Consultation with Parliament in connection with the Review of National Outcomes

Annex A Desk-based Research Data Collection

Citizen Engagement

There have been significant efforts made in recent years by Scottish Government (SG) to engage with citizens in new ways, such as through citizens’ assemblies, and on key emerging policy priorities including Covid recovery and climate change. Given the depth of these engagement projects, they offer an opportunity to compare the findings with the current NPF and influence the direction of the review. This has the benefit of including as many voices as possible to the review, without risking further ‘consultation fatigue’, and maximising use of our internal resources. 

The various citizen engagement projects discussed below will not respond directly to the questions asked by the NPF review, as that was not their purpose. Nor are they comparable with one another, as they were designed with different objectives and audiences. The citizen engagement reports that have been considered are:

• Doing Politics Differently: Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland (2020)
• Scotland’s Climate Assembly (2021)
• From Scotland’s Young People: The Scottish Youth Parliament’s Manifesto 2021-2026 (2020)
• If not now, when?: Social Renewal Advisory Board report (2021)
• Scottish Parliament Citizens’ Panel on Covid 19 (2021)
• Covid Recovery Strategy: for a fairer future (2021)
• All Learners in Scotland Matter : National Discussion on Education (2023) 
• What Kind of Scotland? Reviewing the National Outcomes for Scotland through the lens of Children’s Parliament’s programme of work from 2018 to 2023 report (2023: unpublished, commissioned by NPF Unit)  

Community Action Plans

A community action plan is developed with a community (often led by an over-arching community anchor organisation, development trust or community council), identifying what a community wants to achieve, how to do so, and what resources and organisations will need to be involved to make it happen. The action plans that flow from this engagement work offer insights into the priorities for these communities. 

The NPF Expert Advisory Group recommended that these be considered as part of the wider engagement activity of the NPF review. Reviewing a range of community action plans from across Scotland, which have been developed over 2015 - 2022 can offer a snapshot of what matters to communities. While these action plans were not designed to respond to the NPF review, they can offer an additional source of information on what matters to the people of Scotland.

The action plans that were analysed for the review are: 

• Tarbert and Skipness Community Trust (Argyll and Bute) 
• Menstrie (Clackmannanshire) 
• Denny, Dunipace and Dennyloanhead (Falkirk) 
• Stratherrick and Foyers (Highland) 
• St Monans and Abercrombie (Fife) 
• Newmilns and Greenholm (East Ayrshire) 
• Glenkens (Dumfries and Galloway)
• Harthill (North Lanarkshire) 
• Forres (Moray) 
• Insch (Aberdeenshire)
• Sandford and Upper Avondale (South Lanarkshire) 
• Mercat Cross and City Centre (Stirling) 
• Galashiels (Scottish Borders) 
• Scalloway (Shetland Islands)
• Stromness (Orkney Islands) 
• Greenock (Inverclyde) 
  • Auchterarder and Aberuthven (Perth and Kinross) 

Additional Sources of Information

The following sources have also been reviewed for views on the implementation gap and changes to the National Outcomes or Indicators due to their relevance to wellbeing frameworks and the NPF:

• Finance and Public Administration Committee (FPAC) inquiry report
• Scottish Leaders Forum report on Leadership, Collective Responsibility and Delivering the National Outcomes
• Oxfam Scotland report on priorities and recommendations for the Scottish Parliament
• Carnegie reports on wellbeing: The implementation of wellbeing frameworks: What barriers are there? And National Performance Framework Next Steps
• Scotland’s International Development Alliance report on 2021-26 Policy Priorities
• HM Government report on the UK’s Voluntary National Review of the Sustainable Development Goals
• Scottish Government Report on the alignment of the NPF to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
• Scottish Government Thematic Gender Review of the National Performance Framework (2023; unpublished internal report)

Annex B Written Consultation Questions

The online written consultation consisted of the following six questions: 

• How much would you say you know about Scotland’s National Performance Framework? (1 – nothing at all 5 – a lot)

1          2          3          4          5

• Do the current set of National Outcomes fully describe the kind of Scotland you want to see?

Yes         No

• Does each individual National Outcome (set out below) describe the kind of Scotland you want to live in?

  National Outcome	Yes / No
  Children and Young People	We grow up loved, safe and respected so that we realise our full potential
  Communities	We live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe
  Culture	We are creative and our vibrant and diverse cultures are expressed and enjoyed widely
  Economy	We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy
  Education	We are well educated, skilled and able to contribute to society
  Environment	We value, enjoy, protect and enhance our environment
  Fair Work and Business	We have thriving and innovative businesses, with quality jobs and fair work for everyone
  Health	We are healthy and active
  Human Rights	We respect, protect and fulfil human rights and live free from discrimination
  International	We are open, connected and make a positive contribution internationally
  Poverty	We tackle poverty by sharing opportunities, wealth and power more equally

                                                              

• What, if anything, would you change about the National Outcomes?
• Why would you make these changes?
• Complete this sentence: “I would like to live in a Scotland that…”

Alongside the consultation questions, respondents were asked to complete a Respondent Information Form (Annex F).

