Too many things simply don’t get done in Scottish politics, think tank warns

The “perma-campaign” in Scotland over the constitution and a tendency towards “government by press release” have both contributed to a so-called “implementation gap” between policy and reality, a report has claimed.

The Our Scottish Future (OSF) think tank, set up by former prime minister Gordon Brown, said that since devolution, Scottish politics “has not been short of ambitious pledges” – citing commitments to close the attainment gap in education, achieve net-zero emissions, and deliver a new fleet of ferries for island communities.

But it said the issue “has been in actually making any of these things happen”.

To help tackle the problem, it suggested a number of actions – including introducing a cap on the number of ministers in the Scottish Government, and giving Holyrood committee conveners  enhanced salaries to “signify their key role as Government scrutineers-in-chief”.

The recommendations are made as the report, by OSF’s research and policy director Jamie Gollings, highlighted several “big sources of failure”.

OSF chairman Professor Jim Gallagher said: “Government isn’t just about making speeches and publishing strategies, but implementing policies and delivering change.

“Scotland’s political culture has become one in which speeches are made, glossy documents are published, but too many things simply don’t get done.

“The first step to changing this problem is admitting that we have one.”

The report suggested Scotland has had “too much politics”, with two referendums, three general elections and two Holyrood elections since the start of 2014.

Noting the issue of independence and a second referendum on it has dominated campaigns, the report said: “The consequence of this perma-campaign over the constitution is that every decision and announcement has been viewed through an electoral and constitutional lens, increasing the proclivity for ‘government by press release’, for short-term thinking, and for avoiding unpopular decisions.

“We see this in the ferry fiasco, in the failure to tackle the root causes of health inequalities, and in the gap between rhetoric and action on net-zero.”

With politics often focused on the constitution, the report went on to state this has meant opposition parties have “too often failed to set out an alternative policy agenda”, and this has “contributed to the lack of focus on implementation”.

Complaining Scotland has “too much government with too many announcements”, the report said the “swollen” number of ministers has resulted in increasing numbers of politicians “demanding to have something new to announce, rather than finishing and delivering what’s already there”.

It continued: “There is a tendency to announce strategies and consultations rather than solid plans for action – on average, there has been more than one strategy and more than one consultation announced every single week for the past decade. This is announcing, not governing.”

The report further highlighted a “failure to collaborate across the UK”, saying this means “things best done in consort end up being done apart, less effectively and less efficiently”.

It criticised the “failure of Scotland’s political establishment to tackle these issues”, saying: “We have, collectively, lacked the focus and the courage to follow through on the policy choices we say we want to make.”

It said the constitutional divide in Scottish politics has “not just distracted us from this task” but has “been a useful tool to put off the hard decisions our politicians must know need to be made”.

The reforms suggested include introducing a cap on the number of Scottish ministers “to ensure that there are enough backbenchers left in Holyrood to scrutinise legislation”.

It called for a shift in civil service recruitment practices “to bring in more external talent”, and for central institutions to be set up, “such as a First Ministerial Delivery Unit to push key priorities” and a “beefed up Scottish Treasury to bring more rigour and transparency to the budgeting and policy process”.

It also suggested the members and conveners of Holyrood committees should be “elected by their peers”, adding the cost of introducing salaries for committee conveners could be “met from the savings from cutting Government ministers”.

The report said: “The measures we suggest would go some way to closing the implementation gap.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government’s priorities are clear – tackling poverty, building a fair, green and growing economy, and improving Scotland’s public services.

“Landmark policies such as the Scottish Child Payment, and new plans such as bonds to raise money for investment in public infrastructure, reflect the progress being made.”