{"id":10748,"date":"2020-04-20T12:39:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T12:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=10748"},"modified":"2020-04-20T12:41:51","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T12:41:51","slug":"fairer-greener-more-equal-but-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2020\/04\/fairer-greener-more-equal-but-how\/","title":{"rendered":"Fairer, greener, more equal but how?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Friday we wrote<\/a> about the long-term challenges (and opportunities) that are likely to come our way as we emerge from the COVID-19 economic crisis. And the \u2018big questions\u2019 that face us all about the nature of the recovery that we seek to build.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s easy at times like this to imagine a better future. The reality \u2013 particularly the priority of trying to get people back in work, not to mention paying off the costs incurred \u2013 will be much less rosy. There\u2019s a danger that we (unfairly) over-estimate policy makers\u2019 ability to shape that future. But it\u2019s important at least to try to learn lessons from this crisis.<\/p>\n

Also on Friday, the Scottish Government announced a new independent advisory group to \u201cprovide expert economic advice to the Scottish Government in response to the COVID-19 crisis.\u201d<\/a> This follows the lead of other places doing the same thing, including Trump in the US.<\/p>\n

The role of the group vs. other advisory bodies?<\/em><\/h3>\n

The aim of the group is to \u201cto advise the government on actions for economy recovery but also to build a fairer, greener and more equal society.\u201d<\/em> A sort of Council of Economic Advisers if you will\u2026..oh wait, don\u2019t we already have one of those???<\/p>\n

In all seriousness, there is an important point here.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve written before<\/a> about the number of advisory committees, strategies, consultations and agencies involved in policymaking in Scotland. Add on top of that an army of civil servants, and political advisers. One thing that we don\u2019t lack in Scotland is resource for \u2018thinking\u2019 about the future \u2013 although there are questions about what these groups add in terms of value (and to what extent they simply provide \u2018assurance\u2019 for decisions that would have taken place anyway).<\/p>\n

What will this new Recovery Committee \u2013 particularly with its work on the long-term \u2013 contribute to new policy thinking?<\/p>\n

The immediate crisis that our economy faces, and the potential for it to alter all aspects of our economy, society and policy, can\u2019t be seen in isolation. All aspects of policy will be impacted.<\/p>\n

So a new advisory body is all well and good, but it brings risks in terms of seeing this crisis as \u2018one event\u2019 that needs to be tackled with a particular set of thinking. It can\u2019t. All areas of policy will be turned on its head\u2026.so should a priority, rather than (or in addition) to any new body, be to get all existing<\/u> advisory groups, committees, strategy documents and the like, to respond in their own respective area to COVID-19?<\/p>\n

Without that there is the potential for confusion. What will this new group say about building a \u2018fairer\u2019 or \u2018greener\u2019 Scotland? And how will this link or be coordinated \u2013 or take a different view (indeed you would hope that now and again different perspectives would be offered) \u2013 to existing independent groups<\/a>, such as the Infrastructure Commission, the Poverty and Inequality Commission, the Just Transition Commission, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Climate Change Plan working group, the Strategic Board for Enterprise and Skills or the Fair Work Convention?<\/p>\n

Are these existing groups being mobilised to re-shape their thinking and advice \u2013 and to gather the views of the individuals, businesses, trade unions, charities and third-sector organisations that they work with \u2013 in the light of COVID-19? Or is their work separate? Will they be members of this new group (albeit requiring a pretty big room!) And will it bring in new voices?<\/p>\n

What about recent independent reviews of policy \u2013 e.g. on education and skills \u2013 and all the various strategies in Scotland? How will these be impacted?<\/p>\n

And what are the plans for political accountability and parliamentary scrutiny in all this?<\/p>\n

Principles vs. delivery<\/em><\/h3>\n

One frustration with the policy debate in Scotland is the amount of time devoted to discussing, debating and measuring high-level principles and challenges \u2013 \u2018wellbeing\u2019, \u2018productivity puzzle\u2019, \u2018inclusive growth\u2019 and the like \u2013 versus how little time and effort goes into transforming this thinking into actual policy delivery.<\/p>\n

After 20 years of devolution, we have a pretty good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Scottish economy. We also will all pretty much agree that the recovery from this crisis needs to protect the vulnerable and tackle inequalities, focus upon supporting young people, prioritise the sectors and regions most impacted, boost productivity, and help the transition to a low carbon economy.<\/p>\n

What is much more difficult is how \u2013 in practical terms \u2013 these issues will be tackled? What specific<\/em> new policies are needed? How will they actually be rolled out, administered and paid for? What ideas are all well and good but impractical (either for political or budgetary reasons)? And what changes to existing priorities and commitments do we need to move on from (or importantly, what should be stopped altogether)?<\/p>\n

In addition, it\u2019s important that we recognise that re-building a Scottish economy that is greener, fairer and more equal isn\u2019t in the gift of the Scottish Government. It will require collaboration. And it will require the close engagement \u2013 like it or not \u2013 of all tiers of government from local government through to Westminster. Will this new group, if it has to real bite, involve UK Government input and\/or work closely with equivalent UK bodies and policymakers? (beyond making familiar high-level recommendations like \u2018austerity is bad\u2019, \u2018we should delay Brexit\u2019 etc)? What about local government and the different views that they may have around priorities for \u2018fairness\u2019, \u2018wellbeing\u2019 etc? Or the different pressures in different parts of the country?<\/p>\n

There is a long-road ahead. And expectations are building that the future might look different to the past. This is by no means guaranteed.<\/p>\n

This new group is expected to inform Ministers as they undertake the largest peacetime economic recovery in our history. To do this, it cannot be just an advisory group offering some high-level suggestions that no-one is likely to disagree with.<\/p>\n

If this new group brings together people \u2013 both externally and internally within the Scottish Government \u2013 who are empowered and resourced to develop and implement a plan for the recovery of the Scottish economy, its creation has the potential to be a significant positive step. But Ministers need to give a clear explanation of the powers of this new group, how other bodies will respond and feed in to it and how its recommendations will impact outcomes. Above all, it needs to devote just as much time \u2013 in fact even more time \u2013 into thinking about the practical delivery<\/strong> of any new policy ideas, the costs and trade-offs involved, as well as a route-map for implementation.<\/p>\n

First published by the Fraser of Allander Institute<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Further reading: Time to talk UBI<\/a>, FAI, April 15 2020; The new normal…?<\/a>, FAI, 17 April;  FM needs radical thinkers,<\/a> George Kerevan, The National, 20 April<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Scottish Government has yet another new group of economic advisers (on the recovery): it should think more about practical delivery of any new policy ideas, says FAI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":8205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[319],"tags":[604,177,179,36],"class_list":["post-10748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-covid-19","tag-inequality","tag-scottish-economy","tag-scottish-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}