Annex C Call for Evidence Guidance

Call for evidence respondents could submit any information they considered relevant to the Review of National Outcomes via Citizen Space or by email to nationalperformance@gov.scot. The following five questions were also provided for guidance only:

1. Are there any changes to the current set of 11 National Outcomes that you would propose? If so, in summary, what would these be?
2. Are there new National Outcomes that should be included in the National Performance Framework, if so why should they be included?
3. Are there any changes you would propose to the wider National Performance Framework or set of National Indicators?
4. What impact does the current National Outcomes have on your work?
5. What are the main obstacles and barriers in the further implementation of the National Outcomes?

Alongside the call for evidence, respondents were asked to complete an abbreviated version of the Respondent Information Form (Annex F) either via email or the About You page on Citizen Space. Respondents were asked for their name, e-mail, organisation, publishing permission and consent to be contacted in the future. 

Annex D Response Numbers
 

From the 34 reports and community action plans reviewed through the desk-based research evidence strand, 1,313 relevant comments were extracted for thematic analysis. Different methods of engagement were used to develop these reports, and therefore the number of participants is highly variable. For example, the ‘Doing Politics Differently’ citizens’ assembly comprised of around 100 individuals, whereas the ‘All Learners in Scotland Matter’ discussion included at least 38,000 people. In some cases, the number of individuals involved cannot be identified.

There were 90 responses to the public online consultation. Three responses were removed due to duplication of organisational responses also submitted through the call for evidence. For one further response, the free text responses for questions 3-6 were removed due to lack of relevance however their responses to questions 1-3 remained. Therefore, the final number of responses analysed through this evidence strand was 87. 71 responses were from private individuals with 16 responses submitted on behalf of organisations. An overview of some respondent characteristics have been set out in Table E 1. 

Table E 1. Characteristics of respondents to the public online consultation

130 responses were received through the call for evidence either online or via email to the NPF unit. Five responses were removed due to duplication so the final number of responses analysed through this evidence strand was 125.

In total, 110 stakeholders attended the 11 expert stakeholder meetings, with 727 comments extracted for thematic analysis.  

Annex E Thematic Analysis Coding Hierarchy 

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Annex F Respondent Information Form

Introduction and purpose 

The RIF is an important and essential part of every consultation carried out via Citizen Space. This document outlines the proposed RIF for the consultation.

Respondent Information Form (RIF)

The RIF is used to collect information about respondents in order to acknowledge responses, to identify publishing preferences and for consent to be contacted in the future. This information is obtained in two ways, via the About You page on Citizen Space or via a paper RIF.

• Citizen Space: online respondents will be asked for their name, e mail, publishing permission and consent to be contacted in the future via the About You page. Some of the fields are marked mandatory.

• Respondent Information Form (RIF); this is a paper form published with the consultation document which can be used by respondents who want to email or post a response (rather than respond via Citizen Space). The RIF comments for the respondent’s name, address, phone, email, publishing permission and consent to be contacted in the future. NB: unlike Citizen Space, the paper RIF does not explicitly invite respondents to confirm that they have read SG’s privacy policy and consent to their data being used in this way. However Digital recently consulted Data Protection about this and they were content. It’s therefore reasonable to assume that the respondent has read the privacy policy and consented.

• In person events: a paper copy of the RIF will be provided for all participants to complete prior to providing any views at events.

None of the fields on the RIF are mandatory for individuals, and anonymous responses are valid as long as they relate to the subject matter. Organisations should not submit anonymous responses. 

The following RIF is a draft version and will be further edited before the consultation goes live on Citizen Space. This version contains questions about protected characteristics. Some of this type of data is regarded by the UK General Data Protection Regulation as ‘special category data’. The NPF unit is allowed to collect this type of data because the review of the National Outcomes complies with the following regulation:

UK General Data Protection Regulation Article 9: 9(g) substantial public interest, supported by Data Protection Act 2018, Sch 1, Part 2, Para 6, statutory and government purposes.

About you

Please indicate how you wish your response to the consultation to be handled and, in particular, whether you are content for your response to published. If you ask for your response not to be published, we will still take account of your views in our analysis but we will not publish your response, or quote anything that you have said. All quotes will be anonymous or identified by type of organisation only (e.g. public body, local authority etc) . 

To find out how we handle your personal data, please see our privacy policy. By clicking submit you agree to our privacy policy.

What is your email address?

Entering your email address allows you to return to edit your consultation at any time until you submit it. You will also receive an acknowledgement email when you complete the consultation.                                                 

Are you responding as an individual or an organisation?  

