Context & Framing

The Scottish Government must regularly review Scotland’s National Performance Framework and the outcomes that it exists to achieve. This might sound complicated and possibly even boring to some of you, but it's actually central to how Scotland’s leaders make decisions. These decisions impact every aspect of our lives, from how we respond to intensifying weather patterns to the type of education that our children receive. In Scotland we are very lucky to have an outcomes based framework that describes the future that Scotland wants, based on the values and aspirations of its people. The national outcomes were given legal status in 2015 and since that time the Scottish Government has been obligated to plan its activities (for example, how it spends the national budget) to help meet the agreed outcomes. When the NPF was first introduced it was a groundbreaking step towards creating a just, caring and sustainable society for Scotland. Unfortunately however, the incredible potential of the framework has not been experienced by normal people in their everyday lives. For example, people in the most deprived parts of Scotland are 18 times more likely to suffer a drug-related death than those in the least deprived.

The short answer to this is yes. Probably the most important reason for that is that we, as the people of Scotland, have to make sure that it does!

We are living through a pivotal moment in time, where we are constantly bombarded with new and worsening issues. If we allow ourselves a moment to reflect, many of us are deeply frightened about the kind of future that our children will face. The rise of technology and social media (including new developments such as ChatGPT) means that we are not even making personal decisions based on the same facts. This is leading to increased levels of distrust and social fragmentation and consequently to previously unthinkable outcomes. We need to create a new kind of cultural attractor that can bind us (in all our colourful and beautiful diversity) as empowered citizens. We might disagree but let’s do so with our eyes wide open and with a commitment to the future generations of Scotland.

The design of our democratic system relies on three points of a triangle:

1. The Market: the market creates innovation, employment and opportunities that are critical for Scotland’s prosperity. But, we have to remember that people in business are not voted in to make decisions on our behalf.
2. The Nation State: the Scottish Government has the authority to make and enforce laws and this authority is granted by the citizens of Scotland. It can therefore direct the market towards things that society needs but would not otherwise be profitable (e.g. tax breaks for R&D or subsidies for green energy) and away from undesirable outcomes (e.g. fines for pollution or abusing worker’s rights).
3. The Citizens: the people of Scotland have the power to tell the government what is and is not desirable for a thriving society and thus how to use its authority to check and guide the market.

If the final point of the triangle is not working effectively to steer the government, then laws and policies become vulnerable to manipulation by market players who seek to profit from activities that do not benefit society as a whole. Equally, even a government with the best intentions will find it extremely difficult to act effectively on behalf of each of us, if we only make our preferences and concerns known through periodical electoral votes. Our current voting system is extremely polarising, especially with regards to yes/no referendum type decisions (the last Scottish referendum was split 53/44% and the Brexit vote was 52/48%). These referendums came about because we didn’t actually come to understand and agree on the issues as a wider community and left a substantial proportion of the population unrepresented.