The Scottish Government has updated the National Performance Framework. There is a new National Outcome related to older people – ‘Our people are able to maintain their independence as they get older and are able to access appropriate support when they need it’ .

 

However, the main changes are to the National Indicator set.  There are now 50 National Indicators as opposed to 45. There are 12 new National Indicators, including

 

• Improve the responsiveness of public services (“Responsiveness is a key aspect of the quality of public services, reflecting the extent to which services are designed around the needs of the individual. It relies upon organisations having mechanisms in place for people, particularly users of services, to communicate with service providers and to be heard so that their ideas can go into the redesign of more tailored services”)
• Improve levels of education attainment (This is an additional measure of attainment, based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment of student attainment in reading, maths and science at age fifteen. “What is particularly valuable is that PISA focuses on testing the knowledge and skills required for participation in society and assessing the extent to which pupils can apply skills gained in school in everyday adult life, thus moving beyond the pupil’s ability to master the school curriculum”)
• Increase physical activity
• Increase cultural engagement
• Improve self-assessed general health.

Seven National Indicators have been removed from the original 45. These either relate to targets that have been delivered or have been replaced by more suitable measures of progress towards the National Outcomes, including:

 

• Increase the social economy turnover (“We do not feel  that the turnover of the sector fully reflects the extent to which it is contributing to delivery of the National Outcomes”)

Oxfam Scotland has commented that “there are some positive changes in the document, but these are largely at the level of indicators used, not the Purpose nor headline targets, which remain dominated by GDP, despite the use of some encouraging words and the recognition of some relevant concepts”.