Last year representatives of national and local government signed a historic concordat, which committed both to moving towards Single Outcome Agreements for all 32 of Scotland's councils.
Single Outcome Agreements are agreements between the Scottish Government and each council which set out how each will work in the future towards improving national outcomes for the local people in a way that reflects local circumstances and priorities.
The agreements will:
- Ensure that locally elected leaders are free to provide the services people in their local area need and deserve without having their hands tied by micromanagement from the centre.
- Reduce the myriad of bureaucracy and reporting that has held councils back for too long. The new system is designed to focus on outcomes - what the council will actually deliver for the people it serves.
In recent months the Scottish Government and councils have worked closely together to put in place the agreements across Scotland. Over the course of the summer Ministers will visit councils to put pen to paper and officially sign the agreements.
All of the outcome agreements are uniquely shaped to reflect the needs and circumstances of the areas they cover and designed to ensure local people know exactly what their council is committed to provide on their behalf. But in one crucial way the agreements are also all the same. Each of the 32 maps out a brighter, more successful future for the people of Scotland, with all levels of government working together to deliver better services across the whole of the country.
The concordat states:
That there will be a move to a Single Outcome Agreement (SOA) for every council, based on the agreed set of national outcomes (underpinned by agreed national indicators), supported by streamlined external scrutiny and effective performance management.