Less stepping back, more stepping up: Scotland’s next chapter in public service reform

“Clackmannanshire Council has invited its citizens to re-shape the way funding is made available and to be the decision makers about what will shift the dial.”

Giles Ruck, CEO, Foundation Scotland

As Scotland’s Community Foundation we are a proud member of a diverse mix of funders supporting Scotland’s essential community sector. We’re keenly aware of the power of funders, so we pay close attention to how funding programmes are shaped and who the decision makers are.

However, what is happening right now in Clackmannanshire is quite unlike other power sharing efforts we’ve seen before. What makes it so exceptional is that it’s driven by the vision and passion of a Council determined to help improve people’s lives by shifting the power dynamic to communities, while also recognising that its own systems and ways of operating are part of the very problem it is trying to solve.

Clackmannanshire’s Transformation Space is addressing the dichotomy that is council held funding. Crucial to addressing issues like homelessness, poverty and mental health, funds are still tied up in silos, meaning money is trapped in systems that fail the people who rely on them.

So, Clackmannanshire Council has invited its citizens to re-shape the way funding is made available and to be the decision makers about what will shift the dial.

At the heart of the Transformation Space is Community Voice, a panel made up of local people with direct experience of the many issues the Space seeks to tackle. Community Voice articulates what citizens and communities need, shapes calls for proposals and then makes decisions on funding.

Clackmannanshire has the second highest regional rate of homelessness in Scotland. Asked how they believed homelessness could be a thing of the past in Clackmannanshire by 2035, panel members did not call for a bigger housing department within the council. Instead, they imagined a Department of Successful Living built around what people need to thrive. This informed a call for proposals to work towards a Clackmannanshire free of homelessness. The panel will make decisions later this month, with other calls to follow in the coming months.

As the Transformation Space’s independent fund manager, Foundation Scotland is also guiding the work with Community Voice. Alongside, a dedicated Learning Partner is ensuring evidence is gathered systematically about the process underway and that learning is captured to inform the next wave of funding. Success will be judged by impact rather than intent. This makes the Transformation Space a demonstration project for the whole of Scotland, not just a local experiment.

If we want a public realm trusted by its citizens, we must be willing to put in the work to gain this trust and loosen some of the control that has long kept innovation stifled.  

There is also economic sense to this approach. When decisions are put in the hands of communities, they tend to buy local, hire local and build up local capacity. This strengthens community wealth building, resulting in services that fit people’s lives and the local economy.

It’s been almost 15 years since the Christie Commission delivered a blueprint for public service redesign in Scotland. Centred on empowerment, prevention, integration and efficiency. The Commission championed the creation of a more joined-up system to tackle some of our most ingrained societal challenges. However, nearly two decades later, reform remains more aspiration than reality.

What’s happening right now in Clackmannanshire could be truly transformative for Scotland and how it delivers much-needed public services. The conversations at government, local authority and partner levels are positive and there is an appetite for change.

We’re barely out of the starting blocks, but the invitation to public bodies across Scotland is open: join Clackmannanshire in testing new ways to turn the Christie principles into practice and show what genuine public service reform can look like on the ground.

Giles Ruck, CEO, Foundation Scotland