Blog: Another strategy launch, will it make a difference?
Blog by Susan Murray, Director, David Hume Institute
2 March 2022
It seems to be the time of year for governments to announce strategies. However, as our hearts and minds are drawn to events in Ukraine, it can be hard to focus on domestic policy.
Cabinet Secretary Kate Forbes acknowledged world events at the start of the launch of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) yesterday. After months of meetings and consultations, there is a “laser focus on delivery” of Scotland’s new economic strategy.
This is good news but what will be different this time from previous economic strategies? The biggest difference I observed is the focus on the interconnectedness of different policies and action, along with the role of women.
More women were involved in the development of the strategy and it's clear the government is keen to power up The Double X economy. What does this mean? It's not one action but lots of small ones to address structural inequality such as investor bias.
Linked to NSET is another Scottish Government strategy the David Hume Institute has been looking at in partnership with Open Data Scotland. Our briefing paper on Open Data, released later this week, highlights a 2015 strategy with good intentions but a subsequent lack of delivery.
Lack of open data is a barrier we keep coming up against in our research and, from our conversations, we know that others are too. Open data is a driver of economic activity estimated to be worth over £2bn to the Scottish economy. It is fast becoming as much about data as mindset and culture in a country. It is an opportunity but one Scotland is failing to grasp and risks being left behind on.
Open data should be viewed as part of having a global outlook. It is part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which are the central operating principle underlying the National Performance Framework.
The UNSDGs are now a common operating language across the world for all sorts of organisations and the good news is the Welsh Assembly and the UK Government are signed up to them too. However, the UK Government Levelling Up strategy only had one mention of them - which seems like a missed opportunity for collaboration on shared goals across the UK.
A recent Westminster environmental audit committee evidence session looking at aligning the UK’s economic goals with environmental sustainability feels very relevant. It is well worth watching both evidence sessions, including the hard hitting evidence from our partners, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.
The content of the evidence session was not new - what feels fresh is that the discussion is at the heart of Westminster at a time when business as usual is not an option. Whether it's the Levelling Up Strategy or National Strategy for Economic Transformation nothing works in isolation as we live in a deeply interconnected world.
So while the many policy brains wade through the reams of paper making up these new strategies, will they make a difference?
The answer to that lies with people – all of us make choices every day that impact on others both at work and in our personal lives.
What’s clear from reading Poles Apart by Ali Goldsworthy, is that everyone reading the strategies is doing so with a lens looking for confirmation of what they already believe. How many of us will change our actions and behaviours at a result of a new strategy - perhaps only time will tell?