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Appendix 1 – Duty to publish information
66. Sections 31 and 32 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 impose duties on public bodies to publish information on expenditure and certain other matters.
Section 31
67. Sections 31(1) and (2) require IPS to publish expenditure incurred in relation to:
Public relations - £5,410.47
Overseas travel - £0.00
Hospitality and entertainment - £120.64
External consultancy - £0.00
68. This expenditure is included, and is not in addition to, the expenditure for 2023-24 listed at paragraph 61. Expenditure on public relations predominantly relates to the cost of producing our inspection reports and other published documents, as well as the maintenance of our website.
69. Section 31(3) requires IPS to publish details of any payment made in excess of £25,000. No such payments were made in 2023-24.
70. Section 31(4) requires IPS to publish the number of individuals who received remuneration in excess of £150,000. No member of staff earned in excess of £150,000.
Section 32
71. Section 32 requires public bodies to publish a statement of the steps they have taken during the financial year to (a) promote and increase sustainable growth through the exercise of its functions; and (b) improve efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the exercise of its functions.
72. The function of IPS is to inspect the operation of COPFS. We consider that section 32 applies in respect of (i) how efficiently and effectively IPS itself delivers its function; and (ii) how we support COPFS in the delivery of its functions.
73. In relation to (i), given that staffing costs made up 97% of our spend in 2023-24, there has been limited scope for us to achieve savings in the exercise of our function. IPS is required to meet rising staff costs as its staff are civil servants whose pay and terms and conditions are set by the Scottish Government. As an already lean organisation, any reduction in staffing levels would significantly impede our ability to fulfil our statutory function.
74. Nonetheless, we have continued to seek opportunities to achieve savings, mindful of the need to spend public money judiciously and to seek value for money. In 2023-24, IPS moved to a new office within the Scottish Government estate. While we have long had a shared services approach with the Scottish Government with regard to, for example, information and communications technology, procurement and recruitment, moving into the Scottish Government’s estate has allowed us to increase our use of shared services and make some additional savings.
75. We also work with our scrutiny partners to achieve savings. This includes, for example, sharing training with other inspectorates to reduce costs.
76. In past years, costs associated with inspection fieldwork have been one of our main areas of non-staffing spend. More recently, fieldwork costs have remained low as IPS has continued to make use of, for example, virtual meetings to carry out interviews. This has had financial and environmental benefits.
77. Given the comparatively small budget of IPS, perhaps the most significant contribution we can make to improving efficiency, effectiveness and economy is in the choice of what we inspect and how we encourage and support COPFS to improve the delivery of its service. In relation to (ii) therefore, the scrutiny work of IPS is guided by an Inspection Framework based on the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Model. This is a globally recognised framework that supports organisations to manage change and improve performance. It has a significant focus on sustainability. Drawing on the EFQM Model, our own framework considers how well COPFS achieves value for money and achieves maximum value from its assets and resources. The need to deliver a more effective and efficient prosecution and death investigation service is a recurring theme in our scrutiny activity.