s for us to know and you to not know’ practice.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Open-Government-Note-Transpa…

Keywords

Open government

Public finance

Government transparency

statistics collection

Public data

Language English

Scotland’s Data Desert: The case for a Scottish Statistics Agency

Stephen Richard — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 16:27:58 +0000

Scotland’s Data Desert: The case for a Scottish Statistics Agency

Primary Author or Creator

Craig Dalzell

Stephen Richard Mon, 09/06/2021 - 17:27

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Common Weal

Alternative Published Date

February 2018

Category

Scottish government

Type of Resource

Policy Paper

Fast Facts

This paper lays out the case for the formation of a Scottish Statistics Agency, funded to a level comparable to nations similar to Scotland, which has the power to fill vital gaps in the gathering, analysis and provision of statistics pertaining to Scotland as well as to curate a comprehensive and transparent database of statistics for public use.

More details

― Scotland’s level of statistical data provision marks it as the best served nation within the UK.

― However, there remains substantial gaps in provision and overall provision falls short of what would be expected to serve an independent country.

― Regardless of Scotland’s constitutional arrangements, better data provision is vital for the creation of better government policy and better management.

― Specific gaps have been identified in areas such as the regionalisation of data, the tax gap, GERS, Whole of (Scottish) Government Accounts, the National Register of Assets and Scottish import and export data.

― A Scottish Statistics Agency would be charged with identifying and filling gaps in statistical provision.

― The SSA may take the form of a single, centralised agency in which it is charged with collecting or commissioning the vast majority of statistical data.

― Alternatively it may be more of an overseer of a decentralised network of specialised data providers, a regulator to ensure the data meets a sufficiently stringent Code of Practice as well as maintaining a data portal to ensure access to the gathered data.

― Ideal budgeting is difficult to assess as they depend on the model employed. An SSA proportional in size to the UK’s would have a budget of £15 million per year and would employ 265 people. An SSA the size of Sweden’s would have a budget of £83.3 million and would employ 700 people.

― Where third party organisations are involved with gathering and manipulating data, a Code of Practice “kitemark” could be created which would indicate where such data meets the standards required for policy-making.

― Trust, transparency and ease of access to data are of paramount importance in this field and an ethos encouraging this should be built into the agency from the outset.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Scotlands-Data-Desert.pdf

Keywords

Scottish Statistics Agency

Public data

Language English

Public Private Partnerships: A formula for excess profits and failure

Stephen Richard — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 17:39:45 +0000

Public Private Partnerships: A formula for excess profits and failure

Primary Author or Creator

Jim CuthbertJim Cuthbert

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/05/2021 - 18:39

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Common Weal

Alternative Published Date

April 2018

Category

Scottish government

Type of Resource

Policy Paper

Fast Facts

PFI, and other forms of public private partnership (PPP) as practised in England and Scotland, are well known to be very problematic concepts. They involve, on the one hand, extremely high rates of return for investors in many schemes – but on the other hand, an unacceptable rate of failure in other schemes.

What is less clear is why PFI/PPP has behaved so badly. This note explains why the above characteristics are inherent in the way PFI/PPP has been set up, as a consequence of the very long time periods over which the risk premium in PFI/PPP projects is paid to the equity investors.

More details

― The paper explains how paying the risk premium for equity investors in a PFI/PPP scheme over the 30 year life span of the project opens up the potential for equity investors to pocket excess returns immediately after the construction phase of the project – provided construction appears to have been completed satisfactorily.

― This situation is compounded by the extent to which the projected returns to the equity investors are loaded towards the end of the project life: a point whose significance was missed by the public sector when PFI was being set up.

― The paper quotes evidence that the return to equity market investors on secondary market sales of PFI holdings has been a staggering 28% per annum on average.

― But the same mechanism actually also contributes to the high rate of PFI/PPP failure. Paying the risk premium late in the life of the project means that the risk premium is not actually available when it is needed, thus increasing the likelihood of failure if a scheme hits problems.

― There is a further danger, in that the inherent instability in the system risks destabilising the balance sheets of the parent companies which hold PFI/PPP – witness Carillion.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Public-Private-Partnerships…

Keywords

PFI

Public Private Partnerships

Profit

Language English