Programme for Government 2026-31: Public Service Reform

Policy, Projects and Participation Manager, Chris Ross, identifies the key priorities of Children in Scotland in our assessment of the Scottish Government’s Public Service Reform in the Programme for Government. It is needed, he says, not just to save money, but instead as a key mechanism for improving children, young people and families.

The start of the month saw a Programme for Government with a slightly different focus, a shift towards a 5 year programme suggests an attempt by Scottish Government to shift towards longer term thinking. This was coupled with attempts to grapple with the deep-rooted challenges we face in delivery of public services in Scotland.  

The Public Service Reform agenda has been front and centre of the announcements around and following the Programme for Government. Commitments to reduce the number of health boards, streamline the landscape around our public bodies and to radically reorganise local government structures have caught the attention. This conversation is shaped by a challenging fiscal situation and situated in a context of decreasing public satisfaction with the services people receive 

Since the election we have engaged with our members across our Member Forum, Strategic Forum and through our TSI Children’s Services Network. In total this has supported engagement with over 50 members of our wider network. Across this we have heard concern in some pockets of the sector around Public Service Reform being a guise for further cuts to a sector that has dealt with a an extremely challenging funding environment for a significant period of time.  

However, our members also continue to reinforce much of our understanding – that Scotland’s wider public service landscape often gets in the way of improving outcomes for children, young people and families. Our work in local systems shines a light this; too often systems are cumbersome; too reactive; and operate in silo’s which don’t reflect the lives of the people they are intended to benefit. A disjointed national policy landscape compounds many of these issues, while a lack of true collaboration between public and third sector, and within the third sector itself, mean the money we spend is not going as far as it could.  

Public Service Reform is therefore needed, not just to save money, but instead as a key mechanism for improving children, young people and families.   

Over coming months, we will continue to develop our assessment of the Scottish Government’s plans for reform. A rejig to local government will not in and of itself improve our public service landscape. While these systems and structures are of course vitally important, equally important are the cultures, values and ways of working.  

As we engage in this agenda, we have identified a number of key priorities associated with the public service reform agenda to ensure it promotes improved delivery:  

• Clearly aligning public service reform with work to embed the UNCRC in policy, legislation and practice 

• Greater coherence in national policy making, with clearly defined priorities and a focus on prevention 

• Embedding more collaborative ways of working in public service delivery – not only between third sector and public sector, but also within both of these sectors  

• Streamlined local authority governance, planning and delivery   

• Improved commissioning and reporting arrangements which embed collaboration and which are focussed on outcomes   

• Improved use of third sector data and information, and better data sharing arrangements to truly understand progress in how services are impacting children and families 

• Improved capacity for collaborative leadership across public service leadership (both within the public and third sector)   

We will continue to work with our members on this to support understanding of and engagement in the PSR agenda. We are excited to develop the new sub-group of our Children’ Sector Strategic and Policy Forum focussing on this work, with the Forum uniquely placed to show leadership in the sector. We will also be finalising a policy paper in coming months which explores how we can ensure Public Service Reform can improve outcomes for children, young people and families.  

Organisationally we see this as a transformational opportunity, it provides an opportunity to deliver on the principles of The Christie Commission that many of us so rightly often refer back to. Reflecting on the Programme for Government itself, a longer-term focus is good, the ambition for reform is there, but the wider programme still presents a picture of inconsistency – greater prioritisation and a focus on delivery of the PSR agenda is needed. This may mean setting down many smaller, less impactful interventions.  

There is also a need for a commitment from all partners to making it work in practice – exploring where we can collaborate and what we might need to give up in service of the children, young people and families we work for. Children in Scotland is excited to work with our members to make this a reality.