Week 3'1

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Week 3.1

• Scottish Executive, Scottish Government and
  Intergovernmental Relations

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Links to other seminars

• New politics
• Executive- legislative relations
• Scottish Political System
• convergence/ divergence
• finance
• interest groups

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The Executive of the Scottish Executive

• Comparison of Scottish and UK executives
• Cabinet system, but smaller size and scope in
  Scotland
• FM needs Scottish Parliament approval in theory
• Free reign of FM to intervene in policy,
  qualified by strength of centre and type of FM
• Cabinet government more likely in Scotland?
• Appointment from Lords
• Coalition government

4
Scottish Cabinet

• Coalition reflects strength of parties
• LDs select and veto their own members
• Relative LD success in 1999 now reinforced in
  2003?
• Ministers without ministries fosters
  coordination or muddle?
• Example of Enterprise and LLL. Still strong
  functional basis for activity and UK vertical
  links.
• Example of SQA
• Term of office

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The Civil Service

• The civil service constrains divergence?
• maintenance of the unified Home Civil Service ..
  was one of the checks and balances of the
  devolution settlement, designed to prevent any
  drift towards conflict and isolation
  Intergovernmental relations with officials have
  rested not on legal status but on a mutual trust
  and a recognition of a common approach that of
  a professional, non-partisan service engaging
  with the political priorities of their ministers.

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Role of civil service

• Tempting to see its role as
• as a break on innovation and an obstacle to
  reform pretty untouched by the change in
  constitutional arrangements and political style
  ushered in by the advent of a democratically
  elected Scottish Parliament
• This view has been openly articulated by former
  Ministers ... and echoed by academic and
  independent commentators.

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Basis for viewing the civil service in this
light (1) The UK caricature

• (a) there is a general tendency to see the civil
  service in a certain light based on UK
  experience and
• (b) this informs a sort of face value assessment
  of Scottish civil service inertia

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However

• Since 1979 the UK literature has stressed a
  challenge to this role - including attempts to
  reduce CS numbers under Thatcher and Blair, the
  personalisation of promotion, efficiency
  scrutinies, Financial Management Initiative, Next
  Steps, delayering, and the greater use of
  advisers

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Alternative picture just as likely

• (a) senior civil servants more engaged with
  managerial rather than policy work (b)
  delayering which allows ministerial contact with
  relatively low grades of civil servants engaged
  in specialist policy work and (c) an increased
  role for outside policy advice.
• In other words, it is difficult to paint this
  picture in Scotland on the old UK basis

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(2) New politics ignorance of the executive left
much civil service discretion and a continued
Whitehall/ centralising influence.

• Pyper outlines lack of e.g. CSG attention to the
  civil service
• This left detailed design to the civil service
  itself (organisational rather than policy)

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This point highlights theme of inherited v
dynamic elements

• Senior civil service appointments
• Discretion over public sector pay
• Limits on size/ role of special advisors
• Inheritance through neglect led to Westminster
  style of accountability?

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(3) The legacy of the Scottish Office

• Siege mentality in Conservative years an
  exaggeration?
• Different ways of working
• Rise of parliamentary scrutiny (point scoring?)
• Support for larger ministerial team
• Need for policy capacity
• This required a change of style and pace which
  the civil service appeared unable to deliver in
  the first 2 years.

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Similar Keating discussion

• The civil service role went from filtering up to
  Whitehall and managing implementation, to policy
  initiation which requires different skills. This
  involves, a whole new game of dealing with
  interest groups, now better organised, more vocal
  and with an outlet in the Parliament.

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Policy capacity and style

• A lack of policy capacity meant reliance on
  groups and local authorities. This fosters the
  Scottish Political System relationship (i.e.
  close, coordinated consultation)
• Old Westminster style in interests of ministers?

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(4) The Scottish Executive civil service is still
part of a UK-wide unified system

• 4 aspects
• culture,
• background,
• reserved issues
• attitude

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Culture

• Rhodes et al (2003)
• No matter how differentiated the UK civil service
  has been, the power of the centre has been
  sustained by transfers. Devolution did not
  change anything there is a commitment in the
  concordat between the Cabinet Office and the
  Scottish administration to promote
  interadministration mobility. A cursory
  examination of the employment history of the
  senior management of the Scottish Executive
  reveals both local knowledge and the pull of
  Whitehall (see Table 4.1).

