7. Conclusions and Next Steps

7. Conclusions and Next Steps Design

Across Scottish Government and Local Government there is a desire to make a positive difference on the outcomes that are identified in the Covid Recovery Strategy (CRS).

Despite the fact that different organisations often have different articulations of their own outcomes and target groups which are not identical to the CRS outcomes, the underlying aims have been found to be aligned. This underlying alignment means that in most cases it is possible to explicitly link the intended outcomes of Scottish Government policies and local actions to those of the CRS, though it is not typically being actively done by Scottish Government policy teams or CPPs.

There is, however, a difference between the national and local view of what actions are likely to have the biggest impact on outcomes. The evidence indicates that local actions are prioritised by statutory obligations, community engagement and evidence from data analysis, rather than by those identified in the CRS. The delivery of actions and development of policy is not typically being carried out as a direct consequence of the CRS – many local authority and CPP recovery plans were published in advance of the CRS, and many Scottish Government policies cited in the CRS were established before publication.

Officials within both Scottish Government and Local Government have expressed positivity for the urgency and empowerment felt during the Covid response, and a desire to continue working in that way to address new and emerging challenges. However, the “gravity pull” of moving back to Business as Usual has been felt in both Scottish Government and Local Government, with ways of working tending to revert to ‘how things were before’. It had been noted that this move to old ways of working has re-established organisational barriers, seen an increase in siloed working and restored reporting requirements that are thought to be unnecessary, both at a local level by CPPs, local authorities and within Scottish Government.

There are seen to be numerous examples of person-centred, outcome-led and relational public service delivery and policy design, though systematic challenges and barriers are observed both nationally (in policy design and delivery) and locally (in service design and delivery) that were seen to impede the effectiveness of delivery and focus on outcomes and target groups.

Key amongst these are:

• Number of competing priorities • Data and Intelligence Sharing • Funding Flexibility • Resources & Crisis Responses

Beyond this report, the authors will seek to finalise engagement across CPPs, local authorities and Scottish Government Policy Teams with whom we have not yet spoken to ensure that the evidence presented here is representative of the full sample.