Scotland Design Report 2018-2020

Scotland’s second action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... seeks to build on the country’s long tradition of civic participation following incremental improvements to freedom of information inspired by its first action plan. Notable commitments include the creation of a civic participation framework, financial and performance transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, and accountability for public services. While the country’s new multi-stakeholder process led to a more ambitious action plan, implementation will require more specific and concrete actions.

The Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Scotland joined OGP in 2016. Since then, Scotland has implemented one action plan. This report evaluates the design of Scotland’s second action plan.

General overview of action plan

Since completing its first action plan in 2017, the Scottish Government has improved its performance on freedom of information amid ongoing uncertainties surrounding Brexit. Scotland’s second action plan seeks to expand on the country’s strong tradition of civic participation by coordinating government practices to involve citizens in both service design and policy-making. The plan also responds to recommendations following its first action plan by committing to improve financial transparency and introducing a commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... on public accountabilityAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, public accountability occurs when ”rules, regulations, and mechanisms in place call upon government actors to justify their actions, act upon criticisms ... More.

Scotland improved the development of its second action plan by allocating more time and resources to consultations, as well as by involving a broader range of participants. The newly formed multi-stakeholder forumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple... enabled a wider array of Scottish Government, local government, and civil society actors to express input on open governance issues. The forum’s Steering Group – composed of government and civil society – could improve the process by holding more regular consultations and developing a targeted strategy to engage local networks and interest groups in the OGP agenda.

Scotland’s second action plan process introduced a Steering Group with a collaborative mandate, which ensured parity of representation, and included transparent selection of non-governmental members. These improvements led to commitments that are more ambitious and broader in scope, but lack specificity, which may be attributed to wider public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... in the plan’s co-creation.

Notable commitments in the second action plan include the development of a coordinated approach to civic participation and the improvement of citizen accessibility to government financial and performance data.

Table 2. Noteworthy commitments

Recommendations

The IRM recommendations aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide implementation of the current action plan.

Table 3. Five KEY IRM Recommendations