Individual

Organisation

What is your organisation?

If responding on behalf of an organisation, please enter the organisation's name here.

Where are you geographically based? 

Write postcode: 

Please tell us if you are working in, or have previous experience of, an industry, employment or activity which you think is relevant to this consultation            

Would you like to be added to our mailing list to receive our monthly NPF newsletter providing updates on Scotland’s wellbeing?  

Yes

No

The Scottish Government would like your permission to publish your consultation response. Please indicate your publishing preference:

Information for organisations only:

• The option 'Publish response only (without name)' refers only to your name, not your organisation’s name. If this option is selected, the organisation name will still be published where it is given.
• If you choose the option 'Do not publish response', your organisation name may still be listed as having responded to the consultation in, for example, the analysis report, however we will not include any quotes from your response.

1. Publish response only (without name)
2. Do not publish response

How did you find out about the consultation/call for evidence?   

Protected Characteristics 

The following questions are about you. These questions are standard diversity questions used by the Scottish Government in our core surveys and we ask these to help identify what is important to different groups within our population. We will regard your response as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly. 

To find out how we handle your personal data, please see our privacy policy. By clicking submit you agree to our privacy policy.

What was your age last birthday?         

Answer: 

Prefer not to say: 

Do you have any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses lasting or expected to last 12 months or more?

Yes

No

Prefer not to say 

• If answer 'Yes' follow up with the second part of the question:

Question: Does your condition or illness/do any of your conditions or illnesses reduce your ability to carry-out day-to-day activities?

Yes, a lot

Yes, a little

Not at all

Prefer not to say 

What is your sex?       

Male

Female

Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history? Tick ONE box only

 No

Yes

Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation? Tick one box only

Straight / Heterosexual

Gay or Lesbian

Bisexual

Other sexual orientation, please write in:

Prefer not to say

Question : What is your ethnic group? Choose ONE section from A to F, then tick ONE box, which best describes your ethnic group or background

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What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to? Tick one box only            

None

Church of Scotland

Roman Catholic

Other Christian, please write in below:

Muslim, write in denomination or school below:

Hindu

Buddhist

Sikh

Jewish

Pagan

Another religion or body, please write in:

Household Income

What is your household's total income from all sources over the last 12 months?

Count income from every person included in the household. Include:

1. All earnings (include overtime, tips, bonuses, self-employment) 
2. All pensions 
3. All student grants and bursaries (but not loans) 
4. All benefits and tax credits (such as child benefit, income support or pension credit) 
5. All interest from savings or investments 
6. All rent from property (after expenses) 
7. Other income (such as maintenance or grants)

Do not deduct taxes, National Insurance contributions, Health Insurance Payments, Superannuation payments 

Per year:

• Less than £5,200
• £5,200 to £10,399
• £10,400 to £15,599
• £15,600 to £20,799
• £20,800 to £25,999
• £26,000 to £36,399
• £36,400 to £51,999
• £52,000 to £77,999
• £78,000 or more

Community                    

Are you part or member of a community?          

No

Yes

If yes, what community are you part of?  Please write in:

I confirm that I have read the privacy policy and consent to the data I provide being used as set out in the policy.             

I consent (Y/N) 

Annex G Thematic Analysis Supplementary Tables

Although some themes share the same name as the current outcomes, it should be noted that not all comments (and therefore coded themes and sub-themes) were specific requests to change the National Outcomes. Rather themes were developed around the current outcomes for ease of considering topics that were important to respondents and organisations for inclusion in updated outcomes.

A sub-theme needs to have at least 10 comments associated with it to be reported on here as an emerging sub-theme. Where a sub-theme has less than 10 comments it has been aggregated into an “Other” sub-theme for reporting purposes.

Table G1. Number of National Outcomes and National Indicators themes and comments

Table G2. Number of National Outcomes and National Indicators comments by evidence strand

Table G3. Top 5 National Outcomes and National Indicators themes with the most number of comments by evidence strand

Table G4. Number of Comments Related to the Current National Outcomes by Theme

Table G5. Number of Comments Related to the Current National Outcomes by Theme and Sub-theme 

Table G6. Number of Comments Related to the National Indicator Set by Theme

Table G7. Number of Comments Related to the National Indicator Set by Theme and Sub-theme

Table G8. Number of New Outcome/Topic Comments by Theme

Table G9. Number of New Outcome/Topic Comments by Theme and Sub-theme

Table G10. Number of Cross-cutting Comments and Sub-themes by Theme

Table G11. Number of Data and Reporting Comments and Sub-themes by Theme

Table G12. Number of Implementation Gap Comments by Theme

Table G13. Number of Implementation Gap Comments by Theme and Sub-theme

Table G14. Number of Other Comments and Sub-themes by Theme