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However

• Mobility never high and spells in Whitehall were
  short
• Scottish Office dominated by Scots
• Interchanges less desirable more access to
  policy work in Scotland secondment to private
  sector better for portfolio?
• Mixed evidence 4/10 in Rhodes table had
  Whitehall experience, but included 2 Perm Secs
• In 2004, only 22, but 34 if extend to heads of
  group
• High external appointment rate in health
  countered by vertical/ professional links?
• 60 Scottish but 33 English, half of which moved
  from Whitehall

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Shared background? Ruling class?

• 65 of heads of group and 44 of senior
  management were educated in Scottish
  universities. However, there is also still a
  significant amount of Oxbridge education
  one-third of senior management and one-quarter of
  heads of group.
• 3/9 (33) of senior management and 21 of heads
  of group were educated privately.
• 8/9 of senior management and 80 of heads of
  group were men.

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Reserved matters

• Civil service is a reserved area, as is equal
  opportunites
• The civil service in Scotland may also have a
  practical loyalty towards their respective
  ministers, but an ultimate loyalty to the
  Crown/ Whitehall.

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Scottish attitude to Whitehall

• a need felt by senior civil servants in Scotland
  to continue to contribute to a UK policy process
• Fears of being excluded from the Whitehall club
  of policy formation were a dominant theme in
  office thinking, and indeed the Permanent
  Secretary and other staff made a point of
  travelling to London to occupy visibly the place
  that was left on offer at meetings of their
  Whitehall counterparts.
• Vehicle for Sewel motions?

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Devolved Responsibilities and Multi-level
Governance

• The approach of the Scotland Act 1998 was to
  specify which matters were reserved rather than
  granted.
• Reserved includes
• International relations, defence, fiscal/
  monetary policy, immigration, drugs and firearms,
  elections company law, employment, most energy,
  rail and air, social security, professions,
  broadcasting, nuclear safety, abortions .

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Devolved includes

• Health
• Education and training
• Local government, social work, housing and
  planning
• Economic development and transport the
  administration of the European Structural Funds
• The law and home affairs including most civil and
  criminal law and the criminal justice and
  prosecution system police and prisons
• The environment
• Agriculture, fisheries and forestry
• Sport and the arts
• Research and statistics in relation to devolved
  matters

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Initial uncertainty over boundaries

• Angus Mackay on Register of Sex Offenders
• Industry and the Scotland Office
• 9/11 response

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Uncertainty reflects blurred boundaries

• Health
• Smoking
• Environment/ agriculture
• Economic
• Higher Education
• Social Work
• Law and order
• Housing
• Care for the elderly
• Cross-cutting issues
• Fuel poverty
• NB foreign affairs i.e. not all one-way
• Common to most federal systems

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Intergovernmental relations

• Used to cope with these overlaps
• Little use of formal mechanisms
• Barnett, civil service and party/ government
  links
• Exception of FPC elderly proves rule?
• JMC underused
• Asymmetrical relationship and lack of
  coordination down to neglect of periphery

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Europe Mixed picture

• Strong bargaining position, own office in
  Brussels
• Involvement still decided by centre and examples
  of success limited
• Irony of formal participation
• Informal process (MLG)

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Intergovernmental relations and the use of
Consultation

• Huge consultation the Scottish policy style
  (CSG)?
• NB
• Numbers misleading
• UK comparison
• EU influence

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Types of Consultation

• OPEN
• (1) Call for ideas - "issue paper"
• (2) Green paper or equivalent - ie framework/
  agenda with specific questions (based on
  preliminary consultation with groups)
• (3) Re-consultation based on previous responses
  or consultation taken after a formal evaluation
  of an existing service annual review (NB
  categories 4-7 will also be based on previous
  consultations)
• (4) Based on White Paper or equivalent (e.g.
  Partnership Agreement if there is agreement on a
  firm proposal)with firmer statement of intent
  before final formulation stage
• (5) Consultation on the implementation of policy
  (including broad proposal to revise guidance
  i.e. a revision of policy without legislation or
  particularly formal scrutiny)
• (6) Draft guidance/ regulations arising from
  Acts (or draft bills for final comments)
• CLOSED

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Scottish Executive Consultation Types 1999-2004
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