Meeting of the Parliament 22 January 2026 [Draft]
The new model for the national performance framework will be concluded shortly and it will come forward for consultation in the current session of Parliament. The member will have an opportunity to give her views on that, and we will take her views and those of other members seriously. There will be an opportunity to reflect on the consultation at that point.
There are three main reasons for our position. First, the bill would lead to duplication. We already have a statutory basis for the national performance framework through the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, which requires public bodies to have regard to the national outcomes. Introducing parallel duties would risk creating confusion rather than more clarity.
Secondly, costs would attach to the duties. The bill proposes the establishment of a future generations commissioner with a broad remit, which would require significant resources at a time of real fiscal pressures. We have to consider whether that would be proportionate and whether alternative approaches have been fully explored in line with the SPCB-supported bodies landscape review, which previous speakers have mentioned.
Thirdly, there are issues to do with timing and priorities. The committee notes that the national performance framework is the right route to achieve the aims and it recommends that a timeframe be set to evaluate its impact. We agree with that.
We believe that strengthening accountability through the framework is the most coherent and cost-effective way forward. Legislation is not the only route to cultural change. Many countries with strong wellbeing frameworks, such as Canada, Finland and the Netherlands, do not legislate to create definitions or commissioners but achieve impact through clear vision, shared purpose and effective implementation. We believe that Scotland can do the same.
Building on the proposals that were developed in the reform programme, we will soon invite a wider conversation—as I referred to—to help to shape a stronger proposition for the next Government and the next Parliament. Our aim is to embed wellbeing and sustainable development in a way that drives real change and does not create additional bureaucracy.
Reforming the national performance framework is a core objective of the public reform strategy, to ensure a clear connection between the national outcomes and achieving new ways of working and accountability across Scotland. Our ambition is for the refreshed national performance framework to sit at the apex of decision making, which would ensure that there is a clear and visible link between strategy delivery and national outcomes, regardless of the Government of the day.
I believe that our shared goal is a Scotland that is prosperous and fair, and one that plans for the longer term and delivers for future generations. We are intent on achieving that, but we do not believe that Sarah Boyack’s bill is the best way to do so at this time.