Scottish Government consultations

On 13 April 2022, the Scottish Government published a consultation seeking views on key aspects of the revised National Strategy for Community Justice, including proposals for four national aims and associated priority actions which the Scottish Government and community justice partners should seek to deliver. 

The current model for Community Justice came into operation on 1 April 2017, underpinned by the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (the Act), which places duties on a group of statutory partners to engage in community justice planning and to report against a set of nationally-determined outcomes.

 The Act required Scottish Ministers to produce a National Strategy for Community Justice, which was published in 2016. As per section 16 of the Act, Scottish Ministers reviewed the current strategy by 24 November 2021. Following this review, the consultation analysis report was published and proposals for the revised strategy were developed and consulted on. Once published, the revised strategy will supersede the 2016 strategy.

There were 75 responses to the consultation. Of these the majority (57) were received from groups/organisations, and 18 were received from individuals.

 Overall, respondents to this consultation generally supported the national aims for the revised National Strategy for Community Justice. In addition, the majority of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with all of the priority actions associated with the national aims. Just over half (56%) of respondents felt that the four national aims captured the most important aspects of community justice. Some respondents however felt that parts of the strategy required further clarity and that the aims could include more of a focus on victims of crime, and trauma-informed and person-centred approaches. Where applicable, respondents also provided suggestions for improving each priority action.

 There were also several recurring themes mentioned by respondents including reflections on the need for collaborative work and resources to meet the aims of the strategy, and recognition of the need for consistency of access to services, but that flexibility is required for delivery in order to respond to local needs.

The Scottish Government's analysis of responses to the National Strategy for Community Justice: Revision Consultation has now been published.

 The responses, along with accompanying workshop discussions and engagement and other evidence, have informed the finalisation of the revised National Strategy for Community Justice. The Scottish Government will publish the revised strategy and an accompanying delivery plan in due course.

To inform the development of the Scottish Government’s Resource Spending Review, a consultation was launched on 9 December 2021. The associated paper, Investing in Scotland’s Future: Resource Spending Review Framework, invited stakeholders to provide views on the future of Scotland’s public finances.  The public consultation asked six questions covering: 

• the Government’s suggested priorities for the Resource Spending Review;   

• the drivers of public spending;  

• opportunities to maximise the impact of the public sector workforce;   

• opportunities to achieve the best value for citizens from limited funds;   

• equalities and human rights impacts; and   

• future public engagement around Scotland’s public finances.    

You provided us with 72 responses to our consultation questions. These included responses from 57 organisations and 15 individuals. 

In summary, respondents said: 

1. Respondents generally agreed with the priorities outlined in the Framework, whilst some also made suggestions for additional priorities or specific focuses within the priorities. 

2. Some respondents agreed with the drivers of public spending listed in the review RSR framework while many respondents recommended the inclusion of other drivers of public spending, with an emphasis on climate adaptation and mitigation. 

3. Respondents’ suggestions on how policy interventions can be used to maximise the value achieved from the public sector workforce spanned several aspects with most suggestions focused on investment and financing, the third sector, workforce remuneration, recruitment, retention, training and development.  

4. Some respondents broadly agreed with all the proposed approaches aiming to maximise the positive impact of Scotland’s public spending, while more respondents suggested further approaches centred around policy decisions, administrative actions, financial steps, and issues relating to mental health, and technology, among other aspects. 

5. Several respondents supported the decision to conduct an equality assessment of the Spending Review's findings and provided their views on equality and human rights impacts centred around spending, including on mental health, gender equality, alcohol use, science and education, among other aspects. 

6. Views on how best to continue the engagement featured recurring themes including improving the timing for consultations, including lived experiences in decision making, and the need for diversity of views and deeper levels of engagement.  

The information gathered through our online consultation was analysed alongside the output from a programme of external engagement. This analysis was collated into a report, which was published alongside the Resource Spending Review on 31 May 2022. Where permission was granted, responses to our consultation have been published.

The responses to the consultation have informed the outcomes of the Resource Spending Review and development of the plans detailed within that publication. In addition to this, the responses will be used to inform the next steps and reform options outlined in the Resource Spending Review.  The full Resource Spending Review can be found here: Resource Spending Review and supporting documents. 

The findings of the consultation will also be used to inform the work the Scottish Government, especially Director General Scottish Exchequer, is taking forward to improve transparency and participation in public finances (including in relation to our Open Government Action Plan). This information provided in responses to this consultation will be used to improve our public engagement for future budgets and spending reviews. 

We would like to thank all of those who took the time to respond to our consultation and / or participated in our programme of engagement. 

The next revaluation of non-domestic property in Scotland is due to take effect from 1 April 2023 based on rental values as at 1 April 2022 (the 'tone date'). At revaluation Scottish Assessors review rateable values resulting in a new valuation roll for all non-domestic properties in Scotland. While most rateable values are based on estimated annual rent, around 9% of subjects, accounting for 22% of total rateable value are derived using the contractor's basis method of valuation.

In the contractor's basis method of valuation, the capital value (cost of rebuilding) of a property is estimated, then a decapitalisation rate is applied to give an annual equivalent rateable value.

The purpose of the consultation was to seek views on the prescription of the decapitalisation rate(s) to be used when non-domestic subjects are valued using the contractor’s basis for the 2023 revaluation.

The consultation asked for views on four questions:

1. Should the Scottish Government continue to prescribe decapitalisation rates to be used for the contractor’s basis method of valuation at the 2023 revaluation?
2. Should the Scottish Government continue to prescribe two decapitalisation rates?
3. If prescribing two decapitalisation rates, should the Scottish Government continue to maintain the current groupings of properties in each rate?
4. Do you have any further views on the decapitalisation rates for the 2023 revaluation?

We received 13 responses to the consultation. Twelve responses were from organisations and one was from an individual. All of the responses received have been considered.

All of the respondents would welcome continued prescription of decapitalisation rates for the 2023 revaluation, and all respondents either supported or had no objections to there being two decapitalisation rates (standard and lower).

A range of comments were received in relation to the groupings for each of the decapitalisation rates, the decapitalisation rates adopted by other UK administrations, and the methodology used to inform the rates.

A consultation analysis report has been published on the Scottish Government Website.

The responses, together with other relevant information, informed the considerations for the appropriate decapitalisation rates for the 2023 revaluation which have been confirmed at 4.6% and 2.9% for the standard and lower rates respectively. This is also confirmed in Local Government Finance Circular 7/2022: Decapitalisation Rates for the 2023 Revaluation.

A Business & Regulatory Impact Assessment has also been published on the Scottish Government’s website