No more new Commissioners for Scotland, MSPs urge

MSPs have urged the Scottish Government not to create more commissioners to oversee public services.

There are currently seven commissioners directly responsible to the Scottish Parliament, covering everything from biometrics to public services.

And there are calls to create five more within the next year.

But creating new bodies is neither "effective nor sustainable" and no more should be set up unless it is a "last resort", it is claimed.

There is an "apparent lack of understanding in government" about what the current commissioners do, and the potential for overlap with the country's 131 public bodies.

The findings relate to public bodies supported by the non-political Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) and follow a six-month inquiry by a committee of MSPs.

An urgent strategic mapping exercise must be carried to "clarify roles and reduce duplication across the public sector", the committee said.

SNP MSP Ben Macpherson said: "Based on what we heard during our inquiry, we consider that each of the current SPCB-supported bodies play a role in making sure people have confidence in public institutions and elected representatives.

"However, the evidence we have taken has shown that creating new bodies to address public service failures, or perceived public service failures, isn't necessarily effective and nor is it sustainable."

Macpherson, the MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, was speaking in his capacity as convener of the SPCB Supported Bodies Landscape Review Committee. He went on: "Our recommended package of reforms aims to deliver enhanced governance and accountability of SPCB-supported bodies and ensure that new commissioner bodies are only created as a last resort, when there is a very clear and demonstrable need.

"While the committee's recommendations are focused on the SPCB-supported bodies, they could be applied to the wider Scottish public body landscape. We hope that our recommendations can be a catalyst for change to help bring about a more coherent and effective Scottish public body landscape."

The Standards Commission for Scotland, Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner are all directly responsible to the Scottish Parliament. Their terms and conditions of appointment and annual budgets are set by the SPCB.

This is also the case for the Scottish Information Commissioner, the Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People, the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

The first ever Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland is expected to be in place by September. That role was filled on the third attempt.

Meanwhile, parliament is considering bills that propose the creation of commissioners for victims and witnesses, disability, older people and future generations.

The committee said concerns about public services "can and should" be addressed through existing bodies, including MSPs, the government or the parliament itself. Alternatively, the powers of remits of current bodies could be changed instead of creating new bodies.

It is calling for a beefed-up Scottish Public Services Ombudsman with the power to conduct investigations under its own initiative.

Other recommendations include a formal process to assess future proposals for new SPCB-supported bodies, stronger scrutiny and governance mechanisms, and an enhanced shared services model to make sure decisions are "driven by [the] principles of best value, regional distribution, long-term cost efficiency and operational performance and sustainability".