September 2006
Executive Summary
-
UNISON agrees that it is vital that service
delivery is built around the needs of users and not structures.
We believe though that staff, because they are both users
and providers of public services, have a unique voice and
should be closely involved in any change process.
Introduction
UNISON Scotland welcomes the opportunity to submit
a response to the Scottish Executive regarding Transforming
public services the next phase of reform. We are Scotland's
largest trade union representing over 160,000 members across the
public sector.
UNISON Scotland recognises that all public sector
organisations should be aware of opportunities for continued improvement
and that change is inevitable as the challenges facing Scotland
change. We welcome the commitment to the values of promoting social
justice and building for the future. UNISON is keen to ensure
that UNISON members' experience as services providers informs
the process of change.
Approach to transforming public services
UNISON believes that the future development of public
services should be based on collaboration and co-operation. The
guiding principles should be Democracy, Investment, Fairness,
Excellence and Partnership. It is these principles that will ensure
efficient and effective services "fair to all" and "personal
to each of us".
Our detailed approach to public service reform is
set out in Revitalising our Public Services - UNISON's
manifesto for Scotland's public services (copy enclosed and on
the web at www.unison-scotland.org.uk
).
Consultation questions
User focus
UNISON Scotland agrees that public services need
to be built around the needs of users. UNISON members as providers
and users of services have a unique perspective and so should
also be central to discussions on the future development of services.
We believe that it is democracy that makes the public sector responsive
to users. The views of all sectors of the community need to be
sought not just the best educated or most powerful. Public service
users are not a homogenous group.
All public bodies should have a statutory duty to
involve users meaningfully in the decision making process. Genuine
involvement is more than just consultation. It requires involving
users in defining the problem as well as the solution. Organisation
structures need to be decentralised to the appropriate level for
each function. The fragmentation caused by privatisation and the
recent growth in Quango's hinders this process.
In terms of responding to complaints it is vital
that staff who have contact with the public are empowered to make
decisions and are fully embedded in the organisation they represent
so that they can understand complaints and take action. This means
that organisations must have the capacity to support and train
staff and fully involve all members of a team in delivery rather
that creating a separation between, those who deliver services
and those who administer them. Discussion of staff in terms of
frontline and back room does little to help this process.
Quality and innovation
UNISON Scotland is fully committed to the aim of
Scotland setting the standards for public services delivery. We
should aim to have the best public services in the world. High
quality services need secure adequate long-term funding.
It is people, not structures, who deliver high quality
services. In order to have world class services the staff involved
need to be trained supported and developed. The public sector
needs to offer competitive wages and terms and conditions in order
to attract and retain good staff.
It is also necessary to a change to a culture which
instead of centralised control and blame allows innovation to
flourish. Focusing on central targets and on outcomes does not
allow innovation to flourish. Creativity needs space to flourish:
to try and to fail, it requires risk.
Sharing information through partnership and mutual
trust allows best practice to flourish while league tables and
target lead to competition and mistrust. Staff need the resources
and freedom to develop networks to learn from the best practice.
Efficiency and productivity
Efficiency and productivity while central to public
services are about more than price. Traditional methods of measuring
the performance of organisations have concentrated on cost accounting
methods that may not be entirely suitable to public services.
There is also a concern that a costly, bureaucratic, scrutiny
industry could develop to examine public services. The measurements
used to assess performance are often subjective and fairly crude
and do not take into account all the factors involved in providing
a service. They are also often based on what data is already being
collected.
Any analysis of performance needs to take into account
the often variable funding levels that services receive as well
as their interaction with other PSOs. Focusing only on outcomes
ignores this.
Targets should be based on inputs, outputs
and outcomes together with process measures. Financial
systems will also need to be reviewed to be consistent with this
approach. It should also be recognised that assessing outcomes
is fraught with the difficulties of identifying cause and effect
and the influence of other policies and organisations.
There is also a concern of how open and transparent
any scrutiny regime would be, especially with the growth of Quangos,
and the increased use of private firms.
While recognising the aims of the Efficient Government
Initiative UNISON is concerned that past efficiency savings
have simply been a cover for real cuts in services or privatisation.
Improved efficiency requires negotiations at local level to
be based on genuine partnership approach with early and meaningful
involvement of staff and their trade unions with realistic timetables
and objectives.
Joining Up
The problems that face Scotland in the future will
not be solved by single agencies working alone and so partnership
has to continue to be the cornerstone of Scottish public service
reform. In a small country like Scotland PSOs are often organised
on a smaller scale to ensure local responsiveness and accountability.
This means that they may lack the scale to effectively deliver
some services. This in turn leads to calls for reorganisation
into larger less responsive units, boundary changes or the privatisation
of some services. The perceived need to respond to public policy
concerns often leads governments to the conclusion that to be
seen to be taking action requires the establishment of a new body
or the centralisation of a service. This brings the service closer
to the Minister responsible but further from the service user.
Co-operation therefore continues to offer the best
route forward. PSOs increasingly need to collaborate and work
jointly to provide public services. The new Criminal Justice Authority
is an example where current groups have been networked under a
chief executive.
Public Service Networks offer joined up working
without the upheaval of structural reorganisation. They are essentially
an agreement between public service providers to work jointly
on a project usually by pooling resources and working to a common
action plan. In a changing environment networks are a more rapid
and effective method of responding to change than constant boundary
reviews and statutory reorganisation. PSNs can also bring together
the fragmented services, disrupted by privatisation and the growth
of un-elected public bodies. They offer co-operation not competition
and the opportunity to make effective use of ICT and economies
of scale without centralised control.
Strengthening accountability
UNISON believes that as far as possible public bodies
should be directly elected. It is through this direct link to
users that public bodies can be held accountable for the services
they deliver. Where direct elections are not possible organisations
should become an amalgam of elected representatives, appointed
lay persons and professionals. All public bodies should have a
statutory duty to involve users meaningfully in the decision making
process. This requires a high degree of transparency and openness.
Genuine consultation involves users in framing the
problem as well as any solution. This is also true of the scrutiny
process. In order to strengthen accountability the monitoring
of services needs to be appropriate and cost effective. Focusing
on targets can be at the detriment of the overall services.
Structures outcomes and people
UNISON believes that the key weakness of this paper
is its focus on structures and lack of detail on workforce issues.
People are central to public service and its ethos. Job losses
are an obvious concern as are changes in employment terms and
conditions. Past changes have a focussed on cutting staff numbers
and reorganisation. Staff's past experiences have not always been
positive. Long-term planning for this type of organisational change
is always helpful. There will be a range of negotiation, contractual
and statutory consultation requirements on PSOs. A few glossy
newsletters will not suffice.
Any analysis of performance needs to take into account
the often variable funding levels that services receive as well
as their interaction with other PSOs. Focusing only on outcomes
ignores this. Targets should be based on inputs, outputs
and outcomes together with process measures. Financial
systems will also need to be reviewed to be consistent with this
approach. It should also be recognised that assessing outcomes
is fraught with the difficulties of identifying cause and effect
and the influence of other policies and organisations.
Conclusion
UNISON welcomes the opportunity to discuss the principles
for continued improvement in public services in Scotland. We believe
that the principles of Democracy, Investment, Fairness, Excellence
and Partnership will provide a sound basis for ongoing development.
It is vital that the expertise of public sector staff is central
to the future development of services. UNISON therefore looks
forward to continued positive engagement in the change process.
The challenge of change can only in our view be achieved through
mature partnership working with staff side organisations in the
public sector in Scotland at all levels.
|
Scotland's
public service union
