Finance and Public Administration Committee
National Performance Framework
Letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for COVID Recovery to the Convener of 6 October 2021
Dear Kenneth
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Finance and Public Administration Committee on the 21 September 2021 to discuss the National Performance Framework (NPF). The NPF is Scotland’s wellbeing framework, and sets the vision for the type of nation we want to be, as well as the framework to enable collaborative working across Scotland to achieve the National Outcomes.
I undertook to provide in writing further detail about the timing of the NPF Review, and how the process will interact with the development of the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill.
As outlined during the Committee meeting, Ministers are required by statute to review the National Outcomes within five years of their previous publication. The next NPF review must therefore start before June 2023 at the latest, to comply with the Community Empowerment (Scotland) 2015 Act. However, I am of the view that there is merit in commencing external engagement in 2022, with the aim of laying the statutory report in Parliament during the third year of the Parliamentary term in 2023. As I stated during my appearance at the Committee, the review will focus on how we can better achieve impact that is recognised and felt by the people who live in Scotland, and we will consult widely across Scotland, including with the Parliament. This will provide an opportunity for focused engagement with stakeholders and the public on recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a platform for wider engagement on Scotland’s future wellbeing.
The Review will also provide an opportunity to inform the development of the proposed Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill. As stated in this year’s Programme for Government, we will bring forward a Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill later in the Parliamentary session, putting duties on public bodies and local government to take account of the impact of their decisions on sustainable development, in Scotland and internationally. We will further develop the use of our National Performance Framework through the upcoming review of National Outcomes, and through consultation on a Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill.
I also undertook to write to the Committee to provide an update on the development of the remaining 11 NPF indicators that are identified as either to be developed or where there is limited data. The detailed information split by each indicator is provided in Annexe A. I would ask the committee to keep in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted timescales established before the pandemic: both in the ability of those supplying data, and the need to move Scottish Government analysts to support Covid management at short notice. I do however, now expect the remaining progress to be made on these, as outlined in Annexe A.
John Swinney
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